i offer free mastering try it now!

[Gizzmo0815]

With the Internet there are now many pro mastering houses that offer online mastering, so it's even more important for you to really know what you are doing when you offer a mastering service...
...because once your reputation (good or bad) as a "mastering engineer" is made on the Internet...it's hard to undo.

Yes Miroslav we get it...Fala is the lowest of the low on the mastering food chain. He isn't fit to dine at the table of the gods of homerecording.com.

The funny thing is...he's not scamming anyone. He's offering a free service to anyone who's interested. And if they want to pay him more to do more work on their other songs they can. And so...anyone who doesn't like his work...gets a sample...and can then decide NOT to continue to work with him if they so desire.

It doesn't matter if he sucks...it doesn't matter if he's doing this to learn. It doesn't even matter if you just plain don't like his mix. He's still free to do what he's doing.

But telling him over and over again how he isn't "mastering" without offering any suggestions for improvement (either on the technical side, or on the business side of things) isn't doing ANYONE any good.

Again...I think there's just a lot of fear out there that the professional studio industry on both the mixing and mastering side of the house that the whole audio production economy is going to collapse because people like Fala got their hands on some mastering software and want to learn how to use it. And MAYBE even have some grand dreams to do it as a carer.

But the mentality on this board (as well as several others) is like a high school locker room when the new kid shows up at school. The big boys all start picking on him, like some goofed up audio engineering rite of passage ritual. If you know so much about audio...and you're here to help...then HELP. Don't wail away on him till he gives up and goes home.

Y'all are just going to have to accept that the internet exists...and people are going to try and make money over it. Some of those people will compete with businesses that have long established themselve as the bona-fide experts, and some of those old businesses will loose stake in their market because of it. But there ain't a damn thing you can do to stop it from happening. Except to just be better than the thousands of amatures that are apparently bursting through the gates of the audio world.

How else would you suggest that Fala get better at mastering? He could go to a school right? But maybe there aren't any he can go to nearby...or he can't afford it. But right now he CAN afford the tools to practise, and it looks like he might even have access to a real studio if I'm understanding him correctly. So why not offer a free service on a home recording forum? You all act like he's planning the grand takeover of your studio.

 

[kcearl]

well said......

 

[fala]

Yes Miroslav we get it...Fala is the lowest of the low on the mastering food chain. He isn't fit to dine at the table of the gods of homerecording.com.

The funny thing is...he's not scamming anyone. He's offering a free service to anyone who's interested. And if they want to pay him more to do more work on their other songs they can. And so...anyone who doesn't like his work...gets a sample...and can then decide NOT to continue to work with him if they so desire.

It doesn't matter if he sucks...it doesn't matter if he's doing this to learn. It doesn't even matter if you just plain don't like his mix. He's still free to do what he's doing.

But telling him over and over again how he isn't "mastering" without offering any suggestions for improvement (either on the technical side, or on the business side of things) isn't doing ANYONE any good.

Again...I think there's just a lot of fear out there that the professional studio industry on both the mixing and mastering side of the house that the whole audio production economy is going to collapse because people like Fala got their hands on some mastering software and want to learn how to use it. And MAYBE even have some grand dreams to do it as a carer.

But the mentality on this board (as well as several others) is like a high school locker room when the new kid shows up at school. The big boys all start picking on him, like some goofed up audio engineering rite of passage ritual. If you know so much about audio...and you're here to help...then HELP. Don't wail away on him till he gives up and goes home.

Y'all are just going to have to accept that the internet exists...and people are going to try and make money over it. Some of those people will compete with businesses that have long established themselve as the bona-fide experts, and some of those old businesses will loose stake in their market because of it. But there ain't a damn thing you can do to stop it from happening. Except to just be better than the thousands of amatures that are apparently bursting through the gates of the audio world.

How else would you suggest that Fala get better at mastering? He could go to a school right? But maybe there aren't any he can go to nearby...or he can't afford it. But right now he CAN afford the tools to practise, and it looks like he might even have access to a real studio if I'm understanding him correctly. So why not offer a free service on a home recording forum? You all act like he's planning the grand takeover of your studio.

thank you for you words gizzmo

 

[miroslav]

Yes Miroslav we get it...Fala is the lowest of the low on the mastering food chain. He isn't fit to dine at the table of the gods of homerecording.com.


........


But telling him over and over again how he isn't "mastering" without offering any suggestions for improvement (either on the technical side, or on the business side of things) isn't doing ANYONE any good.

.......

If you know so much about audio...and you're here to help...then HELP. Don't wail away on him till he gives up and goes home.

