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Killing The Snake
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nobody



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PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 3:04 pm    Post subject: Killing The Snake
Subject description: No, not THAT snake
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When I'm mastering, I always "kill the snake". If I'm the only one using this term, "the snake" is the bouncing band of frequencies below 20 Hz that can be quite loud. It's caused in my case by many of my synths producing that kind of output (my Virus is notorious for this). While not audible, it muddies up the mix.

I was wondering if I should "kill the snake" for individual tracks in a composition, rather than at the master output as I normally do. Which way is "better" and why?

(FYI, I "kill the snake" with a multi-band EQ, with however many bands are necessary, all set to 10 Hz with a narrow Q, turned all the way down. Sometimes the last one or two bands in the chain are peak/dip instead of shelving low if I have any stubborn LFs.)
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EdisonRex
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 2:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

with me, there are fairly few sources of unwanted LF. Usually that's the mic(s), and yes, a couple of my synthesizers can do that (the modulars are pretty good at it). However I just use a high pass filter with a Fc set to about 40-50Hz and a fairly steep rolloff. My AT4033 has a rolloff switch on it, I just leave that on. Remember that anything below about 40Hz isn't really discernable as music and that range is really just where thumps and bumps live.

Those transients from modulars, mechanical noise, etc can really affect a mix; the transients as you know will saturate the low end, besides not sounding particularly musical.

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varice



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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I usually don’t have a problem with LF signals in the master mix (as I generally prefer a strong bass sound anyway). I think that reducing the LF content at the master mix level would be wrong place to do it. Better to reduce the undesirable LF at the source, and leave the “bumps and thumps” of bass and percussion signals unaffected at the master level (without causing overload clipping, of course).

I find that reducing mid-bass frequencies in the master mix usually minimizes a “muddy” sounding mix.

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EdisonRex
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 11:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

varice wrote:
I usually don’t have a problem with LF signals in the master mix (as I generally prefer a strong bass sound anyway). I think that reducing the LF content at the master mix level would be wrong place to do it. Better to reduce the undesirable LF at the source, and leave the “bumps and thumps” of bass and percussion signals unaffected at the master level (without causing overload clipping, of course).

I find that reducing mid-bass frequencies in the master mix usually minimizes a “muddy” sounding mix.


very good point, I had meant to say use the highpass on each or any channel that exhibits the problem, not on the mix.

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nobody



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PostPosted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 12:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Thanks, guys. I'm going to give your suggestions a try!
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