'Mastering' handheld room recorded tracks

[Jonesy]

Howdy folks, 

 

I've just got my grubby mitts on a Tascam DR40x to start recording rehearsals and was wondering if anyone then plays with their tracks to sort of 'master' them after recording?

 

I have Reaper and, from a bit of reading around, it sounds like using a multiband compressor and limiter on the tracks will improve them, so I have some reading to do on that. 

 

We've previously just chucked a phone down in the room and the recordings have been good enough to share and listen to, so I'm assuming I won't have to do anything to the Tascam tracks for them to be listenable, but if anyone has any tips/tricks/a workflow to share then I'd love to hear what you do!

 

 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I use my trusty Zoom H2n to record gigs & rehearsals. I then bring the recordings into Logic Pro and usually just top & tail the tracks to cut out any the faffing about between songs and apply Logic's built-in mastering. Sometimes I split the tracks into stems using Logic's stem splitter so I can apply processing on drums/guitars/bass/vocals individually before mastering, but that tends to make the process a fair bit more time-consuming. Once I have a folder full of mastered MP3s, I upload them to a hidden page on the band website so the other band members can have a listen.

[Jonesy]

On 15/02/2025 at 17:29, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

I use my trusty Zoom H2n to record gigs & rehearsals. I then bring the recordings into Logic Pro and usually just top & tail the tracks to cut out any the faffing about between songs and apply Logic's built-in mastering. Sometimes I split the tracks into stems using Logic's stem splitter so I can apply processing on drums/guitars/bass/vocals individually before mastering, but that tends to make the process a fair bit more time-consuming. Once I have a folder full of mastered MP3s, I upload them to a hidden page on the band website so the other band members can have a listen.

 

Ah nice, that sounds like the same sort of thing we plan to use it for, but I'll be chucking the tracks up to our Google drive. 

 

The idea of splitting one track out to individual instruments sounds like a bit too much faff for my use, but more accurately, well beyond my skill set! 

 

Do you know what Logic's built in mastering does? Is it just limit/enhance/compress?

[Greg Edwards69]

On 15/02/2025 at 17:29, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

.... and apply Logic's built-in mastering. Sometimes I split the tracks into stems using Logic's stem splitter so I can apply processing on drums/guitars/bass/vocals individually before mastering, but that tends to make the process a fair bit more time-consuming.

I'm in the process of doing that to some video footage of us playing at the international scout and guide jamboree last year. Our entire gig was filmed and recorded and they provided us with a huge mp4 file of the whole gig. They said we can use it however we see fit as long as you can't see the kids faces in the crowd. So we got a friend to splice and dice the video into several shorts and a couple of showreels/montages that look great. Only thing is, the sound is lacklustre and very low volume. I reckon it was recorded straight off the desk. The general mix is fine but sounds lifeless (not to mention a couple of tuning issues for one of our singers whose pitching can waver when he gets overexcited).

 

The stem splitter is fantastic. I've been able to add a little more excitement to the drums, guitars and vocals with some compression, eq and reverb, adjust the mix and stick it though the mastering assistant. In addition, I can fix those errant vocal issues with flex pitch - which is proving to be fantastic.

 

Hopefully, once I'm happy with one of them, I can reuse it as a template for the others.

[Rosie C]

6 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

The stem splitter is fantastic. I've been able to add a little more excitement to the drums, guitars and vocals with some compression, eq and reverb, adjust the mix and stick it though the mastering assistant. In addition, I can fix those errant vocal issues with flex pitch - which is proving to be fantastic.

 

 

It is! I had anaphylaxis and had an ambulance etc. last year, a few weeks before I had to record my end of year project for uni. Flex pitch saved the day when my voice wasn't 100% recovered. It also helped fix slight pitch issues for a multi-tracked 4-part recorder piece. I did admit this in my [write] up. 

Edited February 17 by Rosie C

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

1 hour ago, Jonesy said:

 

Ah nice, that sounds like the same sort of thing we plan to use it for, but I'll be chucking the tracks up to our Google drive. 

 

The idea of splitting one track out to individual instruments sounds like a bit too much faff for my use, but more accurately, well beyond my skill set! 

 

Do you know what Logic's built in mastering does? Is it just limit/enhance/compress?

 

It's a bit of a black box with few controls, but its probably doing a bit of eq & multiband compression.

[Greg Edwards69]

https://support.apple.com/en-us/108294
 

This overview explains it quite well. Aside from eq and compression it appears to do loudness normalisation for standard streaming platforms. 

[dave_bass5]

I tend to use something like Ozone to finish off the recordings i make using my Zoom H4e. Recently ive got a plugin called Fuel that does a really good job of bringing out the instruments and give ign the recording more depth and volume. 

[Stub Mandrel]

On 15/02/2025 at 14:47, Jonesy said:

Howdy folks, 

 

I've just got my grubby mitts on a Tascam DR40x to start recording rehearsals and was wondering if anyone then plays with their tracks to sort of 'master' them after recording?

 

I have Reaper and, from a bit of reading around, it sounds like using a multiband compressor and limiter on the tracks will improve them, so I have some reading to do on that. 

 

We've previously just chucked a phone down in the room and the recordings have been good enough to share and listen to, so I'm assuming I won't have to do anything to the Tascam tracks for them to be listenable, but if anyone has any tips/tricks/a workflow to share then I'd love to hear what you do!

 

 

 

I had an ancient tape recording of my first band made rehearsing in a big, empty club room with loads of reverb. I could not kill the reverb but even basic tooks available in the 2000s let me sort of salvage it. So have a try.

 

 

[Rosie C]

9 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I had an ancient tape recording of my first band made rehearsing in a big, empty club room with loads of reverb. I could not kill the reverb but even basic tooks available in the 2000s let me sort of salvage it. So have a try.

 

By chance I heard a Brian Eno on Radio 4's "Infinite Monkey Cage" on Saturday, talking about AI tools that can de-reverb a recording. Though I guess the equipment and resources he has are immense compared to what I can lay my hands on   

[dave_bass5]

You could try an envelope follower to cut the reverb down, and there are De-Verb plugins available. 

[mikebass456]

I use my Zoom H4n for reheaesals, and then minor tweaking in Audacity (mostly normalising, and some compression where required), then saving the results as mono MP3 files for ease of sharing via email

I have to say though that that's about the limit of my capabilities with the software currently......

[dave_bass5]

4 hours ago, mikebass456 said:

I use my Zoom H4n for reheaesals, and then minor tweaking in Audacity (mostly normalising, and some compression where required), then saving the results as mono MP3 files for ease of sharing via email

I have to say though that that's about the limit of my capabilities with the software currently......

Can I ask why Mono?

[mikebass456]

4 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Can I ask why Mono?

For rehearsal purposes, the files seem to be smaller than stereo ones, and the rehearsal recordings are only used as reference only......😉👍

[Stub Mandrel]

9 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

You could try an envelope follower to cut the reverb down, and there are De-Verb plugins available. 

 

I just put one of the tracks into a free online AI reverb remover. Unprecedented levels of sonic destruction! 😂