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Seekae
New member
I have made lots of music. it is all mixed. can it be master to sound proffesional if so how? i am new to this forum so please help. thank you for your time
Blue Bear Sound
New member
You can take anything to a professional mastering house and pay the bucks to have it mastered... but the question you need to ask yourself is, do your mixes warrant paying the big bucks for mastering?
ie, a mastering house will be able to make a good mix shine, but a mediocre or bad mix will be a polished mediocre or bad mix!
And if you're asking because your want to master them yourself.... just the fact that you're asking means you don't yet have the knowledge to master your own material - it is an art, and if you're just starting out, it will be a long haul before you have the knowledge and ability to turn out professional masters!
Bruce
PS, this isn't a put-down or criticism of you in any way, just a reality check regarding mastering....
ie, a mastering house will be able to make a good mix shine, but a mediocre or bad mix will be a polished mediocre or bad mix!
And if you're asking because your want to master them yourself.... just the fact that you're asking means you don't yet have the knowledge to master your own material - it is an art, and if you're just starting out, it will be a long haul before you have the knowledge and ability to turn out professional masters!
Bruce
PS, this isn't a put-down or criticism of you in any way, just a reality check regarding mastering....
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Bassman
New member
On the same subject, what does it cost to have, say a 10 song CD mastered. Just curious.....
Blue Bear Sound
New member
A reasonable estimate is 1 song per hour.... so whatever the hourly rate of the place is... The local place I use is $50 an hour...
If you took it to Bob Katz, I'm sure it would be more!
Bruce
If you took it to Bob Katz, I'm sure it would be more!
Bruce
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CyanJaguar
New member
hi bruce,
I am curious. Why do you take your mixes to mastering engineers , and what precisely do they do? What is that POLISH that you mentioned.
Mastered mixes seem to sound better. my friend just got his stuff back from a mastering somebody in Dallas, and it seemed to sound more pro, but my friend claims that the mastering guy used only .....
Soundforge.
SO, if I buy soundforge, can I get that polish that mastered mixes have?
peace
I am curious. Why do you take your mixes to mastering engineers , and what precisely do they do? What is that POLISH that you mentioned.
Mastered mixes seem to sound better. my friend just got his stuff back from a mastering somebody in Dallas, and it seemed to sound more pro, but my friend claims that the mastering guy used only .....
Soundforge.
SO, if I buy soundforge, can I get that polish that mastered mixes have?
peace
Gidge
Lapdance Test Dummy
Cyan Jaguar,
I believe that it isnt just the Sound Forge that is making this guys master so good....If it came out that good, I'm betting that the mix was pretty decent in the first place...also the mastering engineer KNEW WHAT TO DO to the mix to make it sound its best...probably had a bad ass monitoring system and a room designed for that purpose.....BTW, Bruce sends his mixes to me to master (of course Im joking)...You sound surprised that Bruce sends his mixes out for mastering....Mastering is an art form all to itself, and if he knows that someone else could do it alot better (especially if someone is paying for the product), then he is wise enuff to do so....Now if you arent going to market your CD or the quality doesnt have to be the best, sure you can take a shot at doing it with Sound Forge.....Try a book called the Mastering Engineers Handbook......
I believe that it isnt just the Sound Forge that is making this guys master so good....If it came out that good, I'm betting that the mix was pretty decent in the first place...also the mastering engineer KNEW WHAT TO DO to the mix to make it sound its best...probably had a bad ass monitoring system and a room designed for that purpose.....BTW, Bruce sends his mixes to me to master (of course Im joking)...You sound surprised that Bruce sends his mixes out for mastering....Mastering is an art form all to itself, and if he knows that someone else could do it alot better (especially if someone is paying for the product), then he is wise enuff to do so....Now if you arent going to market your CD or the quality doesnt have to be the best, sure you can take a shot at doing it with Sound Forge.....Try a book called the Mastering Engineers Handbook......
Blue Bear Sound
New member
Well... was just about to post, but Gidge took the words out of my mouth!CyanJaguar said:
But in addition to what Gidge said...........
Cyan... I do not consider myself a mastering engineer, nor do I have the $100K++ worth of monitoring gear/room required to do the job justice... for the budget-minded client, I can turn out some very good stuff... but for that glossy coat that you hear on commercial releases, you really do need a good mastering house.... and BTW, there are plenty of studios out there calling themselves Mastering Houses that don't have a clue and will "master" on NS-10s in a control room... you have to check the place out BEFORE you contract with them... the mastering engineer also has to be in your "sound ballpark" or you will never be happy with their results....
Bruce
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CyanJaguar
New member
thanks Gidge and bruce,
I was actually surprised that bruce took his stuff to a mastering engineer. I thought that a great mix was all that was needed.
from both your posts, it seems that the keyword is MONITORING. If they can hear more detail in a mix, they can make it sound sweeter. And that monitoring comes at quite a price.
Indeed, my friend was gushing about the monitors the mastering guy used. he described them as some huge things in a well treated room.
peace
I was actually surprised that bruce took his stuff to a mastering engineer. I thought that a great mix was all that was needed.
from both your posts, it seems that the keyword is MONITORING. If they can hear more detail in a mix, they can make it sound sweeter. And that monitoring comes at quite a price.
Indeed, my friend was gushing about the monitors the mastering guy used. he described them as some huge things in a well treated room.
peace
Blue Bear Sound
New member
The mastering facility is your friend... do not fear the mastering house!
You know you did your job engineering a mix when you take it to a mastering house and they say there's nothing to do!!!! But the truth is, most mixes no matter how great (as all mine are, of course! *snicker*), can still be tweaked that much further. It always helps to have an objective set of ears proofing a mix anyways...
I still have yet to hear a mastering place tell me that though!!!
Bruce
You know you did your job engineering a mix when you take it to a mastering house and they say there's nothing to do!!!! But the truth is, most mixes no matter how great (as all mine are, of course! *snicker*), can still be tweaked that much further. It always helps to have an objective set of ears proofing a mix anyways...
I still have yet to hear a mastering place tell me that though!!!
Bruce
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Wallycleaver
New member
Bruce,
I agree with you 110% on checking out the mastering house prior. I belive it was sonsman who knew a guy whould charge more if the client was there during the mastering! I've sat in on some mastering sessions and that shite is brutal. One guy would put small pieces of paper towel in his ear, crank it up, put his head inches from the speaker. This is not the most pro method, but he got ok results. It's an intersting field.
I agree with you 110% on checking out the mastering house prior. I belive it was sonsman who knew a guy whould charge more if the client was there during the mastering! I've sat in on some mastering sessions and that shite is brutal. One guy would put small pieces of paper towel in his ear, crank it up, put his head inches from the speaker. This is not the most pro method, but he got ok results. It's an intersting field.
