Fixing Master of Puppets HORRIBLE Guitar Tone

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Metallica's Master of Puppets is considered one of the most legendary riffs of all time, one of the best albums and songs. It's also one of the most influential guitar tones.
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#masterofpuppets #strangerthings #metal

[@Bedrockbrendan]

I think there is a generational thing that goes on with guitar tone. I love the tone of Master of Puppets and guitar from that era, but only a few bands today have tones I enjoy.

[@rahulmenon4357]

Recorded next door tone?

[@rahulmenon4357]

IMO MOP is a masterclass on amazing songs sound amazing no matter how dogshit the recording is

[@Bedrockbrendan]

@@rahulmenon4357 I am not judging. If he dislikes the tone that is a perfectly valid opinion. I've just noticed a divide that is surprising to me me online and a lot of does seem a bit generational (though I also think it can have to do with how plugged on is into online conversations also). Most people I know my age, like that abrasive tone, like heavy use of reverb, and liked pedals like the Metalzone growing up. But when I hear people about a generation younger speak about tone they can't stand the metal zone and they think a lot the stuff we listened to in the 80s and early 90s sounds terrible in terms of how it was recorded, the tone, etc. But when I listen to music from current bands, even if I like the songs, and I often do, I find I don't like the mixes and how the instruments are blended. I think a lot of this is preference. My favorite tones though are from guitar bands and recordings in the 70s. That is a little before my time, but I think they nailed the guitar tone sound personally. But on the heavier end of the spectrum, the thrash, death and doom from the mid 80s to 90s to my ear has a more pleasing guitar tone and overall mix (provided you aren't including records that were really done on the cheap) than current stuff. Just my opinion though. I treat it the same way I treat differences in movies. Sometimes I recommend a film I think is classic and the pacing, practical effects, the use of sound stages, etc, that all puts off a younger audience who have different expectations in terms of how the film is edited and filmed.

[@metalheadballer3398]

I have to agree with this. I really feel that the guitar tone took a hit from the original but I appreciate that the other instruments are easier to hear and that the new vocals feel more alive. I feel like you had to sacrifice guitar tone for the sake of everything else which I'm sure is exactly the opposite of what Papa Hetfield wanted at the time. The bassy guitar tone is so iconic to Metallicas sound that you can't rely replace it. --From a bass player that would get drowned out by the original tone

[@bang9869]

Because thrash is shit and almost nobody under 30 wants to play it, I'm sure you'd be hard pressed to find the same amount of people who even like thrash🤣🤣

[@noam.yuvalor1381]

We need a video like this on death magnetic's terrible drum mix... the snare is clipping every second...

[@Thegamer10113]

Even in the unmastered non clipping version it sounds like shit.

[@iliketrains3495]

FR, The Day That Never Comes has some really awful snare mixing

[@arthurgabriel4325]

everything clips on that shit

[@smarkmalark]

All because of Dick Rubin, and Greg Fidelman thinking they were keeping up with the times, but like what Kirk said in SKOM, It just ended up dating it to that period

[@Jzalar97]

@@smarkmalark mainly Rubin since Fidelman was at the helm for Hardwired and it sounds way better

[@The..Future]

Thank God you're here to fix one of the best thrash albums ever made for us.

[@Helena-gk4ui]

sarcasm?

[@unleashthebloodthirst69420]

@@Helena-gk4ui ye. Idk

[@Rednax_Official]

@@Helena-gk4ui i agree if it's sarcastic

[@dylangajdosik964]

I'm sure Metallica are going to throw away their 6X platinum record in the trash now.

[@marcusaurelius5742]

Musically one of the best ever made? Yeah. Sonically? Eh.

[@UnlockingYourEnergy]

Definitely feels bigger, but loses that 80s feel. People like the mid scoop.

[@JimmyKlef]

Yea but this has been an age old thing. Trust me, it’s been battled on a million hills and the super scoopers always die. I used to be a scooped defender. I then got much more experienced with music and bands live and recording and I literally wouldn’t even consider working with someone who is so out of touch about how music and frequencies and bands and musical cohesion works anymore. The problem is is that there is only so much real estate in audio frequencies. And everyone, i mean every single musician ever wants to stand out. And also everyone at some point was inspired by guys like metallica and whatnot. So everyone, i mean every single boy or girl with an electric and a dream and metal in their bones thinks “nah dude III can make it work because like III am specifically awesomer than everyone else”. That idea, even if not thought of that arrogantly displays a total lack of respect for what others have accomplished. Guitars are mid range instruments. Meaning that their fundamentals AND harmonics do not extend the full frequency range. Throwing distortion on can push it further (it actually usually decreases the frequency excitement range) but it’s literally JUST noise lower than the fundamental or higher than the harmonics. To naive ears “it sounds so heavy and huge”. To anyone that knows better that sounds childish. Because honestly we have ALL been there. So many production people started out wanting to be the next james hetfield or kurt cobain or the guys from Korn. We tried. Many men far greater than i have tried long before i ever did to make a washed out “huge” box of total death mush work in a song. It literally never will. You can move your kick around, invent a new goddamn kind of drum or bass instrument to play with… it’s not going to work well in a mix. But yes. Of course you CAN do a mix with super scooped guitars. But that mix could always be better and heavier. Anyone worth anything in music knows that. Also, sort of same thing applies with distortion. And when everyone thinks “yea tons of distortion and super scooped” and then reasonable people inform them its not gonna be the best it could be of course they think “ah fuck you old man” and people do it anyway. Hell, half the metal albums on this planet try desperately anyway to still have those super scooped guitars and do. And i just know an engineer or producer working on it was pulling their hair out trying to fit it in like that and 100 percent of the time the music suffers. Be a bass player or a piano player or just some other instruments if you want them to do things guitars don’t sound good doing. Or play by your lonesome. Whatever.