.......

You all act like he's planning the grand takeover of your studio.

I think if you read through my other posts...you will see that I've had an ongoing dialog about what is right/wrong with the audio of that mix...and I haven't been just "wailing away on him". I already said on page two I thought he was a good guy and not a scam, and I wished him well.

But see...he didn't ask for help....he came offering a *mastering* service when he's really not ready to do mastering....he's just playing with plug-ins.
Maybe saying that seems harsh to some, but when it's a "service" it CAN dilute what some people come to understand that mastering really is.
Maybe you don't see that as a bad thing...but some audio guys do.
But hey...he is NO threat to me, he's not going to take over my studio, and I'm not in fear of his free mastering service!
However, there are guys here who do real mastering and there are enough audio pros around...so when someone makes claims...they need to be substantiated, regardless if they are offering stuff for free and that this is just another audio forum.

Go over to the guitar forum and start talking about guitar building and setups....and if you don't know what you are talking about, you WILL get "slammed" by some of the guys who DO know what they are talking about.

He didn't come here from the position of "I'm trying to learn mastering."
And it's not just 'cuz he's the "new guy”.

 

[fala]

miro if you do not like "my" free master you find other people .

 

[Gizzmo0815]

I see you like your mixes LOUD and flat-topped!

Say what you want but this was your first post in this thread. Which is a pretty obvious dig at Fala.

And prior to you making the above post...Fala didnt' actually say anything about a mastering "service". He said he offers free mastering. Nothing more, nothing less.

Truth telling I'm a fan of:

"Hey Fala, nice effort but I don't really like the way your master sounds because I think it's lacking this, this, this and this."

Pompousity is just offputting, which is common around here.

Either way. Since he isn't charging people for the first master...you really have no right to argue his faulty business practises...which is what several people turned this thread into.

The moment he starts making cash off 7th graders who come to him for a "professional mastering job"...I'm with you...sell his soul to the devil because that's evil. But so far...he's done nothing wrong.




So in order to practicee as I preach:

Fala,

In the future it might be better to make it more clear about why you're offering the free mastering. Is it because you intend to give a free sample of your work? Is it so that you can get more practice with your tools? Or is it just because you like to master music as a hobby?

Have you thought about offering some sort of contractual agreement with the people that send you their songs? This way they might be more willing to send you their music if they understand you won't use it for any other reason than to perform a one time free master of the song. I think this might be one thing people are worried about.

Also, as mentioned before. I think you might be succumbing to the "loudness war" a bit. Admittedly I haven't listened to any of your work yet. But if you can, it would help a lot to post something you've done. Then we could perhaps give you some tips and pointers to help you out.

 

[miroslav]

miro if you do not like "my" free master you find other people .

I'll wait until you start charging big $$$ for it...that way I'll feel like I'm getting something.

"Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose
and nothing ain't worth nothing, but it's free.
Feeling good was easy lord, when Bobby sang the blues
And feeling good was good enough for me
good enough for me and my Bobby McGee"

If the first track is free, whats the rate for the songs after?

first, think satisfy you....
Then we'll talk.... but are very cheap

But…it looks to me like you’re really here to build up a potential “mastering” business…which is fine for you to want to do that (though some will view it as “spam-ish”).

Since that appears to be the case, I see nothing wrong with people asking about and/or challenging your “mastering” skills.

 

[miroslav]

I see you like your mixes LOUD and flat-topped!

Say what you want but this was your first post in this thread. Which is a pretty obvious dig at Fala.

Right...and you can say what you want...but that's the reality of his "mastering" skill.
And Monkey Allen instantly concurred after I said that.

Is this supposed to be a mastering version of The Emperor’s New Clothes…?

WTF...you want whip cream and a cherry on top of every comment?
I’ve gotten my share of “slams” on audio forums for putting my foot in it (and still do)…and YES it is a “rite of passage” if you are going to come on an open forum and say things.

I suppose next we'll segue into one of those The big bad knowledgeable audio guys are picking on the poor newbies debates….and that this is just a Home Recording forum, and concessions need to be made for everyone that doesn’t know what they are doing or that thinks they know what they are doing.
Don't view honesty as cruelty....

 

[fala]

Say what you want but this was your first post in this thread. Which is a pretty obvious dig at Fala.

And prior to you making the above post...Fala didnt' actually say anything about a mastering "service". He said he offers free mastering. Nothing more, nothing less.

Truth telling I'm a fan of:

"Hey Fala, nice effort but I don't really like the way your master sounds because I think it's lacking this, this, this and this."

Pompousity is just offputting, which is common around here.

