Mastering Live Recordings

[Alexbt]

Ok! Now that I know what mastering is specifically (what I thought it was)... on to my next question!

I have some live recordings of my band that I've been trying to master.

For recording in general on my Macs, I've been using BIAS Deck 2.5 & 3.0 (Depending on which machine I use, as both get the recording done, but 2.5 tends to be faster and less memory/processor intensive)

In 3.0, I have been running my files through a processing effect called mda Stereo which does a decent job of making my mono audio tracks listenable, though they still need EQ work.

I have read that one program used for mastering is BIAS Peak, which is a Mac program.

Are there any other recommended Mac mastering programs, and also are there any other suggestions for mastering live mono recordings?
(We asked the sound guy for a stereo mix or something we could work with but we ended up with two channels of mono, the right side being at a lower volume than the left)

[masteringhouse]

I've done quite a bit of mastering for live recordings for King Biscuit (U2, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Clapton, etc.)

I'd have to say that you're pretty well screwed with a mono recording. There are ways to acheive pseudo-stereo such as using comb filtering, and psychoacoutic processing, but they all suck in comparison to recording correctly in stereo. Personally I would re-record.

If you do want to play around though here's a decent article to start with:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct0.../stereomix.htm

[Blue Bear Sound]

I think a decent mono recording is much better than a mono recording converted to pseudo-stereo.......

[masteringhouse]

Originally Posted by Blue Bear Sound

I think a decent mono recording is much better than a mono recording converted to pseudo-stereo.......

In general I agree (though I've heard some classical recordings done this way with good results).

Phase issues become pretty important with regards to pseudo-stereo. If it isn't mono-compatible after processing then you're not doing it correctly.

Lots of Beatles and Beach Boys stuff sounds great in mono. Unless you're going for that vintage type of sound though your better off re-recording.