[@heavenlywithhishands]

@@JimmyKlef Nobody cares. You like your tone or you don't. That's the end of it. Not my business, not your business, not anyone's business. Period. I don't see what the big fuckin hoopla is.

[@unleashthebloodthirst69420]

The black album is the happy medium

[@teosandell4278]

@@unleashthebloodthirst69420 The black album is ULTRA scooped

[@unleashthebloodthirst69420]

@@teosandell4278 if you look at it, it isn’t. It is very scooped at 1.2k, but with the mids pushed back up 763hrtz and is pushed up at 2.3k - 6k. It keeps that scooped sounding nature we love, but without overwhelming the mix. It lets the bass do its job and the drums with there crisp edge move greatly throughout the mix even though the guitars are very dominant in the mix. Combine that with how the guitars are wide as fuck, the drums are narrow and crisp, and the bass sits well even more narrow makes the mix way more satisfying while still maintaining that thick meat headed vibe like on AJFA. That is why the black album has the greatest production. If you have any other questions let me know.

[@NeoArmstrongJetArmstrongCannon]

Mike's version is like when you pop an air bubble in your ear after exiting a pool.

[@adrianfong5783]

It went from sounding like a Metallica song to a Megadeth song, his mix gave me a rust in peace vibe

[@Willibam]

I was really sceptical when I clicked on the video, but you somehow managed to do it justice. MOP just got a lot more of a modern sound. Great job!

[@finnvanderbar3935]

Justice? like, like... likee...... AJFA?

[@Squirrelconga]

....And Justice for Masters

[@bigassdummy46]

That's not a good thing

[@cunjoz]

skeptical*

[@Zlittlepenguin]

@@bigassdummy46I think it’s neither a good nor bad thing tbh. Obviously it’s a classic and it’s important to be able to hear it the way it was intended. That being said, it’s also dated and sounds like trash at times. I think this video did a good job at showcasing that you can maintain the integrity of the song while giving it a clearer sound. I liken it to adding colour to a black and white film.

[@william91786]

This is like a chef examining your favorite meal your mom made you. Yeah, maybe it isn't for everyone, but it has the taste of a moment in space and time that evokes nostalgia. You can't make mom's spaghetti better for me, but I appreciate what you are doing.

[@damienalvarez2957]

Mids are so under appreciated when it comes to guitar. I took off the bass and dialed up the mids on my amp and left the treble higher, and my tone sounded much bigger without being muddy.

[@stevenhirsekorn3444]

And now all that midrange covers up all the nuance of the guitar and the bass good job

[@stevenhirsekorn3444]

@UseTheSupeRsonic I highly recommend everyone who is serious about guitar tone get a 31 band graphic eq for their effects loop.the knobs on an amp for me are typically not useful because they usually are passive and do very little to shape it. Active eq is much more flexible

[@unleashthebloodthirst69420]

Listen to poisonous shadows by Megadeath. The bass and guitar are one unit. You get the low end. But extra detail from the guitar. That is how to get a percussive low end with loud detail.

[@stevenhirsekorn3444]

@squaredcircle1111 with how a lot of people mix their tracks they high and low pass leaving you with just a wall of mids. Don’t even try to act like that isn’t the first thing you see in pretty much every single modern metal guitar mixing tutorial. Then that acts almost like pink noise over the whole track and you lose a lot of the dynamics and detail information and not in a good way. Imo the best sounding albums had the midrange in the guitar pulled back a little, you get more nuance and clarity and low end potentially from the whole band. Demanufacture from fear factory,all the pantera albums, bolt thrower, the later death albums are all good examples of this.

[@stevenhirsekorn3444]

@squaredcircle1111 and when you crank those albums up loud they sound amazing. Nobody cares if the guitars sit in the mix with that midrange push. They care does it sound evil and heavy and brutal. Scooped mixes just sound heavier.

[@constantinoanaxagorou9907]

I'm a begginer guitarist and I have to thank you to opening my eyes and ears to the importance of production quality and to having more of a trained ear , this video covers exactly what I would have overlooked previously. Keep the awesome content coming, rock on!!!!

