Who said you cant be a mastering engineer?

[CyanJaguar]

Increasingly, I am seeing pro albums that say "recorded, mixed, and mastered by" x. and x is one and the same person.

Of course, the albums sounds just as good as those that were done in three-five different studios.

I also suspect that the recording,mixing and mastering engineers used the exact same monitors for the three duties.

so someone remind me why I have to go to a mastering house if I have the correct monitoring in my house.

[John Sayers]

if I have the correct monitoring in my house.

If the above is correct - you don't.

Most people go to the top mastering enginers for their ears, not their gear.

cheers
john

[dobro]

"so someone remind me why I have to go to a mastering house if I have the correct monitoring in my house."

cuz you don't have the experience

[CyanJaguar]

you know what Dobro, that is correct,

and one will never get that experience by going to a mastering engineer.

[Gidge]

i think you can get it going to a mastering engineer.....i learned how to f&%k watching pornos...some things just arent as instinctive as youd like them to be......

i also suspect that the guys that do recording, mixing, and mastering use at least 2 different rooms and 2 different sets of gear.....

[Meshuggah]

...and a magic wand.

*poof*

[Gidge]

.....its the magician, not the wand.....

*poof*

[Leeking]

I've just found out yesterday that there's no mastering house in Malaysia... some big studios will do mastering themselves.

Are there any mastering house in S'pore, dobro?

[dobro]

Dunno, Leeking. I'll check it out for you if you're looking for one - email me. But my guess is that the mastering houses are in Hong Kong and Taiwan because that's where the bulk of the music's made.

"you know what Dobro, that is correct,

and one will never get that experience by going to a mastering engineer."

cyan - yeah it's catch 22, isn't it?

"Don't master your own project," they say. Well, how do I learn how to master, then? I think it's like this: after years of mixing, you're qualified to master cuz you just start to hear things and you just know how to pull it together and make it sound better.

Anyway, if I decide to put my music in the faces of important strangers, I'll get somebody I know and trust to master it. Otherwise, I'll just have a good time with it myself.

[Leeking]

Originally posted by dobro
Dunno, Leeking. I'll check it out for you if you're looking for one - email me.

it's ok dobro, just asking...

[RWhite]

I think the best rule of thumb is probably "don't learn at the client's expense". Sure master your own stuff, the best way to learn is by doing, but unless you really know what you are doing it's only right to send paying customers to someone who does.

[LongWaveStudio]

you shouldn't really master your own stuff cus part of the process is to have a fresh pair of ears take a look at the project.

mastering houses usually have eq's and compressors which you've probably never even seen before.

by all means, you could do "home mastering", but dont expect wonders.

[Shazukura]

Now that I've got my alarm system installed I'm toying with the idea of hooking some local musicians up with some short recording sessions. I need to give myself a bit more time learning the gear I've setup, but I think it would be a win-win where I get some experience, and someone else gets a free CD.

-Shaz