Mastering Mystery

dogooder

dogooder

Well-known member
To me anyway. Lest say I have finished a song that has 20 tracks. Say there are three guitar tracks, two keyboard tracks, 8 drum tracks etc.
I have now mixed them down to a stereo mix. I have taken bits and pieces from the 3 guitar tracks and edited them together to make one, same with
some of the others. Now I need it mastered? Do I just send out the stereo mix that I have? If I send them all 20 tracks how are they going put together
the solo I mixed etc. Forgive me but I know nothing about mastering that is why it is a mystery to me.
 
You need to work with the mastering engineer on this. They may want just the stereo mix, or may want the stems too. But comp the 3 guitar tracks together (the parts you used), if they ask for the stems.
 
Just send the stereo mix. If the mastering engineer feels that there are issues with the mix that can't be overcome then they should get back to you and ask if you really meant it to sound like it does or if you could adjust your mix to correct the issues. With one particular client I often get stems, but that's because he treats me as both a mixing and mastering engineer.
 
jamesperrett said:
Just send the stereo mix. If the mastering engineer feels that there are issues with the mix that can't be overcome then they should get back to you and ask if you really meant it to sound like it does or if you could adjust your mix to correct the issues. With one particular client I often get stems, but that's because he treats me as both a mixing and mastering engineer.
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Agreed. The mastering engineers job is to optimize your already mixed tracks unless he also does mixing and you arrange for him to do both.
 
jamesperrett said:
Just send the stereo mix. If the mastering engineer feels that there are issues with the mix that can't be overcome then they should get back to you and ask if you really meant it to sound like it does or if you could adjust your mix to correct the issues. With one particular client I often get stems, but that's because he treats me as both a mixing and mastering engineer.
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Not that I am going to have anything mastered because I don't try and promote any of my material but I am curious. How much does mastering cost? Per song? I know it is going to be different, but a general ballpark figure? In what format would one supply the song? If one is not happy with the result, then what? If the cost was not that high I might consider having one song mastered to hear the difference. If it is that much better I might consider others. It really makes no difference because I am not trying to sell anything and am satisfied with the mixes I have. They are really only for posterity when I am gone which is not far off.
 
dogooder said:
Not that I am going to have anything mastered because I don't try and promote any of my material but I am curious. How much does mastering cost? Per song? I know it is going to be different, but a general ballpark figure? In what format would one supply the song? If one is not happy with the result, then what? If the cost was not that high I might consider having one song mastered to hear the difference. If it is that much better I might consider others. It really makes no difference because I am not trying to sell anything and am satisfied with the mixes I have. They are really only for posterity when I am gone which is not far off.
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It depends on the level of mastering you want - hands off machine mastering $50 a song - hands on people mastering starts at around $100 song and up. The most common mix file format for mastering would be the stereo interleaved 24 bit .Wav (or maybe an.Aiff file).

If you are not happy with the results - you get to do it again (and pay) with a different engineer - that said ME will give you the track to listen to and make any suggestions - but if you want to hear multiple takes and choose you'll have to pay for it.

If you tracks are just for posterity - why don't. you try mastering your self - Buy Ozone 19 Advanced and learn how to master.
 
I've a firm view of mastering now that people self-produce in their own studios. If your studio sounds like other commercial studios - as in a controlled environment that is neutral. Adding nothing, and not removing anything, then your mix is your master. If your room, or your ears are not a standard, then the extra set of ears the mastering engineer has can help make your product sit with other similar ones. Busy mastering engineers just know the standard for your genre of music, and can adjust your heavy handed bass, or over bright hats, or boomy bass that you kind of like, but will sound odd to others. Quality of work isn't directly linked to price. A commercial facility with many engineers will charge the commercial rate for that area. High business rates mean some parts of every country cost more. A mastering engineer who can work from home with good ears could be $25 and hour or $75 an hour. If he is busy, it will be towards the top, if he is slack, but good, then bargains can be negotiated. Commercial premises can multiple this up.

If you have a good set of ears and have compared yours with commercial releases in the same genre and they match, then there's probably no need to go further.
 
