Mastering Advice

Hi guys, decided to take the plunge and post a track here. This is the second one I have done since starting with Sonic Academy but like most newbies I struggle when it comes down to the mix/master elements and I am limited by headphones really. I was looking for some advice on how to make this more ear friendly. I hate seeing the constant peaks on the wave file and it doesn’t even feel that loud(my 1st track will make your ears bleed!) but for some reason when I try to master it just totally changes everything and I am especially struggling with the higher end frequencies(toward end in particular). br
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I would also appreciate some advice on how to lower the bass end a bit when it(the bass itself) filters toward the break and also on how to make the arp more prominent as the LFO effect comes in(both around 4:40 and then 5:50 for the second arp). I had trouble with it at a higher volume as it created havoc toward the end so reduced the volume and higher end frequencies a bit but it seems to have gotten lost instead of standing out. The track is nothing special but I’d love to be able to engineer a track properly so any advice would be welcome, thanks.br
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John Vanaheim.br
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Only have my AKG’s on, but it sounds as if the kick doesn’t hold the entire bottom info. Have you cut off a lot of it? I always use the 45-50Hz range of the kick as it is the meat of it. You could try to put a compressor on it. Here’s a nice guide on how to: LINK br
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The rest didn’t sound that horrible as you described. No peaking. No aweful highs.

Sorry it has taken a while to get back to this, busy RT, but thank you for the link, it made interesting reading. Yes I cut the bass, I do a lot of reading and watching tutorials and I guess I get a bit obsessive with that and do it a little too much. I did originally try a compressor but found it was too much but I’ll have another look using the link information. Thank you!

Theres a few things you can do to that would make it sound better but eventually its all up to the artist themself.br
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Keep on watching Mastering tutorials. It’s hard to get a good Mixdown on your own but it all comes with practice. Train your ears, and learn what frequencies are the best for each instrument you use, learn what frequencies make the bass sound clean/muddy/punchy etc. br
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Keep on practicing.