Well, I did it...

[Chris Shaeffer]

Yes, I mastered a 10 song CD that a friend of mine recorded. What a fascinating experience!

He's an *excellent* musician and has spent the past year learning to record on his 4-track. Given his equipment and experience, we had some great mixs to work with. A good ear is a very valuable thing- he didn't know what he was doing, but he kept at it until it sounded good. Then he stopped.

So they were all fresh songs to my ears when we started assembling them for the CD. Here's how we did the deed. I made it up as I went, really, and wonder how this compares to what other people do.

We picked one track on the CD which sounded like the fullest mix- i.e the one that needed the least "mastering." In fact, we didn't need to touch it at all. That song became our primary comparision song. Each song was different and needed its own sound, but they also all had to have a similar quality to them- sound like they belonged on the same CD, y'know?

Then we treated each song individually to bring it up to level using only light compression and the faders, adjust the stereo image as desired (he liked it widened a bit) and add a touch of reverb to a few tracks that were too dry (he had no verb to use when recording.) All the while we compared each song to the first song we picked out. It really helped guide our decisions.

Then we compared each of the songs to the others by playing random parts of random songs in rapid succession. This gave us a really good sense for how well the songs fit together. This lead to a few more small EQ tweaks and adjusting of realtive loudness- very subtle stuff, but it was obvious when you compared the songs to each other.

By the time the project was done, my friend (who I don't really work with all that much) greatly complimented me by saying "I like how you have a light touch. You didn't really change anything, you just brought out what was already there." That made me feel really good.

When we were done, all of the songs on the CD had an equal loudness (though they all peak in different places) and sound like they are all from the same recording session. They sound different, of course, as different songs should, but they have a kind of equivalent character.

It was fascinating. Took us about 8 hours for 10 songs. And, key in my mind, most of the changes were dictated by listening to the other songs in the project.

That's very different than mixing. This felt a lot more like assembling a package. It was way fun, and a great first experience.

Take care,
Chris

[keilson]

what do you use to master?

[Chris Shaeffer]

In this case, I was using Wavelab, the Waves plugins, all the other plugs in the arsenal, and I used T-RackS on a couple tracks.

Specifically, the Waves RVerb, C1, and Steinberg's "Puncher" and "StereoExpander" were the most used. Oh, and the Waves REQ. It was a pretty simple project as far as that goes.

-Chris

[James Argo]

Originally posted by Chris Shaeffer
...listening to the other songs in the project.

That's very different than mixing. This felt a lot more like assembling a package. It was way fun, and a great first experience.

That's right...
Sometimes I only doing mixing in one song. While leaving other song mixed by others. And when you hear the full album, there's a different "color" in each song. They all good, but just different. So It reminds us, that when you wanna make a FULL album project, make sure to compare one song to another before deciding the final decission of mastering. At least, they must be in the same "emotion line" of story - what the album talk's about. The whole album means ALL OF THEM, not only one song to be in top of the line...

[dobro]

Chris - I've never mastered, but it sounds like a good approach. The way you related everything to the best existing song, I mean. That sort of parallels the mixing approach that starts with the track or instrument you want everything else to relate to.