Grind core for vinyl advice?

[medic999]

I'm recording an EP for a 7" and was curious as to if there are any special considerations for mixing. I guess I'm trying to capture that kind of shitty but awesome grind core character, but not sure how something translates to vinyl. I'm certain I need to mix in mono. Do I also have to keep the bass at a minimum? should I try to dirty up the master or will the fact that it's an analog product do that automatically? What rms should I shoot for? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[fade_2_black]

An alternative to a full mono mix is to mix drums/bass/gats/vox down the centre, while panning out overheads and vocal FX. Maintains the dirty, old-school mono mix approach while giving a bit more room and making it a little less taxing to listen to.

As far as the mix is concerned, perhaps get a few reference tracks and try match them. A heap of my favourite vinyls have really strong low-end content - having said that, I don't have any grind on vinyl..

As far as the master is concerned, just getting it on vinyl wont make it sound particularly dirty on its own. Not sure what you have available, but if you have any nice tape emulation stuff, see if using them all over the show helps.

 

[slo77y]

here´s the best advice you will get: dont do it.

 

[heshian46]

here´s the best advice you will get: dont do it.

That's the spirit.

But seriously, do whatever you want. There's no reason why you shouldn't try. I don't have any experience with vinyl, but I think it would be a cool experience to listen to it on that medium.

 

[slo77y]

ive done vynil. its a PITA. stereo is possible, but you really have to watch the stereoscope all the time, otherwise your material might not be usable for pressing

 

[Fox Mulder]

Use a stereo enhancer to center-out everything below 150hz. You'll be fine.

 

[FarBeyondMetal]

Maybe grab this plugin and go to town??? http://www.sknote.it/CutterTone.htm

 

[Sloan]

Mix like you normally would, let mastering engineer master it for vinyl.

 

[Audio X]

Mix like you normally would, let mastering engineer master it for vinyl.

QFE.

Other than keeping a heads up to manage sibilance and harsh sounding highs, mixing as you normally would should suffice.

 

[medic999]

Wow thanks for all the advice guys, sounds like it's not too daunting of a task. I guess it will definitely be a learning experience for me.

 

[slo77y]

a plugin that makes everything mono below a certain spot is a good idea.

this is what i did for mastering a vynil:


monomaker at 80hz and watch the stereoscope; everytime it goes under 0, automate the monomaker-frequency to a height where it doesnt occur anymore. stereo width under 0 will not be pressable.

also, tame the high-mids (2-5)k a bit.

and most importantly: dont limit the master so hard like u normally would. i master my vynils at -12 and it sounds fine. remember that vynil always adds some sort of "compression" on top, so you wanna make sure to have a little more dynamics than with cd/mp3.

 

[BLUElightCory]

Mix like you normally would, let mastering engineer master it for vinyl.

YES!

There are a host of considerations to make when prepping a mix for vinyl. For the best results, have a mastering engineer (who has experience working wth vinyl) prepare a dedicated master for the vinyl run.

 

[smy1]

Is there any advantage in making bass & kick mono in a non-vinyl mix?

 

[medic999]

a plugin that makes everything mono below a certain spot is a good idea.

this is what i did for mastering a vynil:


monomaker at 80hz and watch the stereoscope; everytime it goes under 0, automate the monomaker-frequency to a height where it doesnt occur anymore. stereo width under 0 will not be pressable.

also, tame the high-mids (2-5)k a bit.

and most importantly: dont limit the master so hard like u normally would. i master my vynils at -12 and it sounds fine. remember that vynil always adds some sort of "compression" on top, so you wanna make sure to have a little more dynamics than with cd/mp3.

Thanks I'll take your word for it!

 

[medic999]

Is there any advantage in making bass & kick mono in a non-vinyl mix?

The kick and bass should be mono regardless of vinyl or not. I think everyone is saying to mono out everything else down there that isn't already mono (room, low end of the shells, low end of stereo guitars) at least that's what I'm getting out of it.


So in order to tame that high mid range, do you think a side chain comp on the guitars triggered from the vocals in that range would suffice?

 

[ExecutiveRob]

I've done it a few times now for power violence/grindcore releases. Mix as you normally would, but make sure the subs and hi's are under control/nothing over the top.

If you can get a contact number/email for the person who will be physically cutting the record, then you can liaise with them to make sure that they get what they need. Plus you can make sure that your mix will sound as close as possible to what you sent off.

There's some great advice here on the limitations of vinyl that's worth checking out:

http://www.chicagomasteringservice.com/vinyl.html

Rob