I understand that I'm quoted on page 207 (or something around there).
Cool... was already impressed by the number of posts so this is just a bonus.
Mastering is 90% listening -- objectively -- and 10% about processing. Learning to listen and learning your tools is far more important than anything you're going to learn in a book.
Great advice..
And its a double bonus as I have set up a home label to go with it all so I have a few acts that want to get out there but what I am seeing by getting them in my new studio is that what I liked live isn't as good when you record it...
Its the detail that you get to hear.. the sloppy workmanship or changes.. or that a song is not listenable to more than 3-4 times... you just get board of it... The frantic pace of it... How other musicians can relate to it... and loads more... That you get away with once your live as its the whole atmosphere... etc..
So what I need to lean is how to spot a great song and a great musician the rest is learning material...
That was one of the reasons for the home studio as I was spending money and time on getting people mixed and mastered only to find they weren't going anywhere all the crazed fans at gigs weren't snapping up records..
So I though ok lets try and at least keep the costs down so we can sell it as a lower price while the fan base gets bigger.
But literally last night I discovered hang on may be we are too pumped up over this stuff and others are going its ok if you give it away but to pay for it...
Now I'm not one to give up and I think that overall we will all better musician by what your saying and by us learning the process.
Now I am prepared to take my time over my own music but for others who I have offered to help I am now seeing a little clarity.
How good is the song, how good is the musician, how much are they prepared to work etc...
Now some people might laugh and say what is this guy on.
I am passionate about music always have been but the deeper I get into it the more I see its actually about delivering the emotion flawlessly what ever that may be rock, ballad or folk its about feeling that your somewhere else... was it Steven Spielberg who said if he's seeing how the director put the film together its probably not that good if he's just watching a film and not thinking about how they did it then they have a good film on the go.
I guess its the same with music if I'm listening and thinking the band should be tighter or the song lack punch or tension or its just gets boring then... new song.
like listening skills, the ultimate importance of the monitoring chain and proper acoustic treatment of the space.
Now this is something I can work with...
Listening skills.. Now to state the obvious what am I listening for..
Clarity and brightness, pace and tension how the song is put together...? Are there examples somewhere of before and after?
And also I guess to enhance the listening you use "the monitoring chain and proper acoustic treatment of the space."
Now I have seen stuff about monitors 3ft from the floor or was it wall and points of a triangle... loads of stuff about padding and foam and stuff
So with a normal home what can you really do to enhance the listening environment.
I was using one room for recording and another for post production
Partly because I and a few of us amateurs getting round felt one room had a warmer sound and being downstairs we could instruments into different room if necessary (lots more money on cables and right now I just want to focus on getting a good clean sound with them all there. It also helps us with getting the sound right at open mic nights as well... so bonus.
But I guess what I'm asking is given the limits of where I live what can I realistically do to enhance the sound so that I can hear what I'm looking for mistakes that bring down the performance.
Or have I got that all wrong?
I'm saying to get some other sources. Objectivity is far too important to the task and you're not going to have any with material you're intimately familiar with.
So How about offering the studio to musicians who want to A) help us develop it B) record a demo type quality stuff.
Kind of pre-booked but essentially open recording sessions and use it to see the difference between music from the same set up
and also look about on the internet for what/ Mastered and unmastered stuff?
Anyway thanks for taking the time to help me with this.
I do want to get our good music out there and not a price that needs mortgages.
I do believe that
truly good music travels faster and wider than what we
think is good... LOL not matter how much passion and fun we think we have for it.
I hope that makes sense and I hope that you have a few more bits of advice or can set me straight on a few things that I might have got wrong here.