How Does my Final Project Stack Up?

Hey everyone, so today I want to talk about how my work compares to the work of professionals in the industry - specifically, the work of professionals who's work influenced my aesthetic and technical choices.

I have just finished up mastering the EP I recorded for local Hard Rock band Black Banner so I would like to use this to compare to the industry standard creations which I based many of my choices off. For this project, the reference that the band were very adamant on using is Megadeth's Endgame. So naturally, I tried my best to establish as many aesthetic and technical similarities as I could in order to fulfil the bands brief.

Have a listen to Megadeth's album Endgame below. Skip through the video to hear a few different songs and to get a general idea of what this album sounds like.

So let's compare the this album to Black Banners EP which I produced for them. To compare the two, there's a few key points I'll be investigating; the kick, the snare, and the guitars. I've chosen these three topics because the band were clear form the onset that although the sound of this album was their goal, their bass and vocals are rather unique.

So have a listen to one of the songs from the Black Banner Ep so we can start our comparison.

Firstly let's talk about the kick. In the Megadeth reference the kick is solid and clearly audible in the mix. However, there are some differences between the Megadeth kick and the Black Banner kick. The kick that I used in the Black Banner mixes seems to be slightly more prominent and occupy some higher frequencies that the Megadeth kick doesn't. To summarise, throughout the black banner songs the kick is more audible and has a bit more of a punchy characteristic closer to the sound of a metal kick sound. However, an important fact to note is that because I believed that the kick on the Megadeth album was sample blended, I also chose to implement some sample re-inforcement techniques.

Secondly, let's talk about the snare. In my opinion, I think the snares are very similar. In the Megadeth reference you can hear the the snare is short and snappy - with an aggressive transient and a quick decay the snare sounds extremely tight. Throughout the Black Banner EP your can hear how this has influenced my aesthetic choices. By completely replacing the entire snare track with samples and blending them with the snare picked up in the overheads I created a sound with a punchy, aggressive transient and a short decay where you can hear a little bit of pop from the top skin of the drum which adds a nice texture to the sound. Personally, I believe the Black Banner snare sounds slightly fatter in the transient but overall are very sillier and deliver the aesthetic the band desired.

The guitars throughout both songs are where I am seeing the biggest contrast regarding both aesthetics and quality, The Megadeth guitar sounds very clear and crisp and are mixed at a level which enriches the entire mix, However, throughout the Black Banner mixes the guitars sound much dirtier, and appear to be a little too loud in the mix. In regards to quality I'm sure the amplifiers that were used play a role however there's just something missing from the Black Banner mixes that the Megadeth album has. Whatever the techniques are to get this sound it is definitely an aspect of my abilities that I need to work on.

Overall, I feel like there are some elements on the Black Banner mix that do stack up against the Megadeth album. For example the drums and vocals in particular. However, to be completely honest, the guitars just don't seem to have reached that same level of quality. In the future, this is the area that I will focus on now it has been identified as a weaker element of my mixes.

Until Next Time,

Brandon Hayward.