[@nicholasjansen5601]

Here’s some advice from an experienced guitarist. Forget production quality for now and focus solely on learning your instrument. There will come a time for that but that time is not now.

[@JaggedDagger]

Here's more advice. Don't take tips from a KZbinr who is tone deaf

[@AndresGarcia-qk3sj]

​@@JaggedDaggerhere comes the butthurt fan

[@7ChaosBlack]

Don't take advice from a guy who ranks Dream Theater above Slayer and thinks 80s Black Sabbath is unimpressive.

[@smokedkillbasa544]

I prefer Ride The Lightning’s tone a lot more than Master Of Puppets.

[@Noah_2008]

Bro…… no

[@youreokayboah2128]

@@Noah_2008 Yes

[@unleashthebloodthirst69420]

The tone has more balanced frequencies but with the added reverb, it takes a lot of the details away and makes the mix overly chaotic. The black album has the best tones in all music. That album is produced perfectly.

[@smokedkillbasa544]

One might say overproduced.

[@MetalHeadProductions]

@@smokedkillbasa544 overproduced = doesnt sound like shit.

[@metallibasscovers]

As much as I love cliff, his bass just sounded like mindless low end but the way mike re-did it, the growl is back, I can here what cliff is actually playing, and it sounded more clear instead of just stomach gurgling.

[@jeremyswalley8625]

It sounded pretty good on a cassette!! It might be more harsh listening through digital mediums everything sounds more separated. With cassettes it all bled together and sounded thicker.

[@chadcampbell3888]

I believe the band and Fleming Rasmussen have said his run of albums was mixed for the cassette as the primary physical media of the time.

[@soulknight5330]

That explains a lot of things

[@SLGJerry]

I know my opinion is probably an unpopular but I honestly prefer the OG version.

[@Koake1002]

No your 100 percent on point. This guy thinks he is doing justice to the album. He actually made it worst.

[@shadowmuffin36]

“Before” “After” *me nodding my head, even though I can’t tell the difference*

[@wrongbeach35]

Who is this dude? Imagine picking apart and second guessing the creative decisions of such an icon as Flemming Rasmussen on his most iconic work and thinking you would have done it better. The album is perfectly flawed in every way.

[@7ChaosBlack]

Mike is someone with his head up his own arse.

[@redwings0142]

I enjoy you “fixing” these mixes that have been ruined for you. Ranting and all. But how about a challenge: fixing …And Justice For All😅

[@GeneralMiller92FIN]

Hard to fix something what doesn't exist i.e. bass guitar.

[@tyresesmith6799]

@@GeneralMiller92FIN the bass is in the mix, it’s just hidden

[@thecjwolfpack]

@@tyresesmith6799 It's in witness protection

[@hank35682]

Nothing to fix 🤷‍♂️

[@hank35682]

The albums perfect their best album too

[@randymiles904]

Oh. It wasn't a joke. Dude is literally trying "fix" MASTER OF PUPPETS. Interesting.

[@sgtbootycheeks7874]

Dude isn’t “trying to fix” Master of Puppets the song, he’s fixing a mix that was made over more than 30 years ago. If you don’t understand what he is doing, you have no knowledge of what makes a mix sound good. It wasn’t because Metallica is bad, it’s because the producer and mixers choices.

[@randymiles904]

@@sgtbootycheeks7874 I understand what he's trying to do, but some things should be left alone. For instance, ANYTHING iconic. That was the sound and the style of the time, and it was great. You used to listen to albums and every one had a different feel and sound, and dare I say personality. Now everything sounds the same, because producers using similar programs think they've cracked the code on what all music should sound like, and what should be heard. Leave shit alone.

[@prodICYN]

@@randymiles904 That's just dumb, he's not saying he doesn't like MOP. It's not because something's iconic that it can't be both criticized and remixed/remastered

[@ChainsawSlammer1.3.8]

​@@randymiles904 They're will still sound unique and different, just remixed, remastered. I do remasters of Mortician. Once they were the heaviest band, but I think it's obvious for all that modern sound technologies are exceed the old's. So I just make Mortician heavier than modern bands.

[@gavincabral7896]

Seems like a great example of how good music isn’t determined by how good the actual mix is, what determines a songs success is (in my opinion) largely the production before it reaches the mixing stage

[@explorerthis100]

The Master of Puppets tone is easily one of the best guitar tones...it’s one of most chased tones for tone freaks

[@jonw3462]

It's not that outstanding tbf. It used to be amazing but it's easily reproduced and works well for the record.

[@Stephen7102]

This was actually really interesting. Can you do something like this with a detailed breakdown of what you consider to already be a really good mix?

[@jrk10]

I love the tone and mix just because it fits it

[@smithfan22]

This video just got posted and you watched 40 mins of material in 2 mins?

