How did you get into mastering ?

grimtraveller

grimtraveller

If only for a moment.....
To all the mastering engineers out there, how did you become mastering engineers ? What motivated you to go into mastering ?

And those that aren't but master their stuff anyway, how did you know what to do or how did you go about finding out ?
 
grimtraveller said:
And those that aren't but master their stuff anyway, how did you know what to do or how did you go about finding out ?
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How does one learn anything? You figure out what you can with your own brain, read up on what you can't*, and then work on what you've read up on and figure it out more.

And that DOESN'T mean the Internet or pop magazines; it means real sources like libraries, bookstores and industry/trade journals.

IME, YMMV, LAX, ORD, ETC.

G.
 
My old boss came in one day and said "We're going to start offering mastering services and you're going to be the mastering guy - Go get what you need."

(Which meant "Go get a Finalizer" at the time...)

This, because I would normally attend the mastering sessions for my clients anyway. I was dragged in kicking and screaming. But after a while, I found that I had a knack for the 2-buss and actually started to enjoy it.

But I suppose my motivation was "wanting to keep my job."
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
IME, YMMV, LAX, ORD, ETC.

G.
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OK, I am on acronym overload now. What do LAX and ORD stand for?

IME, LAX = Los Angeles International Airport, and ORD = Office of Research and Development :confused:

OTOH at the rate you use those disclaimers, maybe you should just put them in your sig, just to be on the safe side ;) :D
 
Massive Master said:
But I suppose my motivation was "wanting to keep my job."
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Good reason!!

noisewreck said:
OK, I am on acronym overload now. What do LAX and ORD stand for?

IME, LAX = Los Angeles International Airport, and ORD = Office of Research and Development :confused:
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You were halfway there, you just needed to stay on the same theme. You got the LAX aviation code right, and ORD is the three-letter avaiation code for O'Hare International Airport here in Chicago.

And of course we all should know by now that IME and YMMV stand for "Insanely Massive Entrails" and "Yam and Marshmallow Median Viscosity". It's the Internet, get hip and get with it people!

LMAO (Launch Missiles At Oliver)

:p

G.
 
ORD is the three-letter avaiation code for O'Hare International Airport here in Chicago
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And it was chosen because it was known as "Orchard Place - Douglas" before it was named after Ed O'Hare.
 
grimtraveller said:
I thought it was 'October'.
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I think that's how William Devane uses it on his Facebook page. Not to be confused with the very related "AFIK", which is Martin Sheen's abbreviation for "Again, Freakin' I'm [a] Kennedy??"

On a sie note, you can tell that John Massive is a fellow Chicagoan ;). Hey John, here's some more Chicago trivia for you: What three Chicago streets have names that rhyme with "vagina"? No fair looking up the answer on the Internet either...

G.
 
grimtraveller said:
... And those that aren't but master their stuff anyway, how did you know what to do or how did you go about finding out ?
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When MIDI came out in '83 I started playing in a duo and there was a big problem getting songs consistent. You'd always be messing with the volume at gigs. Horrible. So I started a system of standardizing the volumes, that I use to this day.

On my first two releases, two cassettes we had 1000 ea made of in the 80's - there was a tune that the bass was way too boomy. :mad: From the start, the problem was getting the fog out of the bass so that there was room to mix the other tracks louder.

I've had about a dozen cd's that were duplicated that I've "mastered"... although all I ever thought of was getting it to sound right. I asked lots of questions to people who knew more than me. A few of my friends got their cd's mastered by Bernie Grundman and I learned from them.

I've understood the harmonic series for awhile and I can't tell you how much it helps. I had a friend who's Dad had a major studio and he gave me basics about eq, reverb and compression. Then the Dad took me out to eat one time and explained how he panned everything, by drawing on a napkin.

In the 90's I devoured Mix magazine and then stopped... same as I did with drum mags and keyboard mags in the 80's. You get what you need and then you move on.

I have a basic system of learning that you could make a spaceship by: find someone who can do it and ask them. It really is that simple. And luckily I've had lots of people around me that knew way more than me that were super kind. I've approached driving people nuts with questions. How do you do this? etc ad nauseum.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
Good reason!!

You were halfway there, you just needed to stay on the same theme. You got the LAX aviation code right, and ORD is the three-letter avaiation code for O'Hare International Airport here in Chicago.

And of course we all should know by now that IME and YMMV stand for "Insanely Massive Entrails" and "Yam and Marshmallow Median Viscosity". It's the Internet, get hip and get with it people!

LMAO (Launch Missiles At Oliver)

:p

G.
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Really!! Let's all try to keep up here. :D







:cool:
 
I went from trying to record bounces from a boombox to a Realistic Stereo w/microphones to my first 4 track Fostex demos in '89. I continued with that every weekend that our band practiced, including adding a portastudio. When we first heard ourselves in a semi-pro studio demo, I knew it was time to learn everything. I read every magazine and worked a billion overtime hours to build a first modest studio, and I tracked 12 hours/day.

Our guitarist went to FullSail and we compared notes; the difference being that they got to learn on automated SSL and Neve and mine was Tascam, but all of my learning was hands on and I owned my own gear and added what was needed, while their hands on was about 10% in comparison.

I bought studio time at a great little API/ 2" 16 track room and studied every move they made while tracking songs there and compared notes to my songs at home.

In '93 our local definition of mastering was whomever had a $500 CD-R burner on their Mac. There were 3 different models to choose from and some even did 4x! CD-R's cost between $7-15 for a single disc.

We knew there was more to the professional process for mastering and when we finished our first major project, we wanted the best ME for the job. I found someone I really liked and we talked a lot about the project before hiring him. He did a great job and I learned a lot about what he used and the results.

We became friends and stayed in touch, and I learned mountains from him about everything we both are passionate about with sound, from live 2 track microphone technique to making mixes that require as little mastering as possible.

He became a mentor in the process for me until I began mastering professionally in '98.

The process has changed a lot over the years, but the basic truths about sound matched to a passion for getting the best from every recording has made it more important than ever.
 
My old boss came in one day and said "We're going to start offering mastering services and you're going to be the mastering guy - Go get what you need."
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I can only imagine the look on your face
 
It was something along these lines (except the hair and ears)...

Page_2_2.jpg
 
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