---
log: 009
title: "Mastering from the wreck — PunkAChien, by analysis not by name"
date: 2026-06-05
task: "#19 Ship PunkAChien · #13 stem export · #20 best-take"
tags: [mastering, stems, eda, tooling, punkachien, release]
shareable: true
---

## Cap (what & why)
Master the lead relaunch single, PunkAChien, from real stems — and decide between
the Montreuil and Hamburg takes — for a fresh-ears A/B the next morning.

## Manœuvre (how)
1. **Exported the stems first** (non-negotiable): the Montreuil take is `Take89` in
   the Ardour wreck; only 9/65 takes had been salvaged, so ran the exporter to land
   12 phase-coherent orbit-stems, then sliced the PunkAChien window
   `[2387.0 → 2674.74]s` (master-time + HEAD_TRIM 75.0; the cut lands exactly on a
   detected silence — independent confirmation).
2. **Read the score** (`live/collab/raph/punkachien.tidal`) for the orbit→element map,
   then **threw the names away** and built the real map by **EDA on the audio** — a new
   reusable `tidal-ears master eda` subcommand (spectral centroid, pyin pitch, band
   energy, RMS/crest, + an activity-timeline sparkline).
3. **Mastered from stems** with a config-driven Rhadamanthe chain (`build_master.py`):
   per-element HPF, kick-sidechain carve on the bass bus, mono-bass ≤120, drum widen,
   glue comp, two-pass loudnorm. 4 masters + 6 loudness-matched A/B fragments + a
   self-contained `judge.html`.

## Prise (findings / artifacts)
- New tool: `tidal-ears master eda` (+ `--timeline`). Working tools in
  `armada/tide-table/punkachien/`: `build_master.py`, `judge.html`, `stems/`,
  `masters/` (×4), `frags/` (×6), `eda_core.json`.
- Arrangement, measured: cpluck (A♯2) is the riff/bass spine; acid (D2) front-half;
  **moog sub is silent until the ~208s DROP**; jungle break owns the outro.
- **`meth_bass` never plays in this take** — the code/name said "wobble bass", the
  audio said silence. Caught only because EDA ran.
- Montreuil LRA 7.4 vs Hamburg 3.7 — Montreuil is the dynamic take (breakdown→drop),
  Hamburg the steady 2:22 burner.

## Sel (the shareable learning)
- **Master by analysis, not by name.** The single most useful move was distrusting the
  livecode: `meth_bass` was named like a monster and was pure silence; `cpluck` ("a
  pluck") was the loudest thing in the track and carrying the bassline. EDA on stems
  isn't optional — it's the first fader you touch.
- **Stems are the leverage.** A 2-track can only be glued; from 12 orbits you can
  sidechain the bass to the kick, mono the sub, and widen only the drums. The wreck of
  an 80-minute Ardour session is, per track, a fully recallable mix.
- **Tooling compounds.** The `eda` subcommand and `build_master.py` cost one track to
  write and now master the next 30 for free.

## Hameçon (hook)
"The bassline in my own track wasn't the sample called 'bass'. The thing labelled
meth_bass played for exactly zero seconds. I'd never have known if I mastered by eye
instead of by ear-plus-FFT."

## Sillage (what it unlocks)
A/B verdicts (`judge.html` → `punkachien_verdicts.json`) feed the v2 master, then
PunkAChien ships (artwork → CD Baby + Bandcamp → announce). The `eda`/`build_master`
pair becomes `tidal-ears master track` for the whole release calendar.