Papanate said:
It depends on the level of mastering you want - hands off machine mastering $50 a song - hands on people mastering starts at around $100 song and up. The most common mix file format for mastering would be the stereo interleaved 24 bit .Wav (or maybe an.Aiff file).

If you are not happy with the results - you get to do it again (and pay) with a different engineer - that said ME will give you the track to listen to and make any suggestions - but if you want to hear multiple takes and choose you'll have to pay for it.

If you tracks are just for posterity - why don't. you try mastering your self - Buy Ozone 19 Advanced and learn how to master.
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I don't use a DAW. I don't know what you mean by hands off hands on?
 
dogooder said:
I don't use a DAW. I don't know what you mean by hands off hands on?
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No DAW you are going to have a hard time getting mastering done - Generally you supply a 2 track Half Inch or One Inch Mixed - and the Engineer works from that.
Hands Off means they just let a machine take care of it - Hands on means a Engineer will do the mastering.
 
Papanate said:
No DAW you are going to have a hard time getting mastering done - Generally you supply a 2 track Half Inch or One Inch Mixed - and the Engineer works from that.
Hands Off means they just let a machine take care of it - Hands on means a Engineer will do the mastering.
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I use an Alesis HD24 and a Yamaha o2r96 board. So, the recording is still digital and files produced are .wav.
 
I think what Papanate means by hands off and hands on is what I call attended or unattended. If you want to attend a session then it works out a bit more expensive because the engineer has to set aside a certain time for you (and tidy up the studio). If you don't attend the session then the engineer can fit your job in around other work so it will be cheaper. However, I'd suggest going along to a mastering session once or twice at least just to hear what your material sounds like through a decent monitoring system and to establish a rapport with the engineer. While much of my work is unattended nowadays, many of my clients have done attended sessions with me in the past so I know what sort of sound they are looking for.

Wav files are fine for mastering - preferably 24 bit if possible. Most mastering engineers are prepared to make changes to the master within reason if you don't like the result. It is often a 2 way conversation, especially if you've not used that mastering engineer before.
 
jamesperrett said:
I think what Papanate means by hands off and hands on is what I call attended or unattended. If you want to attend a session then it works out a bit more expensive because the engineer has to set aside a certain time for you (and tidy up the studio). If you don't attend the session then the engineer can fit your job in around other work so it will be cheaper. However, I'd suggest going along to a mastering session once or twice at least just to hear what your material sounds like through a decent monitoring system and to establish a rapport with the engineer. While much of my work is unattended nowadays, many of my clients have done attended sessions with me in the past so I know what sort of sound they are looking for.

Wav files are fine for mastering - preferably 24 bit if possible. Most mastering engineers are prepared to make changes to the master within reason if you don't like the result. It is often a 2 way conversation, especially if you've not used that mastering engineer before.
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Well thank you, that clears up quite a bit. When is was stated,go through the machine, I didn't really know what to think. I am thinking how can it go through a machine unattended and not monitored by a human and come out mastered? I don't need to be present when mastered, what do I know? That's why I would get it done by someone
who knows what they are doing.
 
I could be wrong, but I *think* what (previous poster) meant with hands-off / hands on is that there are a squadron of automated "mastering" services available out there -- along with people using "AI" type plugins & presets that make a "best guess" -- and then there are engineers who know what they're doing with the proper experience that actually listen and care.

Digital, analog, attended, unattended -- I know some people like to attend - I used to (back in my mixing days I was also the studio liaison to the mastering facilities), but [1] good lord, that was some booooo-ring stuff and [2] I could tell that occasionally, I was a distraction to the engineer. So I started dropping-off / quick listening session - then leave and wait for a phone call.

jamesperrett said:
(and tidy up the studio)
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I had to (not by choice) cut attended sessions during the 'Rona (still fighting the local municipality and the insurance company about it actually) and man, this place got a little more disheveled than I care to admit. :LOL: #TheStruggleIsReal
 
There are mastering engineers that will master a song or part of a song for free so that you can here the result. After my last release I had a guy contact me and offer his service for my next release so I had a listen to some of his work. I was not impressed so I will continue to do it myself but it's something you can look into. Also, I have seen guys offer to master for free on forums so you might throw a line out and see if someone bites. Some do it for fun.
 
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