http://soundcloud.com/lascailles-shroud/mix-and-master-test

And for those that wish to hear the uncompressed .WAV file (only 55 seconds long so it shouldnt be too bad to download)
Click to view attachment

Mastering is something I use lightly. Since a lot of people thought the guitar tone I had before contained some shrill in the high end, I eased up the high by taking out the high shelf itself, and instead just tried to make the mix a bit bright in place of the guitar tone.

Made more sense to me this way, I realized I didnt necessarily want a brighter guitar tone, but a brighter mix.

So this is my attempt, for "Mastering" I have just two Waves plugins on my master:

Waves Q-10

-2.5db at 500hz, medium wide bell

+1.5db at 1000hz, tighter bell

+2.5db at 7100hz, high shelf (thinking maybe ease this up, 1.5-2.0db maybe?)

L3-LL Multi-Maximizer (I use these pretty lightly, I am not a fan of pushing the track too hard as my equipment isn't quite that capable)

Threshold of -1.6

Output Ceiling -0.3

+0.5db of gain between the 1500hz - 4000hz area


Thoughts?

Not had chance to listen yet as we've a rush job on but I'll try and give it a listen in the next few days.

Just an idea that you might want to play with though - try a simple Baxendall shelf. A Bax can be a good way for altering the frequency balance of a mix by tilting the spectrum to make it darker or brighter. To do it you need to essentially run an EQ slope that is +ve in the low and -ve in the high range if you want a darker mix and vice versa for a brighter mix. You don't need too much attenuation/gain, so +/-1.5 or less at the extremes, and progressively less as you move to the point where it flips. That point is nominally about 700-800Hz but it depends on the mix.

I'm rather upset with myself actually.

Realized a few days ago I had a massive ear clog, only became apparent when it completely deafened me in both ears. I have been wearing these big ear muffs at work (lots of drilling, heavy equipment and such, paranoid about my hearing) all the sweat and dirt for the past months has just accumlated and slowly drowned my hearing. I got one ear unclogged, and heard CLEARLY for the first time in probably 2-3 months. After 24 hours of having my hearing back to normal, I noticed so many bad things in the mix.

When everyone talked about the shrill in my guitar tone, I hear it now, I have just been mixing with half my hearing

Holding out on any serious mixing until I see a doctor and get a cleaning/ medicine etc.

Hope you get your ears sorted out .

Sounds like a good example of why objectivity is so important.