Best way to master?

[kcearl]

this is the kind of advice Ive been looking for...Im giving up the bassoon for full time alcoholism...thanks!

[kcearl]

Originally Posted by dobro

Yes.

:-)

Pretty much the most difficult to EQ stuff I've ever worked with is some sounds that I used from Fruity Loops. It's like they were so completely lacking in character that they weren't 1/10th as responsive to cuts and boosts as stuff that I'd recorded through mics or DI'ed.

thats a very good point..I use outboard synths as well as soft synths and its very hard to not make the outboard ones jump out like they're in 3D in a mix..Im of the mind that all my keyboards will eventually come for "real synths" (ironic huh) and only use software for effects

which incidentally sometimes don't even sound as good as my crappy emp100..

[Terry Wetzel]

i kinda agree with this and have encountered the same general "we know more than you and we will do what we can to discourage you from learning it"! some of us have been at this in one form or another for quite a while and learning on your own is the long road. that is why were here, to learn! truth be known, the only way to master is to be able to afford the high tech toys that seperate us from "the masters of mastering". A wise man once told me, " The best masters are the ones that don't sound like they've been mastered"!

[dobro]

Originally Posted by Terry Wetzel

i kinda agree with this and have encountered the same general "we know more than you and we will do what we can to discourage you from learning it"!

I don't think it's intentional. It's just that if you know the best way to get from where you are to downtown Manhattan is by taxi, it's difficult sometimes to restrain yourself from pointing that out to someone who's of the opinion that hitch-hiking rides from bikers is the way to go.

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by Terry Wetzel

i kinda agree with this and have encountered the same general "we know more than you and we will do what we can to discourage you from learning it"!

I'd like to see someone find and document ONE SINGLE TIME when one of the real pros here have *ever* done that.

Does anybody REALLY think that people like John and Tom and Tom and Ronan and Harvey and the rest (sorry to anybody I didn't list) come here with the purpose of wanting to make themselves feel self-important or elite in front of a bunch of newbs they never met before, just to stroke their egos? REALLY???

Or that there is a massive (no pun) conspiracy by everybody who's a "pro" - which would be a conspiracy larger and more secretly kept than the Manhattan Project - to hide the fact that this racket is really actually quite easy if you know the trade secrets of the pros, and to hell with the newbs because we're closing the door behind us and you can't some in and join the club? REALLY??? REALLY???

Christ, where's Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler when you really need them. I mean, REALLY!! :P.

More often than not what *REALLY* happens is someone asks a question with a predisposition as to what they actually want as their answer. They don't want to hear an answer, they want to hear exactly the kind of answer they want to hear. When they don't hear what they want to hear, or when the truth is harder to hear than they wish, they get all pissed off and either start playing the "elitist" card, or start making the absolute ludicrous claims that the pros are holding back the "real" secrets and alleged shortcuts for themselves in an industry-wide conspiracy against newbs.

How delusional .


G.

[RAMI]

Originally Posted by SouthSIDE Glen

Or that there is a massive (no pun) conspiracy by everybody who's a "pro" - which would be a conspiracy larger and more secretly kept than the Manhattan Project - to hide the fact that this racket is really actually quite easy if you know the trade secrets of the pros, and to hell with the newbs because we're closing the door behind us and you can't some in and join the club? REALLY??? REALLY???

Maybe not. But I bet you guys know who killed Kennedy....and you all put those demolition squids on every floor of the WTC, you fuckers.

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by RAMI

Maybe not. But I bet you guys know who killed Kennedy....and you all put those demolition squids on every floor of the WTC, you fuckers.

Well, yeah, of course. We also chopped down the cherry tree and got George to cop to it.

But that's different.

.

G.

[RAMI]

Originally Posted by SouthSIDE Glen

Well, yeah, of course. We also chopped down the cherry tree and got George to cop to it.

But that's different.

.

G.

Well now you're just being ridiculous. There were no studios back then. You guys didn't exist. Come on, Glen, stop being foolish.

[kcearl]

Im gonna neg rep every pro insight...you have all been warned

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by RAMI

Well now you're just being ridiculous. There were no studios back then. You guys didn't exist.

Ah, but that's just what we WANT you to think!

Masons schmasons. The "compass" on the symbol of the masons is really an early mastering lathe cutting knife. And that "eye" on top of the pyramid? That's no eye, that's an early LDC capsule. And the "pyramid" is really just a closeup of a foam diffuser panel. The whole idea of "masons" grew out of the idea that a real recording studio had to be a brick-and-mortar building, and not just a computer in a bedroom.

And, BTW, if you look deep into the 1,200+ pages of the American health care reform bill, you'll find a passage actually devoting $1billion to "pro" audio engineers for the purchase of Har-Bal, valid only for those who claim in public that it's really a piece of shit. This is thanks to the extremely strong K-street lobbyists for the AES that have practically the entire Congress in their pockets.