[@jrk10]

@@smithfan22 I wasn’t commenting on his mix I just love the original it’s imperfection just makes it more raw

[@corduroy3219]

@@jrk10 facts not everything needs to be overproduced. one of my favorite mixes is on the album hidden history of the human race by blood incantation because its all analog and really raw but still comprehendible

[@nihilisticinquisition7150]

Dude, great work! I was skeptical at first, but I really like what you've done to it. That Metallica-'bathtub-EQ' sounds cool on its own, but in a mix everything else has to compromise in order to make up for it.

[@karol_p]

I don't get the point of "correcting" the mixes which stood the test of time and are no doubt good which is confirmed by popularity of the albums.

[@lukewoodworth2101]

Your guitar tone still bites like the original it's just so much more pleasant. Apparently cliff was using an aria pro more often then not in 1985-1986. And likely used it to record master of puppets

[@Anonymous-o6t6p]

15:07 he did play a rickenbacker during the early years before it got stolen right before ride the lightning, but it was modded with a “MudBucker” from a Gibson EB-0 which are super warm neck humbuckers which give very little growl so even if he did play one here it would have still be rather rumbly, if i remember correctly i believe he used his aria SB for this song

[@TheTitxus47]

Damn, you hit that spacebar as if it owed you money

[@haydenarlington8256]

My big problem with the mixes from Ride the Lightning up to And Justice For All is that the bass was barely inaudible. Keep in mind that this is coming from a bass player, but that’s just me. Also you are right, as much as I love Cliff, his bass tone by itself when it’s not covered with distortion and wah is just bad. But I love what you did with his tone and the mix in general. Definitely do more vids like this.

[@jacksonsjukebox]

This reminds me of when I was walking away from the doctors after having my ears syringed and discovering I could hear all of things I couldn't hear before I went in.

[@graymatters_]

You should try re-mastering Kill Em’ All too! I think that would make the album sound 10x better.

[@aluminumfalcon552]

I have the remastered Kill Em All on my spotify, it sounds much better than RTL, MOP, and AJFA. You can hear Cliff’s bass so well in it, it’s how they all should have sounded.

[@terriblecertainity]

fundamentally disagree here. The puppets tone is so much heavier than most tones we get today. Hell, besides Decapitated and Soreption, I can't think of modern bands with heavy tone. Too much mids, too little high...just way too tamed. Just way too little emphasis on the palm mute. It's a heavy guitar. It's MEANT to be harsh.

[@jackko21]

Yep best guitar tones for me are justice for all Peace sells by megadeth Cowboys from hell by pantera Obituary slowly we rot Death spiritual healing Morbid angel covenant Black sabbath master of reality

[@Heatwave9000]

Nonsense, its poorly produced.

[@terriblecertainity]

@@Heatwave9000 verall, too much reverb, and the drums are kinda muddy. Other than that, it fits the songs perfectly. The guitar tone is excellent. Yes, it sounds very different from current tones, but those are boring and soft to me

[@jackko21]

@@Heatwave9000 better than it being overproduced and sterile metal is supposed to be raw and nasty

[@shmick6079]

If I ever had a minor issue with Master of Puppets, it would be the mix, but at the same time I’ve always just put that down to the era.

[@stevechapman9690]

Fantastic job not just presenting the mix from the technical aspect but actually describing the thought process behind what and why you made these enhancements… along with describing the feel of it all… awesome stuff 🤘🏻

[@cheezy8492]

Its a testament to how cool cliff was since the mixes always buried him

[@k1ng_NL]

I agree with the bass tone part. The reason that Cliff Burton was “sloppy” at times is because he was heavily inspired by punk.

[@Hoscitt]

And Cliff would come in to the studio, get stoned, do two takes and go home 😄 According to Fleming

[@timgonzales2891]

He also played almost exclusively 2 finger, but wasn't fast enough to do it clean. If he'd played at least three finger, I imagine he would have been cleaner. Also, distorted bass played with the fingers sounds pretty bad like 90% of the time

[@necroticpoison]

The tone might make it seem even sloppier. He might've had old strings on the album (RTL sounds like fresh strings) and been subjected to bad EQ and compression on the desk. Both of those things likely make sloppiness much worse.

[@MagCynic]

I'd like to watch more videos on the music production side of things. It'd be cool to hear perhaps a Crusader song with different settings on the mix just to see what goes into producing a song for release.

[@ashleydebeer3893]

To be honest, I think you need to come to terms and appreciate something for what it is, rather than feel you need to fix it. Listening to your commentary and seeing your changes, all good and all, but it's not making something better, it's making it different. To sonically change the character and sound of a classic album, all the while verbally tearing it's elements to pieces the way you have, only shows your lack of respect for the work that's gone into it all for those engineers that worked on it back then, but also your ill appreciation for the journey heavy music has made to get to the standard it's on today. Everyone and their granny knows you can take old music, run it through modern tech and "modernize" it... This approach doesn't make it better though, and you're fooling yourself if you think it does. Majority of people who listen to MOP have done so on re-recorded casette tapes and overplayed vinyl their whole lives... the sentiment of "fixing" the tone or mix is lost here. But yeh, taking a swing at Metallica gets you hits, we get it.

