bats brew

Well, to be clear, I'm talking mastering here, not mix elements Tho, mastering does inform about mix issues, if you do the processes back to back

i decided to do another one, the title track of my last album, 'the wild animals' i'll post that one soon. interesting thing, remastering... you listen to it from a new perspective, and everything changes.

Thanks lynn!

hi Jack c! thanks man, glad you dig it. i love the waltz feel, especially with a hard rock sound. i don't know why, maybe piano lessons when i was really young got stuck in my brain! seems the piano teacher made me play lots of waltzes...

thanks kurt! i work harder on the bass parts than the guitars it seems janes addiction!! heheh, haven't heard about those guys in quite a while.. never an influence, they were 'behind' my nuturing days, but i am a fan. where do i sell my music? i can do it via paypal directly, which is easy and straightforward... or, i have links for Amazon and Apple music: Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/1052508534 Amazon: "STAY": https://www.amazon.com/Stay-Bats-Brew/dp/B0173Z84XE/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Gonzo's+Garage+Records&qid=1602258337&s=dmusic&sr=1-1 "Trouble": https://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Bats-Brew/dp/B07BMJPWCQ/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=Bats+Brew&qid=1611849251&s=dmusic&search-type=ss&sr=1-6 "The Wild Animals" https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Animals-Bats-Brew/dp/B07ZZKRR6K/ref=sr_1_21?dchild=1&keywords=Bats+Brew&qid=1611849289&s=dmusic&search-type=ss&sr=1-21 "The Time is Magic": https://www.amazon.com/Time-Magic-Batsbrew/dp/B006LZ2MDG/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=BatsBrew&qid=1611849331&s=dmusic&sr=1-11

thanks so much tom... i thought the new master sounded so much... smoother. i think you HAVE to upload the higher def files to get a decent stream out of soundcloud that bitrate they use is just the pits. but it's free!! you get what you pay for..

hey gary! thanks man, the mastering chain: i'm using mostly waves plugs, with the addition of a Studio One native plug, Pro EQ, that i just like the sound of, even tho i have much fancier waves plugs i could use for eq... i mix at 24 bit 88,2 khz. target is usually about -18LUFS, with about -4dbTP headroom. think "K-18", sorta. i EQ the entire stereo wav file with Har Bal, if it needs balancing, usually between lows and highs. then i bring that file into Studio One Project page (mastering suite). from there, the chain is: Waves G Series SSL Master Comp (set for 2:1, barely kissing the meter, slowest attack, fastest release, analog in, 1.5 db makeup gain) Studio One Pro Eq- i use this to tailor the 'feel' of the song. Waves Linear Phase EQ (this is for HPF and LPF, varies from song to song) waves L2 Ultramaximizer: i use this to shave 1db off. threshold and out ceiling pulled down equal until i get no more than 1db reduction. 24 bit, no dither. Waves L3 Ultramaximizer: i use this to actually shape the overall sound of the wav, typically, i'm going for no more than a couple of db reduction, but i chose the different presets available to favor lows or mids or highs...i can push the ceiling up or down to get more density or highs, balanced with the threshold for clearness or density. Waves L2 Ultramaximizer: again, same L2 as before, but where the first one was just catching the worst offenders level wise, the last one is setting the ceiling (-0.1 for cd's, -1.4 for hitting about -1.0dbTP) and only 1 db of gain reduction. Here, i apply 16 bit and dither if it's for the cd or the Digital Download files. I set it back to 24 bit and no dither for the high def versions, and output those at 48Khz. i'm using the Studio One project page meters, which are very good, and provide numerous meter options: i use LUFS, EBS and true peak, along with the peak meters for RMS , phase and Spectrum meters i am targeting a little hotter than -14 LUFS, sometimes as high as -12, at least for this project. in the past, it was closer to -9 LUFS, and i'm backing off of that.

