Week 11 Audio Arts

This week we had to master a stereo file we previously mixed. I chose to use this mix:
http://www.box.net/shared/rsj69b7gji
(last week's submission)



And here are the 3 mixes I tried doing. The 2nd might be the best but I'm not happy with any.

Mix 1: http://www.box.net/shared/qdk3812ban (Too much high frequency adds to the peaks... however, drowns them out in a weird way and is less obvious than I thought it would be)

Mix 2: http://www.box.net/shared/8viqk1ea44 (Better than mix 2, less highs, more compression. Piano sounds less natural than I would like and a lot worse than the original, however, so by taking the annoying 15,000 frequency out I killed the piano sound)

Mix 3: http://www.box.net/shared/42u0xoemnb (Highs are reduced then amplified with a 2nd EQ later on... Result is annoying peak is still there. Sounds more open than 2nd mix but peaks are a lot more obvious)

I found it very difficult to get a decent result. I tried using a lot of different EQ and compressor settings but the fact that the recording was not perfect (had some peaks) was accentuated with every attempt. This was especially evident in the piano. In addition, the mixed version (not mastered) sounded solid to me and I could find little to actually fix. The drums were probably the weakest instrument, and the bass could have a little more volume higher up (around 100-150hz) but appart from that I was very happy. The mixing was mainly an effort into taking the peaks out and compressing it a little. I also wanted to give it just a little more top end and bass, but not much. However, whenever I took out the piano peaks (which sit around 15,000 hz) by EQing them heavily, the overall sound suffers a LOT especially in the piano and drums (snare mainly). To make up I tried adding a 2nd EQ to boost the overall high frequency range (over 10,000) after taking out the 15,000, but the result was still flat. Also I found no way of boosting the drums or making them sound better. Basically here are 3 attemps I went through, but I still preffer the original (especially since the addition of any EQ's either flattens the sound by taking the peaks away or makes them even MORE obvious). Compression also adds to the peaks. Overall I tried a lot of different things but would like to learn more about this topic before I am happy with my skills. Luckily we're doing more next week!