[@snowyrain5730]

There are probably a 100 different versions of this album out there. I have an original gatefold double LP set which sounds infintely better than any of the others. Kirks solos have a *pop to them you can't hear on other versions, very live sounding like someone took a blanket off the cab. You can also hear Cliffs bass without straining while almost every other version I've heard is almost inaudible. It even sounds better overall than the DCC Gold Disc version. In the end though, it's all in the Ear of the Beholder...

[@lolxd4khd]

The funniest thing about it is that Master Of Puppets has a better tone than And Justice for All, although MOP started the trend of removing the mids of the guitar tone, AJFA simply took that to the extreme.

[@andykromer3529]

Cliff had switched to mostly using his Aria SB Black N' Gold at this point, which uses a single humbucking bass pickup

[@DriftKingfromTekken3]

It's supposed to sound extremely tight and sharp, and almost like sandpaper. That was the whole point.

[@prodICYN]

Yeah and he showed that you can still retain that identity while just sounding better

[@EmperorTigerstar]

So since Master of Puppets is my favorite album, I definitely have a bias towards the original mixing. One of the things I've always loved about Metallica is the difference in tones between their early albums, and MoP represented murky, dark, draggy, evil, filthy, kickassery. As an individual song, sure, I can see the benefits of your new mix for clarity on how James and Kirk are playing, but I've always enjoyed the album as a set piece where that (intentional or not) mixing adds to the atmosphere for my experience. I guess a comparable feeling is like if you heard a re-mastered 1940s jazz doo wop song with modern mics and mixing. Sure it'll sound better, but sometimes that old timey tin-can AM radio sound adds to the feeling when enjoying it. That's just my dorky thoughts though. I'd much rather you do this with Death Magnetic and fix the problems there.

[@BrainWasherAttendent]

Everybody has different ears. It’s highly subjective lol.

[@dingbatrambozo7749]

im with you emperor. This new mix is fantastic in terms of overall clarity, but to my ears it loses something. perhaps it loses just a touch of that crushing heaviness and atmosphere. but hey im just some guy on the interwebs lobbing his two cents

[@norsesaga1984]

Dude talks about production like production is his middle name. Imagine judging a Van Gogh painting by the brushes he used. Best gears in the world would not gonna do nothing if you don't have talent and a simple acoustic guitar will melt your heart if given to someone talented. Well, not your heart, you are a robot probably.

[@Midna__]

Honestly would have expected “ why the AJFA tone isn’t as good as everyone says it is “ video before Pastor Of Muppets tone video.

[@thefellduck]

The difference in the guitars was good. The change in Burton's part was night and day. Bravo.

[@harolddaniels7883]

Guitar sounds so much higher/cleaner. Yeah, the bass doesn't sound so muffled. Geeze, the small db changes, escaped me, due to occupational hearing loss ( high end, in my left, and low end in my right ), props to you, still being able to do that. This is kick ass cool dude. There's a lot of "reaction" vids, on here, with "old heads", just chalking up, some music, as just "noise" ( due to the limitations of, thech/recording media ). Doing this, to mixing, could help ppl appreciate, the tracks, more. The time you took, to remix this, and make it so much cleaner, without taking anything away from the emotion the band/musicians, put into, the message, really gives someone, a better appreciation, for the advancement, in production products ( I have a clearer picture, of how "Rick Beato", can appreciate the production, of current music, when he does his Spotify top 10's, even though the substance/storytelling, may not, be there ). I'm a closet, bargain basement investee, in guitar gear, with just a grasp, on "I know how to tune it" lol, and the more I learn about theory, and whatnot, is making me feel, more, and more comfortable, with the daunting task of trying to learn, at my age. Thanks.

[@marvaster]

Awesome video, it really sounds a lot better with your mix. Well done, Mike. Well done!

[@gurnblanston5000]

Did Ted Templemen mix stereo the way he did so that when folded to mono, it would sound as punchy and clear as it could be??

[@michaelmireles7411]

I found it interesting that what you did to the bass, kinda makes it sounds like the ride the lightning bass tone, which he actually used his rickenbacker bass on. I’m pretty sure he used his aria bass on this album which may explain the lack of upper midrange

[@pip5528]

DAC actually stands for digital-to-analog converter but I get why many people erroneously think "digital audio converter" and I suppose it's technically both in a way. It is kinda funny that Hetfield/Hammett/Petrucci all used effectively the same amp but got different metal tones out of it due to a combination of how they dialed it, the speakers they used, and a bit of how they play.

[@pentagonoenllamas]

4:24 I remember back when these stems first started to appear from videogames there were people saying "that's fake, no way someone as great as Cliff would be playing with such a shitty tone". Like dude, you don't have to expect everything about someone to be the utmost perfection just because they're a legend.

