Automatic Mastering Software And Online Servies

I keep it real by playing out twice a week with about 12 other musicians. I volunteer to play my acoustic guitar and sing at two senior centers. I usually play for crowds between 45-120 people per show. I get very good responses from the other musicians and the crowd. The original songs I've played are getting very good feedback. I plan on recording them sometime soon. I've been playing the senior centers for almost two years now.
 
I have a bunch of midi equipment and one day I let it play itself. I called the song "Artificial Intelligence." It was a weird song, totally played by my computer. I'll have to hunt around to see if I can find a copy of it...this was about 25 years ago.
 
Martin Maniac said:
I keep it real by playing out twice a week with about 12 other musicians. I volunteer to play my acoustic guitar and sing at two senior centers. I usually play for crowds between 45-120 people per show. I get very good responses from the other musicians and the crowd. The original songs I've played are getting very good feedback. I plan on recording them sometime soon. I've been playing the senior centers for almost two years now.
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Once again, good for you.

But good God, you really are an argumentative character. :)

What you fail to see is that people are cool with your choices, bur you're not cool with other's opinions, philosophies, or even proffessional knowledge of the subject .

Besides, you've hijacked another poster's thread with your incessant aurguing.

What you going to do, get another thread closed?

I'm done, you won't hear any more from me.
:D
 
Actually I'm not the one arguing, the other posters are. I'm in agreement with the original poster of this thread. I want to encourage him to keep experimenting with the mastering software. It's the other guys that are trying to discourage him.
 
"...synth bass line on it, so heavy it would distort the speakers when played. For the life of me, I couldn't get rid of that distortion. Once I ran the song thru the automated system, the synth bass was tuned down and under control. The distortion I was hearing before was now gone, and the tune was then good enough for iTunes, where as before that distortion was very distracting."
There are two major issues with this statement that clarify, for me, why you are happy to use such software...
a) you wanted it iTunes ready &
b) you couldn't deal with the distortion yourself.
If your aim is a) then mangling and downgrading is where you're at & b) suggests you don't have the time, energy, interest or capacity to deal with issue & problem solve for yourself.
 
What I find the most concerning with Martin Maniacs's posts, is that he does not seem to have the desire to learn himself.

Obviously he is just looking for the fast and easy way to get from rough to final 'mastered' mix. That may be fine for him, all good, but I would consider that a blatant case of being lazy personally. My step-son is in school for audio engineering and he has the same shitty attitude... If he would just open his ears he would learn more from the studio in the basement than any textbook will give him. But, then it seems logic does not suit the new generation...I don't get it...

He 'Martin' seems to take the advice given as personal attacks. The advice given 'for the most part' is only advice as to how to 'Do It Yourself' and showing that that is not only possible, but better results will be achieved when one has complete control over the 'master'.

I feel that Martin neglected to understand that this is a site where members actually help others to 'learn' how to evolve by doing things themselves. Not by throwing shit to the wind and hoping any service will make it magically perfect. If he did not come across as such a judgemental member (I changed my language there) , I may have helped him master his projects for free. I have no desire to help now because of the attitude...

@ Martin Maniac: Keep in mind that when long term 'experienced' members are giving opinions and suggestions to you, you should use those opinions of those who reply to you here as they have been doing this shit way longer than you have. Try using the advice as opposed to arguing about it. Posting in multiple threads combating those who give advice from their experience is 'troll' behavior and I am personally tired of hearing it from you.

Keep in mind that this forum is here for the best of everyone. I would hope that you find the posts in this thread to enlighten, and not argumentative. And no reason for anyone to be a dick, ape, pimp, or troll right? :)

Jimmy

:D
 
rayc said:
"...synth bass line on it, so heavy it would distort the speakers when played. For the life of me, I couldn't get rid of that distortion. Once I ran the song thru the automated system, the synth bass was tuned down and under control. The distortion I was hearing before was now gone, and the tune was then good enough for iTunes, where as before that distortion was very distracting."
There are two major issues with this statement that clarify, for me, why you are happy to use such software...
a) you wanted it iTunes ready &
b) you couldn't deal with the distortion yourself.
If your aim is a) then mangling and downgrading is where you're at & b) suggests you don't have the time, energy, interest or capacity to deal with issue & problem solve for yourself.
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A) I wanted to try the new software out, so I ripped some old songs I had off an old cd. Some of the songs came out really nice sounding to my ears. So nice I decided to put them up on iTunes and maybe make a few pennies. iTunes was an after thought. Before hearing these songs, I had no intention of posting anything on TuneCore, I hadn't been to that website in a very long time.

B) I tried remixing myself plenty of times over the years and was never happy with my results. The new software rendered a pleasant sounding re-mix in just a short time. I was pleased with the results of my experiment.
 
