mastering

masteringhouse said:
If I worked at McDonalds I wouldn't be advertising myself as master chef.

Part of that is just because of the name, which isn't particularly helpful for a newbie. It has come to be that engineers who produce premaster CDs are called mastering engineers, implying that they are "masters" of audio. And they do tend to be.

I think the actual problem is what Glen pointed out, piracy and misrepresentation.
 
Yeah, there are four problems I have with junk food mastering.

The first is the rampant deception of positioning themselves as being bigger or more experienced than they are. If they are relative newbs just getting started, but they are Michael Jordans who have the natural talent (the ear and the technique) and the knowledge, like Ryan said, that's OK. But represent yourself as such; don't lie about it and make like you have Massive Master's studio or even a 6-panel video matrix display when all you have is a PC with a handful of plugs. Tell people you have a PC and a handful of plugs, and that's why you can charge 1/10th of what the big houses do. Be honest about it. You'll still do the business...especially since you won't get trashed by those who call you on your little dog and pony show of a website.

Second is the illegality. If you want to get a legitimate start in business *and* be in business for more than two tax cycles, committing felony grand theft by stealing $10,000 worth of software is not the way to do it. If you're serious about it and a real business person (like you're positioning yourslf to be with the fancy web shingle), you'll write up a business plan, take it to the bank or some private investors, and get a loan to get you started. The best part is that $10,000 you've spent on Waves bundles (or, if this guy really knew what he was doing, one Waves bundle and a decent monitoring chain and environment) is an instant write off as a business expense; you'll still wind up not paying for it.

Third is the dubious market itself. Think about who the clients are; they are folks who have already managed to get their recordings through the tracking and mixing phases themselves on a budget; if they can get a product that far and with good enough quality to benefit from an outsourced mastering stage, they should be just as good at mastering their own stuff as Mr. Junk Food Mastering Man would be. And if they're not, and their mix just isn't up to snuff, then sending off to be mastered is just polishing turds, no matter who you send it to.

Fourth is the small signal-to-noise ratio in the junk food mastering market. When's the last time anyone has run across one of these websites where someone here who really knows audio engineering and high school grammer hasn't been able to shred the website apart for either extreme gobbledygook and flim flam (anybody remember Mr. "analyzation"?), or for grammer that's so poor that you know the guy has no attention to detail whatsoever (and yet he's asking to be your ME, a position that is completly about attention to detail)?

Show me a website with a guy who's honest and says he has a modest project studio gear list and a couple of years of experience doing budget mastering for family and friends, but believes - and explains why in terms that are properly spelled and also make legit sense to someone like Tom or John here - that he's honestly got the chops to be able to make a budget mastering product that's a cut above somebody with a PC and HarBal. Add in a legit picture or two and an actual name and phone number. Then I'll show you someone who may very well be worthy of consideration for performing budget mastering for a client who is not taking their recording to the pro level.

G.
 
Funny thing is that the genuine people build their business over a long period of time. I'ts the reputation and contacts you accumulate that get you the work.
I think that like myself a lot of mastering engineers started out in recording studio's learning from the ground up. Good ear's are developed slowly and through much exposure to a wide variety of audio situations that required a solution.
When you hire a good masteing engineer you are buying their experience, not the tools, not the flashy website.

Further to that ...

A: No mastering engineer get's it right first time everytime.( We all have bad days).

B: No two mastering engineers will produce the same result. You need to get a feel for their work.

(N.B. I think the current industry estimate of masters created without need for correction is 75%. So remember, they are not god's and if your not happy they will correct it at least once for free. It's a bit like a warranty and keeps the mastering engineers reputation intact. Ask and If they don't do this then I'd be worried.)
 
In order to be upset about this guy, I'd have to take him seriously in the first place. Without the bad website, he's really just a guy trying to learn about audio.
 
masteringhouse said:
C'mon Ryan, you've worked/work with João Carvalho. You know what real mastering is about.

I'm an engineer there. It's a beautiful place.

About this mastering "company" - anyone dumb enough to pay this guy won't be making records you'd want to work on anyway.
 
ryanlikestorock said:
I'm an engineer there. It's a beautiful place.

About this mastering "company" - anyone dumb enough to pay this guy won't be making records you'd want to work on anyway.

Point taken, but it still doesn't do justice to our industry. It commoditizes it, and cheapens the work of legitmate engineers.

Could you imagine people advertising brain or heart surgery for $10 a stitch? :)
 
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