[@tuuresuomalainen9388]

I think one thing that fucks with the guitar tone particularly on this song is that it was recorded slightly slower in a slightly lower tuning and then sped up afterwards. I mean the album as a whole doesn't have the greatest tone to begin with but to mess with it this way fucks it up a little more

[@Gygesdcom]

Is it really horrible?

[@BecomeTheKnight]

No it's not truly horrible. It's a headline.

[@RileyMerlino]

Duuuuuude thank you so much for doing this. I have never been a huge fan of the guitar and drum tones on this album but I have always LOATHED the bass tone. The bass tone on The Black album compared to the early days is such a huge difference. What is your favorite part of this song? My favorite is the riff you were talking about that sounds like sandpaper in the original.

[@unleashthebloodthirst69420]

I think the tone is fine, but you brought the tone to a higher level! So Respect.

[@schizopathicajones430]

Just my humble opinion: Fleming Rasmussen just COULD NOT capture Metallica's live sound and energy which was groundbreaking at the time. I recall (20 years ago) James mentioning he thought the production on MOP was only halfway finished when they had to call it done.

[@Callumiller_]

You should remaster the whole Death Magnetic album, I would pay to hear that, seriously!

[@ShounenN]

There is already a full album remastered out here on yt it is pretty famous and it makes the songs sooooo alive and 10x better..dont really know what it is called anymore tho since I downloaded those songs like 5 years ago haha

[@kamilwierzbicki7058]

Holy moly! Like a day and night difference! All throughout the video I was kinda sure there will be a link to download your mix for the whole song. MY DISAPPOINTMENT IS UNMEASURABLE AND MY WHOLE DAY IS RUINED 😢. I want it on my Spotify so bad :(

[@OwlR4id3r]

While watching this video I constantly thought to myself: less is more. You genuinely think you 'fixed' Master of Puppets when in reality you pigeonholed it to your own musical preference which is incredibly production focused rather than actually fixing it. I get that you dislike how Master of Puppets sounds originally but to call it 'shitty' is simply 'not getting it' which is funny seeing as that's the same defense you use for things you personally like against people who criticize those things. Sometimes you don't want to add more color or whatever, there is beauty in simplicity, minimalism, etc. The fact that you don't personally get these things doesn't make them shitty.

[@LeonLandgren-qt9pg]

Exactly. What sounds good is personal preference.

[@aricmeerbott3323]

3:55 a boost at 800 hz on a bass is a very common move. not atypical at all.

[@christianhackl474]

Bullshit. Master of puppets is a freaking 80's song what u expect!? For that time it was/is a decent mix Lol. And btw, now after what you've done, the song loses that 80's feel sadly. Regardless if u did it good or not, but imo the song was already good sounding (mix etc) in all ways

[@BrainWasherAttendent]

⁠ those sounds and tones are iconic and classic. They will never be outdone. Sure, sometimes they might “sound dated”, but that goes for anything after time passes. The art and the moment is encapsulated forever and this need to “update” tones to apply better to modern ears is a bit of a lost cause, because no matter what you do we are already acclimated to the sound as it has always been. I’ve rarely heard a remastered album or remixed album outdo the original. That snapshot taken at the time of recording is magical because it is an impossible moment to happen again.

[@kylereece1979]

Are you able to upload your version of the song on YT in its entirety? There are some genuine top tier remixes of other Metallica songs out there that are brilliant and interesting to listen to. Your work here is really cool and Id love to hear the whole thing here! Well done, man.

[@gurnblanston5000]

150-1000 hz is always a battlefield.

[@pasza_dem]

Wow there's so much clarity in the mix now, amazing!

[@blackhaze8233]

I find this fun to watch and see how things are mixed. Very cool video

[@gabrielkolovos6997]

No

[@Cyb3rSynaps3]

congrats, you made it slightly louder. thank god you were here to give us this remix.

[@AndresGarcia-qk3sj]

If you think he inky made it louder you are deaf

[@adrianfong5783]

That’s kinda the point the original mix is drowning everything 💀💀💀I mean dudes cocky in the video but he actually made the song better

[@loubadabin420]

Impressive, Led Zeppelin 2 could really use your mastering expertise after hearing how you modernized MOP. Hats off to you sir.....

[@craigusselman546]

Led Zeppelin 2 s production sounds as brown and thin as its cover .

[@Nichwar19]

Production is great on thst album if you ask me

[@alexschneider8494]

I mean yeah, they have cut mids and very boosted low frequencies from 100-150. With that said, the guitar tone is iconic whether it matches the standard of what is considered a good metal tone now or not. Changing it gets rid of a lot of the charm from the original song. It sounds badass the way it is and I love the guitar tone. I’m not even some metal boomer either, I’m 25. I have my mids either cranked or at least at a 5 when I dial in my own personal tone, but that doesn’t mean the Master of Puppets tone sucks. It is very much good for what it is. It was early metal.

[@alexschneider8494]

Also, boosted bass and cut mids is a thing that existed in even metalcore in the 2000s

[@unleashthebloodthirst69420]

Admitavly, it is incredibly revolutionary for its time. It’s technically not that good, but it is a lot of fun.