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To give a really fair analysis of the software, I have to report that three of the songs I ran thru the software sounded really bad to me. I wouldn't release them. So I am getting mixed result with the two programs.
 
Martin Maniac said:
I took a class in music production at the local community college years ago. My instructor was a mixing engineer for Pat Metheny. He would also master the recordings, and get them ready for cd masters. He explained he would go over and over a song for about a month before he would release it. It would take him about a year to do a whole album. I thought he was nuts, but after hearing his final mixes, I was very impressed.

I don't have that much time. So automated mastering software works for me.
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If he took that long, there was a budget to take that long...or he wasn't working on it 40 hours a week. A lot of classic albums by Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, etc... were done in a long weekend. In the 70's and into the 80's, it was common for a band to put out two albums a year and tour between each one. That was back when you were using tape (which is much slower) and really couldn't fix performances as much (so it simply had to be played well).

Mixing and mastering don't have to take forever, especially if the tracks were well recorded and the instrument arrangement is good.

At the very, very most, I have spent 8-9 hours mixing a single song. The song had 94 tracks and was over 8 minutes long. Now, obviously I don't count the time it takes to organize the tracks and set up the routing.

Most of the time, I only mix one song a day, even if it only takes me a couple hours. I find that I need time to pull my head out of one song and get it into another. Otherwise, I will keep using the same solutions to similar problems.

I send all my stuff to Massive Mastering, he will usually get an entire album mastered the same day he starts on it. When I master stuff, it doesn't take that long at all. I hate doing it, because I'm not going to hear the stuff differently while sitting in the same room, with the same monitors and the same ears.
 
I don't know, now that there's more info, I'm starting to see Martin's point, from his perspective. He's clearly lazy, impatient, and IMO probably very incompetent when it comes to music production, so I can see why he'd run to someone/something else doing the hard stuff for him and have no pride issues about it.

I get it, Martin. I don't like or respect it, but I get it. You do what you gotta do.
 
I'm probably making a point that's been kicked around for a few days already but it struck me when you described how the mastering software made some decision that solved your issue with distorted bass.
Whether someone values the creativity in mastering or not can be set aside for a second to ask the question, why would you consider mastering if your mix has distorted bass?

If automated mastering is cool with you that's horses for courses, but in order to get the best out of your music I'd strongly suggest sorting out the fundamental mix issues long before mastering,
regardless of whether that mastering is carried out by a human or a machine.

You might say "ah yes..but my software fixed it" and I'd say "yeah, but if you fixed it yourself maybe your software could have done even better..."
The same is true for a human. Send him a flawed mix and his hands are tied.

One difference, though, is that the human might let you know and you might learn something from the experience. ;)
 
I don't gotta do anything. Some people were talking about automated mastering software on the Sonar forum. Some people were raving about it. I wanted to see what it was all about. I tried it and on some songs got excellent results. It's just that simple.
 
Martin Maniac said:
I don't gotta do anything. Some people were talking about automated mastering software on the Sonar forum. Some people were raving about it. I wanted to see what it was all about. I tried it and on some songs got excellent results. It's just that simple.
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Well then all is good then. No need to argue with those trying to express other options and provide you with information that may help you in the future.

Nothing but a learning experience right? :)

Can we please get out of the argument mode here? It isn't productive for anyone man. Let's move forward. :D
 
I'm not in an arguing mode. You guys are the ones making a big deal about it. I've been called every name in the book because I tried out some new software. LOL !!
 
Martin Maniac said:
I'm not in an arguing mode. You guys are the ones making a big deal about it. I've been called every name in the book because I tried out some new software. LOL !!
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Um, nope. From what I have seen in your posts, I find that you are the one not listening and making this an argument. It is your demeanor that causes those who are knowledgeable about this that get defensive when you don't realize that they are trying to help. I am not about to tell you how you should react, but there is one thing you should have when talking to people on internet forums; a thick skin. Don't take things personally and try to take what you read without getting pissed off. Just because you disagree with someones opinion, does not make them your enemy. It is quite possible that someday you may realize they were right and trying to give advice to you. Or not. But take it for what it is worth..

Again, sounds just like my relationship with my son...
 
But here's the kicker, I don't disagree with any of the advice given. Many many songs have been mastered quite well before automated mastering software came along. It's just something I wanted to find out about. Two weeks ago, I never even heard of it before. Anyhow, I've got to go for awhile, have a nice day.
 
You don't disagree? Then why the arguments on this and other threads. Very troll like man. Sorry but you have argued.

How about. You start over with the chip off your shoulder and try to be a member of this productive community?

Many of us, including myself have had moments where we take things personally and act like dicks. But we forgive and move forward.

Welcome to the family... :)
 
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