i'm going back and re-mastering my older catalog, to be more in line with the newer streaming standards. no remixes, just a new mastering methodology that i'm still trying to determine. this is the 1st one i've done. it was uploaded as a 24 bit/48khz file with about a db of headroom, seems cleaner than all my other uploads current. originally recorded in Sonar. https://soundcloud.com/bats-brew/bats-brew-following-light

thanks guys... i just heard some streaming issues, i think this file is too hot for soundcloud... i'm going to upload a better version, stay tuned

file issue

very kind words timbo, thanks so much. one day, i may re-mix this to feature the drums more, cuz yea, he's kickin' butt on this one. as far as mix choices, sometimes i just want something to dominate for a reason... maybe it's the meaness of the vibe, or sweetness, but i'm not afraid to move something front and center, that does not jive with 'typical' mix approaches, i figure, be brave. why not.

thanks kev! that's funny, def leppard, i followed them from on thru the night, up to probably hysteria, liked listening to them, but i'd be hard pressed to find any song of theirs, that sounds like this.... it's interesting how people hear certain things, that slide right past me, and i love to hear the variety of things people DO hear, so thanks for sharing that!

hi lynn! thanks for the kudos, there IS a lot going on in here, but no one hardly ever asks about the tidbits...

aging ears! ugh. i hear you (thru my aging ears!)

hey doug!! ha, well, the thing with the intro, how it hit YOU, is exactly what i was going for. for me, it's a juxtaposition of the lyric... the intro is the 'trouble', the thing that needs to be worked out. the 2nd half, is the 'working it out' phase. now, this drummer, like i said before, is a top notch player out of the D/FW area, and has played with the symphony, many bands in the area, lots of studio work... a lot of his tracks were done in only one or two passes, playing on top of my demos. it worked out very well. thanks so much for listening!

this is true, there are many 'deep cut' albums that work so well with the flow of the album that the artist intended. i've never done 'one offs' or singles, i always write material with a vibe or a theme, hence the name of the album 'trouble', and the song 'work it out'. it's cool if folks don't care about that stuff, the songs stand on their own all the same.

yea, leave em wanting more!! heheh, i think that only worked on one of my songs. LOL the snare, i love that snare, maybe i mixed the drums on this too weak. the drummer was so spot on. a great player, a degreed guy from dallas ft/worth area

alright jack! a vote for not re-arranging it! i like it! heheh these guitars were recorded using a tube amp head, several different 1x12 cabs with different drivers, and a good ole sm57 on the cone. all effects came from the guitar pedalboard. in otherwords, standard studio stuff, no tricks. the mastering was originally done in Sonar, and i used Waves Plugins for mastering. LPMBC, L2 Limiter, LPEQ, and that's it. yea, purple.... it's a good thing to listen to before tracking the 2nd part!! thanks andy

hi 53mph (that's just a bit too slow for me on the highway) heheh... faith no more, wow, haven't heard that name dropped before, i liked their early stuff. in my opinion, the good stuff was the beginning... the 2nd half was almost like a toss off!! but i appreciate the comments, i'm glad you checked this one out

hey wook! i don't think the intro is too long... i think it's just right!! but yea, the idea that a song like this jumps in, hits quick, and gets out, works in relation to the song that is before, and after it, on the album. listen to it as a whole, and it makes perfect sense. and that's how it was written to work.

thank you nigel, for listening, and commenting i think the intro is perfect the way it is, it sets a mood... when you first hear it, you don't know where it is going, that intro could have been the whole song, repeated, etc, wash, rinse, repeat... as it is, it's short, like the body of the fast part is... and without it, the song is only 2 minutes long!! heheh, but i said everything i had to say in those two minutes, so there's that. the 2nd section is fun to play, you just keep rolling those scales, riffs, whatever, they just keep rolling, then you hit the big chord and let the solo rip. a really fun tune to track

hey, i missed this one!! nice... love the groove. nice drum track too!

hey noynekker! thanks for the comments, glad you dig this one. it's off of my 1st album, that i re-released back in 2018. it's called "Trouble", you can find it here: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BMJPWCQ/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/trouble/1362105017

well thanks for that kurt!! i've been playing long enough that i should have it down by now.... work it out, seems appropriate now for our days and times.... but i actually wrote this a long time ago, about a break up with a girlfriend... and it's been a long enough time back, that i don't even remember her name!! heheh, shameful.

hi paul!! yea, heh, slide on this was fun to track. once i got the first part down, the other one just fell into place so easy.