[@matiosmi137]

You may even be right about the tone, but since this record cemented itself in my then 14yo musical memory waaaay before I even considered tone to be a thing to pay attention to, you'll never ruin it for me ... ... whiiiiich wasn't exactly the case with Blackwater Park. That was just a sulphur hit in your ears XD

[@andreisidro6544]

I heard that Hetfield recorded Master with the drums slightly slowed down in order to deliver a tighter performance (I know you think the performance is sloppy, but bare in mind it was all downstrokes, recorded to tape, on a tight schedule). If that's true, then when the song is played at the correct speed the guitars would naturally sound thinner. In fact, the sound of the guitars changes quite a bit from song to song throughout the album, which leads me to believe not all of the songs had their drums varispeed when recording the guitars, and the ones that had probably had them in different amounts

[@snowyrain5730]

the things that band had to do so Lars could keep up...

[@daario4278]

I would like to hear the full version

[@ABoy242]

Same

[@MarvinCZ]

Unfortunately that's not something Mike can just play or share. You know, piracy and stuff...

[@daario4278]

@@MarvinCZ if he shared it on yt I'm pretty sure it would just be claimed by Metallica and they would get all the money and it wouldn't be piracy. But I'm not completely sure about that

[@MarvinCZ]

@@daario4278 It would still be piracy, just resolved a certain way. He could also get a DMCA takedown, which comes with a channel strike. That would severely hurt the channel - I think he wouldn't be able to post for some time, streaming could be limited, and it possibly leads to complete channel deletion...

[@stopmotionmovie123]

Good job! This new mix makes the song sound 10000000000 times better than it already does!

[@swiff5215]

Is this guy that annoying every-time?

[@Owen_plays_music1049]

Yes

[@youreokayboah2128]

He’s full of himself yes. Lmao

[@defaultdan7923]

whatever that korneff plugin did was absolutely magical

[@cradem01]

You definetly did this song justice with this mix my god it's like night and day

[@BORN753]

I never understood why Cliff Burton is so great because I literally never heard his bass in any song, other than maybe Call of Cthulhu and Orion.

[@deletedhero5579]

I know what you mean but he was unique in his playing, and was the only bassist I know that had a bass solo spot live and played bass like a lead guitar. He was also highly musical influential on the band by turning them into harmonies etc very musically schooled

[@tokenfrenchman]

I think the most important contribution he made was in the arrangements- as soon as he wasn't there you'll notice that a lot of harmonisation, counterpoint etc... is no longer present in Metallica's songwriting.

[@deletedhero5579]

@@tokenfrenchman To be fair Lars was always the song arranger but cliff taught James and Lars about note choice and harmonies etc. They still did a lot of harmonies on justice and some on black album it their change in sound wasn't for lack of Cliff it would have happened either way I think

[@BORN753]

@@tokenfrenchman Yeah, that thing I noticed a long ago. I was talking about him as bassist, and his parts are really non-trivial in some ways for his time, yet one just can't hear them properly.

[@rofyle]

I bet you have also tried to "fix" the pops and hisses in an old Elvis vinyl and the color palette in the Wizard of Oz. If your first thought upon seeing the Mona Lisa in person is, "she sho do have a lotta cracks in her paint", then you've missed the point. That guitar tone is not just a part of history, it's also a part of the art. Leave it alone!

[@scottudell7202]

Cliff was using his Aria SB bass by the time Puppets was made, if I remember correctly. He didn't use his Ric often 85-86.

[@insanemtl5890]

I love the way the album sounds, EXCEPT for the title track. Somehow it's always sounded like it was under its potential. The same tone makes the intro to Disposable Heroes one of the heaviest sounding riffs I've ever heard. EDIT: The Orion main riff as well, allthough I do like the spacial drums there. But still under its potential. And I guess Battery and Sanitarium too, here and there. But holy s**t do I love Disposable Heroes. I doubt it could be improved without compromising on whatever it is that I love about it. Anyways, great job with the mix, I like the improvements! Have you heard the Blackened Remix by Ahdy Khairat? Blew me away. People tend to overdo the bass on Justice remixes, but that guy knew how to do it right. If I now listen to the original, it always feels way more lacking than it had already.

[@AlucardsQuest]

While I agree that heavy guitar should focus on mids, I don't know that the new mix you've done sounds that much better. There's a reason we push to leave history as is rather than retroactively change it. I understand this is kind of your thing and your channels content, (and I'll be the last person to defend Metallica anything) but to some degree this is based on your opinion... and about 6 million North Americans fell in love with the "bad production" of the original, not your vision.

[@AlexH8280]

Regarding the bass and why it lives in 800hz, has to do with James and Lars deciding even back then that the palm muted chug of the guitars should be the dominant bass frequency. This reasoning would carry over to the bass-less disaster that is And Justice For All.

