Annoying frequencies

[Hagroth]

So I did everything I could while mixing, and I thought all the instruments mixed well together. But as I raise the treble (about 5k<) when mastering in order to make it all match up with my reference tracks ("Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" and "Ghost of Perdition"), I start to hear annoying frequencies which make it painful to listen to in my opinion. There were a few really annoying, whistling frequencies such as 5k, 10k and about 12k if I remember correctly. But I still haven't eliminated the cause of the pain I get when I listen to it. My hypothesis is that it's about 1k-3k, but I'm not sure yet since I haven't tested them yet.

Here's a link to the download: SVAMPAR MASTER_3.wav - 4shared.com - music and mp3 sharing - download

Does it sound annoying in your ears? Any feedback is very welcome!

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Problem solved, but I'd sitll appreciate feedback! Please take a look at my new version: SVAMPAR MASTER4.wav - 4shared.com - music and mp3 sharing - download

[facefive]

i can't hear the cymbals, hats .... sounds like when you put an mp3 to 32kbps

[bholst]

Please upload the file as an attachment to your post. Not many of us will follow links to MP3's outside of here. A lot of those hosting sites have malware issues, and, quite frankly, we're lazy

-holster

[Hagroth]

My file is too big (about 100 MB). I found and removed the disturbing frequency actually, it was at about 1k-3k and 800 IIRC. Still, feedback is very much appreciated, especially if it's received within four hours since I've got a deadline, sort of. I don't have access to the DAW right now, so I'll see if I can split the file up.

Here's a link in the mean time:
SVAMPAR MASTER4.wav - 4shared.com - music and mp3 sharing - download

[Ken J]

I would like to hear the original file before your attempted the mastering. I want to see where and why you went in the directions you did. It sounds like you slapped a compressor on it, limited it and played with some basic EQ. That's not mastering. That's cramming levels.

[Hagroth]

I would like to hear the original file before your attempted the mastering. I want to see where and why you went in the directions you did. It sounds like you slapped a compressor on it, limited it and played with some basic EQ. That's not mastering. That's cramming levels.

Here's the mix: SVAMPAR MIX.wav - 4shared.com - music and mp3 sharing - download

Please take into account that it is my first ever attempt at producing a song from scratch (it is my own song too), and that I'm an amateur non-professional home user. Maybe I squeezed too much dynamics out of it? I left maybe 4-5 dB of dynamic range on the limiter. I also applied a little stereo widening and EQ to bring forth the highs which were lacking compared to my reference. I also used UV22 for dithering from 24 bit to 16 bit. I only tried to make it sound like the reference which is in a similar genre, "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse", when I "mastered" it. No matter what you consider mastering, it's not mixing when treating the entire mix, is it? No matter how bad a master is, it's still a master.

[Ken J]

Here's the mix: SVAMPAR MIX.wav - 4shared.com - music and mp3 sharing - download

Please take into account that it is my first ever attempt at producing a song from scratch (it is my own song too), and that I'm an amateur non-professional home user. Maybe I squeezed too much dynamics out of it? I left maybe 4-5 dB of dynamic range on the limiter. I also applied a little stereo widening and EQ to bring forth the highs which were lacking compared to my reference. I also used UV22 for dithering from 24 bit to 16 bit. I only tried to make it sound like the reference which is in a similar genre, "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse", when I "mastered" it. No matter what you consider mastering, it's not mixing when treating the entire mix, is it? No matter how bad a master is, it's still a master.

I give it a listen sometime this weekend. Let's find out where things may have gone wrong. Mastering is not used as a problem solving tool for a mix. If there are problems with the mix, attempting to master the song will not fix the issues. In fact it can make them worse. If you know you are having issues with a mix, fix them at the mix or tracking levels. Never attempt to master a mix that has issues. It's just wasting time.

[Hagroth]

I give it a listen sometime this weekend. Let's find out where things may have gone wrong. Mastering is not used as a problem solving tool for a mix. If there are problems with the mix, attempting to master the song will not fix the issues. In fact it can make them worse. If you know you are having issues with a mix, fix them at the mix or tracking levels. Never attempt to master a mix that has issues. It's just wasting time.

Thanks! Well, I'm very happy with the mix, and did, in my opinion, bring all individual instruments forward and so on. But rather than increasing the highs for many of the instruments I thought why not just do it on all of them at once. I don't know, but those are my thoughts. It's good to get some unbiased feedback!

[Ken J]

The problem was in the dithering. You don't always need to dither. Sometimes dithering takes away necessary program information when it strips the file. I took the liberty of downloading the file so I could put it in Wave Lab to see what was going on. You should have brought up the highs in each track that needed it during the mix down. That way you could have had much more control over the mix. Here is a mp3 of the changes I made during a rough mastering session. Also never start a song at the beginning of the file. Always leave a few seconds before the first note. Gotta leave room for the hardware and software plugs to kick in.

MP3 Player SoundClick

Never assume that mastering is going to fix a problem that should have been taken care of at the tracking or mixing stage. The song should stand on its own before mastering. And never place anything on the 2 buss. That's the mastering engineers space to work with.

Ken J

[Hagroth]

Oh, I thought it couldn't do things worse. I've heard that dithering is barely even audible except in really quiet parts. It just smoothens the waveform when going from a higher resolution to a lower, correct?

I guess, it should pretty much sound exactly the way I want it to except for the volume, right?

Actually, I did leave one quarter or beat of room before the first piano note and a fade on the master track. After the song I had about one bar of complete silence (the fade on the master track had been at "off" for one bar).

I don't really have a mastering engineer, I just tried to do as much as I could on my own.

[Ken J]

Oh, I thought it couldn't do things worse. I've heard that dithering is barely even audible except in really quiet parts. It just smoothens the waveform when going from a higher resolution to a lower, correct?

I guess, it should pretty much sound exactly the way I want it to except for the volume, right?

Actually, I did leave one quarter or beat of room before the first piano note and a fade on the master track. After the song I had about one bar of complete silence (the fade on the master track had been at "off" for one bar).

I don't really have a mastering engineer, I just tried to do as much as I could on my own.

If you need things professionally mastered, I'm here.