Mastering in 15 minutes!!!!

  • Thread starter Thread starter DrumRookie
  • Start date Start date
DrumRookie

DrumRookie

"That" kid.
We are doing it all wrong.

To heck with our ears, we can master tracks in 15 minutes! Just slap a multi-band compressor, more compression, cut everything under 30 hz, etc, and voila! A quick "mastered" track! :facepalm:

Absolutely brilliant. I'll never spend a single dime on a trained professional again.:eatpopcorn:
 
Lots of red flags went up as I read this gem of internet wisdom. Here we go:

To allow maximum flexibility at the mastering stage there should be as little processing as possible taking place on your exported pre-master. This means no compressors, limiters or EQs on the master output when you commit your final mix to disk.
Click to expand...

Rubbish. I'm the mix engineer and I decide what the 2bus needs. I for one have never been of the philosophy that 2bus processing is the mastering engineers' domain. Why not just give him stems, then? Or the whole multi-track? Why not let him mix the whole album?

No. If I use a bus compressor, it's from the beginning and I mix INTO it. If I use an EQ, it's intentional and it STAYS. End of discussion.

Of course, clipping isn't as critical as it used to be in analogue systems...
Click to expand...

Nope, it's the other way round. Overloading tape was more forgiving. Any dolt knows that. In digital, clipping is more critical than EVER, ESPECIALLY in 24-bit since it's is completely unnecessary. Sometimes I think the majority of articles like this are written by guys who are young and have no idea what analogue recording was, besides the myths and legends that they hear about in the proverbial internet hallways. Analogue has become this "thing" that is now completely misunderstood.

Some slight dips in the lower and upper mid frequencies and a gentle boost to the highs finish the process.
Click to expand...

So a smiley face EQ, then?

How could you possibly tell people to do this when having never heard the source track? Anything done as a matter of course in audio is a NO NO.

remove everything under 30Hz at this point.
Click to expand...

Another blanket process. What if the source track needs it or doesn't have anything below 30Hz to start with? In my experience, filtering out the sub range - while we can't really hear it on most systems - will change the mix balance somewhat and causes the midrange to become harsh, especially if the mix is fuzzy there to begin with. That's just me, though. I would way rather use a low shelf and, heaven forbid, SHELVE OUT the bass.

Multiband compression is next, then stereo enhancement, and hard limiting. :facepalm:

You'll be lucky if you have anything resembling your mix on the other end if you follow these steps.

15 minutes is being optimistic as well.

Cheers :)
 
Mo Facta said:
Lots of red flags went up as I read this gem of internet wisdom. Here we go:



Rubbish. I'm the mix engineer and I decide what the 2bus needs. I for one have never been of the philosophy that 2bus processing is the mastering engineers' domain. Why not just give him stems, then? Or the whole multi-track? Why not let him mix the whole album?

No. If I use a bus compressor, it's from the beginning and I mix INTO it. If I use an EQ, it's intentional and it STAYS. End of discussion.



Nope, it's the other way round. Overloading tape was more forgiving. Any dolt knows that. In digital, clipping is more critical than EVER, ESPECIALLY in 24-bit since it's is completely unnecessary. Sometimes I think the majority of articles like this are written by guys who are young and have no idea what analogue recording was, besides the myths and legends that they hear about in the proverbial internet hallways. Analogue has become this "thing" that is now completely misunderstood.



So a smiley face EQ, then?

How could you possibly tell people to do this when having never heard the source track? Anything done as a matter of course in audio is a NO NO.



Another blanket process. What if the source track needs it or doesn't have anything below 30Hz to start with? In my experience, filtering out the sub range - while we can't really hear it on most systems - will change the mix balance somewhat and causes the midrange to become harsh, especially if the mix is fuzzy there to begin with. That's just me, though. I would way rather use a low shelf and, heaven forbid, SHELVE OUT the bass.

Multiband compression is next, then stereo enhancement, and hard limiting. :facepalm:

You'll be lucky if you have anything resembling your mix on the other end if you follow these steps.

15 minutes is being optimistic as well.

Cheers :)
Click to expand...

How did I know that someone was gonna take this way too seriously?
 
I thought mastering meant putting Ozone on and picking the rock/pop preset and pushing the loudness slider up. How does that take 15 minutes :confused:
 
I know this is funny and all, but let's be fair for second. Or at least indulge me for a second. This little article is talking about "mastering" one track. A single. That's what I noticed anyway. Is that correct? I know that's not technically "mastering", but in a sense it is because you're getting it finished and polished up for final consumption. Now I'm no pro mastering engineer and don't pretend to be one. And maybe 15 minutes really is a laughable amount of time for one track, but how long would it really take a pro M.E. to "master" one track? Let's assume the mix is very well done and everything is tracked properly. Would it take considerably longer than 15 minutes for a pro with pro gear and monitoring to do one 3 minute pop or rock song?
 
Greg_L said:
I know this is funny and all, but let's be fair for second. Or at least indulge me for a second. This little article is talking about "mastering" one track. A single. That's what I noticed anyway. Is that correct? I know that's not technically "mastering", but in a sense it is because you're getting it finished and polished up for final consumption. Now I'm no pro mastering engineer and don't pretend to be one. And maybe 15 minutes really is a laughable amount of time for one track, but how long would it really take a pro M.E. to "master" one track? Let's assume the mix is very well done and everything is tracked properly. Would it take considerably longer than 15 minutes for a pro with pro gear and monitoring to do one 3 minute pop or rock song?
Click to expand...

I agree. I self-master. (Kinda like Rami in the shower.) I know my stuff, I know my sound. I even have a psuedo-template that gets about 90% there each time. My template includes a slight stereo widener (sometimes), a touch of MBC, a linear EQ with a mid bump and some air on the high end, then a brickwall limiter. Sounds complex, but like I said, I know what I'm going for. Even when you allow time for creating a nice clean fade (if needed), it takes me 5-10 minutes to crank one of my tunes through the mastering meat grinder.

(And yes, I know it's a meat grinder. I'll pay a pro to do it right as soon as I think I've written a hit.)
 
Murdersgalore said:
If you know what sound you want then why not just mix it that way?
Click to expand...

Because a part of the sound I want involves applying something across the board--whether it's a hair of 'verb, or compression, or even just the brickwall limiter--doing it to the whole mix often becomes the glue that helps gel the mix.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top