[@Eden_Rubin_Music]

I know from listening to metal music of our days that the level of guitar sound and mix in general improved a lot. But if being honest I still listen to this album and the sound and mix sounds very optimized and feel great. Never heard this music and felt the sound is tetrrible as you mentioned here.

[@Eden_Rubin_Music]

BTW is that the original track, or the tracks after the remaster version? Right now I've listened to the 1986 compare to the remastered and there's a huge difference actually, especially in the 1986 you can hear the bass wayyyy louder, and not in a very cool way. Actually it's the first time I kinda understood why it was reduced in the first place. The remastered version bass is way more blended. The remaster of this sound great man. no doubt.

[@JoshAllen17Goated]

The mix always just gets louder and loses low end.

[@theicedevil]

It's great what you did, but they didn't have this technology back in the 80s. Try comparing it to other guitar tones back in the 80s. One of the biggest production trends of the 80s was to turn up the reverb on everything, which MOP lacked, and why it's one of the cleanest and heaviest productions from the 80s. The album still sounds great to me to this day. I personally, don't like most modern production. Because when you over process everything, it takes the humanity out of the music. I'll still tell you that MOP sounds better than most productions today. No processing the music through computers and no quantization and no auto tune. Just pure raw humanity.

[@benjaf1058]

Interesting analysis of James’s scooped tone potentially causing problems with the bass seeing as how that’s exactly the reason Jason Newsteads performance on AJFA was quite literally lost in the mix

[@69mosshead]

That and they turned it down, Lars said take it down to barley audible and then drop it by a few more dB

[@mangoherpson]

This was pretty insightful, i know nothing about mixing but this was a cool video.

[@Koake1002]

Anyone in the comment section who thinks this guy made a classic album better with his little experience of mixing a track compared to professionals is probably as crazy as this dude. Everything that made that album what it is he managed to Make it sound like Arianna grande or t pain can sing to it. Went from heavy to a loud echo. This video should be banned.

[@wlower5159]

Bro your remix legit sounds so much better. You actually fixed the problem that I had with the MOP album and that it always sounded square to me. That is the shape that always comes to mind. Clunky, rough, and not smooth.

[@elielsoares]

Let's wait for the band to contact us to re-release the album with this incredibly transformative mix, and for Flemming Hasmussen to apologize for existing. Or, perhaps forget this video. Who knows?

[@sealinski]

30:40 - that bridge riff is one of my favorite parts of the song. Your [version*] really made the sound a more full, dare I say [more*] holistic sounding? I dunno, anyways. Hey, this was super helpful for me, as I attempt to learn my DAW (including mixing/mastering in general*). If you can add more [content*] like this that would be awesome. Thanks for the tips. * Edit

[@sublucky74]

That was fantastic! I wish you could fix the whole Justice and St Anger albums!

[@Daniel-sx6vc]

Nothing wrong with Justice

[@luisfermin2102]

@@Daniel-sx6vcdude that bass...

[@Daniel-sx6vc]

@@luisfermin2102 the bass muddied up the mix incredibly, Jason’s tone was ass for those recordings.

[@ramymeziane2680]

AJFA isn’t AJFA anymore without the “wowowo” of the guitars

[@bonesylikesgoodmusic3401]

@Daniel 9123 Saying there is nothing wrong AJFA's mix is crazy. Besides the bass issue, the guitars are way too shrill, the bass drum is clicky and thin, the snare is completely underwhelming, it would take a LOT to fully 'fix' that mix

[@casanova6668]

Jesus, my inexperienced ear didn't even hear how badly your mix needed to happen until I actually heard it. Incredible job Mike, the song actually sounds metal now. Pity there's nothing to be done about the drums, but like, does that really surprise anyone?

[@ShadowSatan411]

You gave it a more modern clean sound, well done. It sounds worse than the original.

[@BecomeTheKnight]

I'm sorry you willfully choose to be narrow-minded

[@ShadowSatan411]

@@BecomeTheKnight it's funny how anyone who disagrees with you is narrow minded isn't it Mike

[@smithfan22]

@@ShadowSatan411 its just false that it sounds worse. You may not like it, but it is by no means worse.

[@ShadowSatan411]

@@smithfan22 it's no more false that it's worse than true that it's better. We're on Mike the music snob's video here though, we don't qualify our language to accept its subjectivity.

[@smithfan22]

@@ShadowSatan411 What?

[@sheacorduroy5565]

Always felt RTL had a better tone lmao.

[@sammylogan7228]

you need to release this somewhere. i would love to hear the full song with your mix!

[@asicerik]

The big problem with your "before" is you can actually hear the bass at all.

[@lessermagic3991]

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

[@gastonpossel]

Why the drum hits sound double??

[@eduardoculpi5783]

the stems are fucked, they're pulled from guitar hero: metallica, i don't know what they did to them but it sounds way worse than what's actually on the record.

[@ChameleonHulk]

Meh. Using modern day tech to mix an 80‘s sound is nice but doesn’t impress me.