Master This! ?

Armistice

Son of Yoda
So we have the MP3 Clinic and lately, the Mix This! forum, and people are always dropping in here asking people to master their tracks for them.... and tell me how do I do this, and that, and every other thing to do with mastering.

Just wondering if we should have a Master This! thread. Someone puts up a stereo track and people have a stab at "mastering" it - could be kinda fun, and I'm sure junior masterers would learn something along the way, especially if people who know what they're doing actually chimed in and critiqued.

Just throwing it out there as an idea. :)
 
It would be real good for those who find the need to master their own tracks - a way to learn what works, what doesn't.
 
Yeah, this is a great idea. So much confusion around mastering and conflagration with mixing that it would be an interesting insight into what often appears to be something of a dark art.

Even the information on the stickied topic of this sub-forum seemed to be discredited by those 'in the know' almost as soon as posted. Makes it hard to find an entry point somewhere between the cracked copies of Ozone at one end of the spectrum and the "you can't teach years of listening experience" at the other.
 
I'll be the dissenter (is that a word?) I see this as an opening for all the wannabe bedroom mastering engineers with cracked versions of waves and Logitech computer speakers to come here and spam their talentless services.

Maybe with some subtle rewording of the Mix This section, we can accommodate both Mixing and Mastering in one section.
 
I'll be the dissenter (is that a word?) I see this as an opening for all the wannabe bedroom mastering engineers with cracked versions of waves and Logitech computer speakers to come here and spam their talentless services.

Maybe with some subtle rewording of the Mix This section, we can accommodate both Mixing and Mastering in one section.

So I get this right, we should try to rename the Mix This forum into something like Mix/Master This! ? Why not! Chili...why be so negative ;-) ? Not everyone is a wannabe and everybody at some point was a wannabe before they were actually something...
 
I'm pretty sure vB would actually allow you to create "Mix This" and "Master This" sub forums under a general title of Mix/Master This on the main menu--that'd keep things separate inside the forum but avoid further clutter on the main menu.

...and count me as another thinking it's a good idea. The wannabes that Chili is worried about will soon show their true colours when they post something. I don't see that as a problem and, if it provokes discussion, it might even be good.
 
it's a good idea in theory but then when you find out that someone has been 'mastering' your music through some in ear headphones with waves plug ins in FL studio, it might be a bit of a wake up call, because realistically that's what you are going to get for free lol
 
Well, the purpose of "Mix this" isn't to replace professional engineers and studios; it's to give people a chance to practice mixing on material they don't normally have access to and to let the musicians hear different ideas about how their stuff could be mixed.

I see "Master This" as exactly the same--it'll let those with an interest in mastering get some material to practice on and let the originators of the mixes hear different ideas about how their songs could be mastered. As I said earlier, people not doing at least a reasonable job will be found out pretty fast--and might learn something when they hear the opinions of others.

What's the old cliche? You can often learn more from your mistakes than from your successes.
 
And allow us that are less "in the know" to ask questions on how it was done, why it was done, etc.
:D I like it! It's got a funky beat, and I can really BUG OUT to it!
 
And allow us that are less "in the know" to ask questions on how it was done, why it was done, etc.
:D I like it! It's got a funky beat, and I can really BUG OUT to it!

Agreed! It'll also let us know if our mixes are really ready to be mastered - inherent mix issues should show up pretty quickly. When I sent my last album's songs to be mastered I was told the low end was pretty messy, of course I knew that going in because I didn't have any acoustic treatment at the time.
 
I would think that the way to make it educational and avoid the 'mastering on headphones with waves plugs ins" type issues would be for one of the posters on here who can master stuff properly to walk through their mastering process for a song rather than creating a "master this" type forum for every man and his DAWg to post in. Posting the original unmastered version, then talking through the issues they hear, processes they undertake etc. and then hearing the final results would reap the most 'quality' information I think.

Clearly, this would require one of the mastering posters to volunteer the time and effort to share this expertise though. I'm very generous with other people's time... :)
 
I would think that the way to make it educational and avoid the 'mastering on headphones with waves plugs ins" type issues would be for one of the posters on here who can master stuff properly to walk through their mastering process for a song rather than creating a "master this" type forum for every man and his DAWg to post in. Posting the original unmastered version, then talking through the issues they hear, processes they undertake etc. and then hearing the final results would reap the most 'quality' information I think.

Clearly, this would require one of the mastering posters to volunteer the time and effort to share this expertise though. I'm very generous with other people's time... :)

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.
 
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
 
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

This is very inaccurate.

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."

Of course, if you don't care about producing commercially viable tracks, then I guess it's not an issue. I know (of) plenty of home studio guys who just produce what they like to hear and don't care about commercial standards, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. If you're doing this for a living it's a completely different story.
 
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