Master This! ?

Great idea, but mastering is more than just making every mix sound like THIS (insert whatever you want). It's making the mix 'work' for the intended overall sound and feel. Just as every mix is different, every mastering job is different, too.
When you mention the masterer talking through 'the issues they hear' - many/most of us may not be able to hear them due to inferior monitors or room.

Yeah, these are all fair points. Perhaps I should have said "optimise the mix" rather than fix the issues. For me personally hearing that I can't hear any difference after a particular mastering process because of my room/speaker/ear limitations would still be a useful learning point. It would still provide a better understanding of the processes that go on beyond my capabilities and that I may be unlikely to ever really be able to replicate at home.
 
Waaay too much emphasis is placed on mastering. Usually a "good mastering job" is the result of a crappy mix being resurrected. But if the mix was decent in the first place, not only would it not need witchcraft, it would sound even better than the zombie/Frankenstein version.

I'd say - as a community - that we focus more on recording the instruments correctly, producing balanced mixes, and then anyone with a decent plugin compressor can get their stuff mastered well enough for any "homerecording" distribution platform.

My $0.02

I'm not really sure I agree with this. I've given very little in the way of thought to mastering up to now - partly because I'm more focused on improving my recording/mixing and partly because I don't really understand how or what mastering involves. I find it a pretty nebulous concept and most discussion from those in the know seems to be around correcting misconceptions and clarifying what mastering isn't, rather than shedding light on what it is.

As such I think there's room to discuss both mastering and mixing on here, and I don't know necessarily that the discussion of one has to be at the expense of looking to improve the other.
 
I read the idea as me posting a mixed MP3 or streamer track, (the raw) as well as a link to the track as a .wav or FLAC file.
Anyone interested would then be able to download the track & try their hand at mastering it after which they'd post an MP3 or streamer of the track (the cooked) as well as a link to the .wav/FLAC with a little commentary about what was needed & then done to achieve the result.
This can't be too bad.
Preset/master plug/headphone jockeys will become apparent, I presume/assume/guess by the sound of the result and the discussion of treatment.
All the concerns expressed are equally applicable to the Mix This component.
I'd be interested in the results but not in attempting to master. I already know I don't have the ears, experience or room to do that task.
 
I read the idea as me posting a mixed MP3 or streamer track, (the raw) as well as a link to the track as a .wav or FLAC file.
Anyone interested would then be able to download the track & try their hand at mastering it after which they'd post an MP3 or streamer of the track (the cooked) as well as a link to the .wav/FLAC with a little commentary about what was needed & then done to achieve the result.
...
All the concerns expressed are equally applicable to the Mix This component.
I'd be interested in the results but not in attempting to master. I already know I don't have the ears, experience or room to do that task.


Yup, me too!
 
I find it a pretty nebulous concept and most discussion from those in the know seems to be around correcting misconceptions and clarifying what mastering isn't, rather than shedding light on what it is.

Exactly the issue. They don't know either, and it's hard to sell a service for something that can't be easily defined/valuated.
 
The difference between a well mixed track and a well mixed AND mastered track is night and day. And there is much, much more to a well mastered track than a "decent plugin compressor."

I hear this vaporous claim all the time, but no one "in the biz" can seem to articulate exactly what it is that makes 'mastering' this great thing with grand nuances and complexities. Please enlighten us.
 
Berklee courses aren't nearly as flash as we assume. The Mastering explanation is a perfect example of this.
I've had stem and stereo mastering done. THey are very different and one is much more a problem solving task than the other. The difference in results from the original mix are usually very pleasing.
 
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