Mastering

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maltingsaudiomaltingsaudio Frets: 3098
edited November 2013 in Studio & Recording

Following on from Polarity mans discussion about where to start mixing and Octotonics reply which was this :
Learn how to gain stage.
Aim to have the track peak at -5db (to leave room for a mastering engineer)

I would like you to have a look at this
image

The first bit is a modern disco crap hit what did the frog say the second girl from Iponaema guess which bit sounded best? Not because I'm old simply because the too much mastering killis a track. If you reccord a track how it should sound there is no need to get it mastered  ... just saying 
www.maltingsaudio.co.uk
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Comments

  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    edited November 2013
    Mastering does have its place but mainly because fashions have changed- labels WANT overloud music- they want it to be the loudest thing they have ever heard & it is a real fight to go against that.
    I can spend an hour explaining the technical reasons as to why it is a bad idea.
    I can discuss ear fatigue and lack of dynamic.
    I can talk about instrument balance.
    At the end of the conversation they say 'yeah just make sure it is really loud'.
    It is like talking to a wall.

    Also it is another set of ears in a different room- this is the main reason I do it.

    I always use a mastering engineer- usually Metropolis in Chiswick.
    They have a much better room and I do and I trust the guys doing the mastering.
    The tracks always come back a bit better than they went out.
    If it is a lot better (rather than just louder with some slight eq changes) then I haven't mixed very well.

    Even if I had a million £ room with some of the best gear known to man I would probably still get another set of ears in- they see stuff you don't, because they aren't as close to it as you are.

    What I never do is run something through L3 and say that it is mastered- which is something a lot of guys do now.
    Some online mastering companies (not all) simply do this and nothing more.

    I advocate a 'softly softly' approach when it comes to mastering.
    Certainly if you leave -5db of headroom for the mastering guy to work with then you are helping yourself and the mastering engineer too.
    Personally I don't want my mixes to be the loudest thing ever at the cost of the song's dynamics but I'm employed by people who feel differently.

    We've backed ourselves into a corner with this though- there is only so much headroom before it square waves and we are seeing some of the loudest records ever recorded.
    I don't listen to them- I can't.
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  • Have a wisdom Octo
    www.maltingsaudio.co.uk
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  • Another amen to that moment, eloquently put octatonic.  The lunatics are in charge of the asylum (so no news there then).
    A new pair of ears to listen dispassionately but with professionalism and experience, along with testing in a different acoustic environment should always be a positive thing.
    Wisdom earned and already donated.  Good post.

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  • Hadn`t realised this, but so many CD`s I am sent to play on my station are so loud these days, that I am overdriving the desk, so have to keep adjusting between songs. Didn`t realise the mastering side was getting like this.
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Thanks fellas.
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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11790

    RHCP's Californication was the horror story most often cited when this started, from the mid 90s

    Here is the year 2000 Protools forum thread on it: http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=5375&highlight=californication

    Oasis was so compressed it was impossible to listen to it on a proper hifi

     

    On the point from @Octatonic about a second set of ears: we should remember that we've all probably damaged our hearing with guitar amps, so it's even more necessary for us degenerates

    My shortcut is to use TC Electronics X3, in a subtle way. However if this was my day job, I'd probably want to get a final polish from a Pro if I could afford it

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  • What I think is amazing when you look at those waveforms is that the hot masters dont sound completely unlistenable...as in jsts like constant distortion) as opposed to simply robbing the music of its dynamics.
    ဈǝᴉʇsɐoʇǝsǝǝɥɔဪቌ
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    edited November 2013
    simply robbing the music of its dynamics.
    That isn't a massive issue in rock music, really as rock music never uses more than 6-9db most of the time.
    With classical music, dynamic range is imperative- so you don't see loudness wars stuff happening.
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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11790
    octatonic said:
    simply robbing the music of its dynamics.
    That isn't a massive issue in rock music, really as rock music never uses more than 6-9db most of the time.
    With classical music, dynamic range is imperative- so you don't see loudness wars stuff happening.
    I wish classical music had some close mic'ing wars, I'd love to hear instruments up close instead of through a wall of natural reverb and coughing
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  • randomhandclapsrandomhandclaps Frets: 20521
    edited November 2013

    http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4011/4236872638_987faf0431_o.jpg

    Where the loudness war started.  It's mastering was originally seen as an abomination and it was sent back assuming there had been a mistake when they opened the files and saw big square blocks.  However promoters loved the fact that it leapt out from the radio and the desire for mega-loud mastering began. 

    Sound on Sound did a series of the dynamic scope of tracks.  It's amazing how much it varies even within one genre.  When the rest of the Brit Pop/Rock scene was going for brickwall compression, Radiohead's recording remaining comparatively dynamic.

     

    I do hate it when I am mixing something or I send off a piece and I get a request to make it louder because people have become so accustomed to in your face dynamic free recordings.

    My muse is not a horse and art is not a race.
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