Professional Mastering is Worth the Money.

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BrentDomann

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This is a home recording and DIY board, for sure. But there is really a lot of value to having a second set of (better) ears listening and tweaking in a better room with better equipment. There's something to be said for sending your work out.

Do you agree?
 
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Personal opinion, formed from lots of time agonizing how to get something to "sound right":

After hours of writing, practicing, tracking, and mixing, my ears (and head) can get battle fatigue.
A fresh set of brain cells help a lot, if they're well-practiced in the art and science of sound.

My dad is a 'semi-retired' (*) pro engineer, and he's mastered his fair share of both acetate and digital formats.
He's told of how even some big hits from the past were brought back for digital transfer,
and how he would up basically remastering what he called "crap through a fuzz pedal".


(*"semi-retired" = if they pay well enough, he'll do it. Otherwise, get off his lawn!)
 
IMO mastering is a little like snake oil. Mixing is the critical stage, and while a song can be ruined by mastering you still have the original mix to remaster if you're not happy.

My thinking is to give yourself a little distance from the song if you're feeling fatigue or over-familiarity. Sometimes I'll spin a song in the car a few times before going back and making final touches and that final "master". I've even been known to come back weeks later to remix or remaster. Don't be in a rush to get it done. ;)

Also, mastering is really about polish and consistency in delivery. You want to make sure it sounds like the other songs you intend on releasing (assuming most people wrap multiple songs into an album eventually). The polish is perhaps as simple as doing some final EQ to bring out some elements. It really isn't supposed to be where much "work" is done with the song. Most of the meaningful work should have already been done in the mixing stage.
 
+1
My sons band just got a mastered tune back from a local guy/engineer, and it was a noticeable improvement.
 
I look at it as the mastering engineer can compensate for the home recordists poor listening environment. He spent the tens of thousands of dollars on monitors and built a room specific for the task and he can hear the inadequacies of the home studio and fix it!! He can't fix poor mixing, poor performance, wongo guitar playing, bad songwriting or songs, bad guitar tone, horrible voice, flat drums, abused processors and plugs, or dumb decisions.

But he can take your room and your speakers out of the mix. For me, that is worth the price of admission.
 
BrentDomann said:
This is a home recording and DIY board, for sure. But there is really a lot of value to having a second set of (better) ears listening and tweaking in a better room with better equipment. There's something to be said for sending your work out.

Do you agree?
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No. Not at all.
 
Chili said:
I look at it as the mastering engineer can compensate for the home recordists poor listening environment. He spent the tens of thousands of dollars on monitors and built a room specific for the task and he can hear the inadequacies of the home studio and fix it!! He can't fix poor mixing, poor performance, wongo guitar playing, bad songwriting or songs, bad guitar tone, horrible voice, flat drums, abused processors and plugs, or dumb decisions.

But he can take your room and your speakers out of the mix. For me, that is worth the price of admission.
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my example, i dont think he had high end gear. It is HR and he uses Logic and did the mixing too.

I agree the band was refreshed and had a lot more fun and are a lot happier with the results than the last time it was DIY all the way, or when they did one song at the "big studio"..

one thing sticks out that I heard about this guy was he's done 6 albums this year, and he tours with a band, so in slang...his chops are in shape...hes in tune...hes on fire....hes not crusty...hes in form, etc.. like a band that practices and plays live all the time they get "tight", smooth, in the groove and all that. Hes putting in the time.

thats tune 1, and I compare it to the "big studio SSL4000" song they did before, and this one is a lot better. weird...these skills can be.
 
CoolCat said:
my example, i dont think he had high end gear. It is HR and he uses Logic and did the mixing too.

I agree the band was refreshed and had a lot more fun and are a lot happier with the results than the last time it was DIY all the way, or when they did one song at the "big studio"..

one thing sticks out that I heard about this guy was he's done 6 albums this year, and he tours with a band, so in slang...his chops are in shape...hes in tune...hes on fire....hes not crusty...hes in form, etc.. like a band that practices and plays live all the time they get "tight", smooth, in the groove and all that. Hes putting in the time.

thats tune 1, and I compare it to the "big studio SSL4000" song they did before, and this one is a lot better. weird...these skills can be.
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Ok. So here we get an interesting bit of insight and angle to it.
a) Out of a 'HR' place (but perhaps a great HR space ?)
b) Not a 'fresh pair of ears'
c) Not a from a second / different or 'better room'
So.. with chops, lots of good stuff can be pulled off.
 
BrentDomann said:
This is a home recording and DIY board, for sure. But there is really a lot of value to having a second set of (better) ears listening and tweaking in a better room with better equipment. There's something to be said for sending your work out.

Do you agree?
Click to expand...

My answer would have to be, it depends.
Yes, you will get a boost in sound (volume and otherwise) from professional mastering. Yes you will possibly get a better sound. Yes another set of unbiased ears can make some decisions you were unable to make for yourself.
No, most of what we do here is not on professional caliber, if we don't put our music out for professional radio play, why pay for what we do not need. Save your money for better room treatment, better mics and better plugs. You'll still sound better!
 
heres a mastering room, stuff mastered here still holds up today.
but it doesnt look very fancy or acoustically perfect?
in so many pictures you see these same speakers.

I wonder what those panels are with holes in them?
 

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CoolCat said:
heres a mastering room, stuff mastered here still holds up today.
but it doesnt look very fancy or acoustically perfect?
in so many pictures you see these same speakers.

I wonder what those panels are with holes in them?
Click to expand...
Looks a lot like many mastering rooms today -- Just not decorated similarly. Soft surfaces (with unknown background), anti-flutter surfaces, nearly full cloud -- a suit. The speakers are Altec Lansing -- 600-something. 612's? Odd boxes (IMO) - great for the day I'm sure. Panel with the holes is a broadband cloud.

Studios in general didn't look "fancy" by today's measure either. I'm even just assuming that's the post-room at Abbey Road, but they all looked so spartan and utilitarian...

I don't think the horrible deco choices came in until the 70's. And I guess they fixed many of them by the 90's.
 
I've never seen older mastering studio pics. That one is great.

Yeah there's definitely major acoustic treatment in that room.
 
That does look like Abby road. Love the giant tape machines.

Wow Altec Lansing ! I actually remember (when I was about 12) if you had Altec Lansing voice of the theaters for your sound reinforcement you were big time !
 
PDP said:
..Wow Altec Lansing ! I actually remember (when I was about 12) if you had Altec Lansing voice of the theaters for your sound reinforcement you were big time !
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Yeah baby. 1965, friend had one -for 'P/A' ;) He'd have it set in his front room- playing records.. STOMPED the old "Magnavoxes
 
PDP said:
Wow Altec Lansing ! I actually remember (when I was about 12) if you had Altec Lansing voice of the theaters for your sound reinforcement you were big time !
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The speaks in the pic are most likely Altec 10 or 12" dual concentric 604's or the like.

I wasn't big time, but when I was 16, I had 4 Voice of the Theaters in my basement (2 bought with paper route money and 2 were my brothers). One in each corner. Fun to play Black Sabbath "Paranoid" or Rush's first album through and jam a long with on guitar .. until my dad would come down and pull the fuse out of the box..
 
That's a really cool photo, CoolCat. When mastering for vinyl, does the mastering job end up on tape and then get transferred to the master disc cutter, or does (did) the disc get cut right there and then?
 
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