G.

[mixmkr]

Originally Posted by SouthSIDE Glen

you'll find a passage actually devoting $1billion to "pro" audio engineers for the purchase of Har-Bal, valid only for those who claim in public that it's really a piece of shit.G.

so... I guess you got 1/2 billion? I'm still waiting on my 500 million....

[leddy]

Originally Posted by Terry Wetzel

i kinda agree with this and have encountered the same general "we know more than you and we will do what we can to discourage you from learning it"! some of us have been at this in one form or another for quite a while and learning on your own is the long road. that is why were here, to learn! truth be known, the only way to master is to be able to afford the high tech toys that seperate us from "the masters of mastering".

It's not about discouraging someone from learning here. It's separating the ones who want to learn from the rest.

For every pro on this board, there are about 1,000 guys who get a cracked version of Waves and think they are a mastering guru because they can strap a limiter on their "beats" and makes them louder. Like the bad singers on American Idol who honestly have no idea that they can't sing, and lash out at the judges when they are told the truth. It's a slap in the face to those who have really paid dues. We live in a society where a learned skill is not as valued as it used to be. It's sickening to those that have made real sacrifices to aquire knowledge.

Even if some of those folks got cranky about it (and most do not), they would probably have that right sometimes.

Originally Posted by Terry Wetzel

A wise man once told me, " The best masters are the ones that don't sound like they've been mastered"!

That corny bit is from a Sweetwater catalog.

[dobro]

Originally Posted by leddy

It's not about discouraging someone from learning here. It's separating the ones who want to learn from the rest.

And you think that's your job?

[kcearl]

he's brilliant at it...all I hear in that MP3 clinic is wannabes cranking up their beats wif da wave cracks

sort 'em out leddy, save us all

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Nobody needs to separate out the human chaff from the wheat, they do it themselves by their reactions to the answers they get.

It's amazing how many people who ask questions apparently already know the answers so well that they can tell what they answers are supposed to be before they ask them . If you know what the answer is supposed to be, then don't ask the freakin' question.

It's also amazing how many folks would rather get their answers from those who are as clueless as they are than from someone who is actually in a position to know the answers. The truth is those folks are not really interested in getting their questions answered, they just want comfort in knowing that they are not the only ones who are still learning.

As if there were something wrong with still learning. There isn't, you know. There's no reason to get pissed off at those who just so happen to be ahead of you on that path, that's just hoew things go.

No matter who you are, there will always be someone who was there before you. There's nothing wrong with that, and there's no percentage in getting pissed at them and calling them elitist just because that's the way the cookie crumbled.

It's only when you stop walking the path and decide that you've gone far enough that you have someone to blame, and that certainly isn't the other guy.

G.

[NYMorningstar]

I just come here to get ma car reapolstered.

[kcearl]

vinyl sales are going steadily up over the last few years...maybe that quality is seeping back in

[leddy]

Originally Posted by dobro

And you think that's your job?

Not at all, forgive the poor choice of words, and I certainly don't consider myself one of the pros.

I didn't intend for my post to sound so mean-spirited.

[miroslav]

Most newbies are intimidated to begin with, so they miss the purpose of the plain-n-simple "truth" answers that they get...and often, it's their own lack of knowledge and experience that creates this confusion and belief that they are getting hammered by the pros (or some such nonsense) when the answers they receive are difficult to understand or follow-through on.

The only newbies I have a problem with are the ones who are convinced there are always EASY, CHEAP SHORTCUTS to almost everything...and they just pout and get pissy when you try and point out the error of their perceptions...or their self-denial kicks in and they explain it all by saying they are NOT trying to achieve a pro product, so can we PLEASE give them the EASY, CHEAP SHORTCUTS!!!

We were all newbies at one time...

My father use to always tell me...whatever you do, do it right, even if you're doing something that's wrong!
And an old friend use to say..."neatness counts"...which may sound a bit feminine, but I really DO get his point.
Don't be sloppy in your work...it's usually the little "loose ends" that make the difference.

Soooooooo dear newbies...you have to understand that for those of us who are really into this audio stuff and have been doing it a long time....there really ARE only certain ways to do something even when you may have several options.
IOW...all the options may be valid...but the manner in which you apply them must also be valid at all times...DON'T CHEAT YOURSELVES by just looking for EASY, CHEAP SHORTCUTS.
It only becomes easy through doing it the right way.


And that concludes this Sunday sermon....go in peace.

(Nothing like a good bagel and cup of coffee to churn up some audio philosophy).



Terry Wetzel – Can you throw some line-breaks and CAPS in your posts. It’s real hard to read them as they are.

Guys…Terry’s just getting started with all this stuff…go easy on him.

[EZWriter]

Originally Posted by RAMI

I almost never look at my music. It's hard enough listening to it.

Okay. You owe me a cleaning for my monitor...The Pepsi on the wall I don't mind...