Either way. Since he isn't charging people for the first master...you really have no right to argue his faulty business practises...which is what several people turned this thread into.

The moment he starts making cash off 7th graders who come to him for a "professional mastering job"...I'm with you...sell his soul to the devil because that's evil. But so far...he's done nothing wrong.




So in order to practicee as I preach:

Fala,

In the future it might be better to make it more clear about why you're offering the free mastering. Is it because you intend to give a free sample of your work? Is it so that you can get more practice with your tools? Or is it just because you like to master music as a hobby?

Have you thought about offering some sort of contractual agreement with the people that send you their songs? This way they might be more willing to send you their music if they understand you won't use it for any other reason than to perform a one time free master of the song. I think this might be one thing people are worried about.

Also, as mentioned before. I think you might be succumbing to the "loudness war" a bit. Admittedly I haven't listened to any of your work yet. But if you can, it would help a lot to post something you've done. Then we could perhaps give you some tips and pointers to help you out.

I like to do "my mastering" I do it to know at the public and make people satisfied with some positive feedbeck, I'm not a pro ... i like practice with friend tools at the studio

for loudness war I'll be carefull, if you want gentle mastering i send it

 

[miroslav]

Fala...keep practicing...like I said earlier, it's all good.

No one is trying to chase you away...

 

[mshilarious]

This whole board is on the brink of descending into spam . . . it happens on every board anywhere titled "Mastering", and y'all want a separate board for that. Why?

Simple, really. It's price. You don't see a dozen mix engineers offering their services on mixing boards, because a decent mix takes quite a lot of time, and is therefore expensive. And since everybody fancies themselves a mix engineer, they aren't willing to spend $3K paying someone competent to do it for them.

Instead, $100 mastering job, or $300, $500, whatever, sure we can cough that up . . .

Truth is everybody who sucks real bad at mastering will suck real bad at mixing too. It's only a different skill set at the highest level. It's like my fat ass challenging the winner of the Boston Marathon to a 100m sprint. He's still gonna kick my ass, even though it's not his specialty . . .

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

This whole board is on the brink of descending into spam . . . it happens on every board anywhere titled "Mastering", and y'all want a separate board for that. Why?

If for no other reason than to get this crap away from mixing.

G.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

But telling him over and over again how he isn't "mastering" without offering any suggestions for improvement (either on the technical side, or on the business side of things) isn't doing ANYONE any good.

Here's a suggestion. Why don't you guys actually learn what mastering actually *IS* before you try to decide what's truth and what's not here?

What Fala is offering is NOT mastering. And he's not the only one; there's thousands out there scamming themselves and the public the same way. This has nothing to do with schoolyard locker room rules or anything like that. It has to do with all those out there like you and him who have no idea what they are talking about, listening to each other and reinforcing each other's wrong ideas about how the world works, because you think that fact is a matter of majority opinion. You guys get pissed every time someone tries telling you that this stuff is a skillcraft and not an automatic entitlement.

If you knew what you were talking about, you'd know that neither Miro or I are mastering engineers, and that Fala has not gotten his hands on *any* mastering software, so your beliefs about anybody being afraid are way offbase.

And if you bothered actually reading this thread, you'd know that Fala is indeed offering a service beyond the free faux mastering:

If the first track is free, whats the rate for the songs after?

first, think satisfy you....
Then we'll talk.... but are very cheap

How else is Fala supposed to get better at mastering, you ask? You mean beyond actually learning what mastering actually *IS* before he tries doing it? I asked him what he thought mastering was, and his response was to cut and paste a pretty good answer that he had to look up on the Internet. Then when I asked him as a followup how what he was offering was related to that answer, he fell back on the "no speak English" smokescreen, which he apparently uses only for those questions he doesn't want to or can't answer.

I open that question up to anybody and everybody here; how does what he is offering for free even closely resemble the answer he gave to "What is mastering"? I'll start by giving my own reply: "It doesn't."

If anyone disagrees with me on that, fine; let's hear it. Such a debate would be a good "teachable moment" for Fala and Gizmo and everyone else reading this who just doesn't yet get it, for them to actually lean what's really going on instead of just blaming others for their own ignorance.

G.

 

[fala]

How else is Fala supposed to get better at mastering, you ask? You mean beyond actually learning what mastering actually *IS* before he tries doing it? I asked him what he thought mastering was, and his response was to cut and paste a pretty good answer that he had to look up on the Internet. Then when I asked him as a followup how what he was offering was related to that answer, he fell back on the "no speak English" smokescreen, which he apparently uses only for those questions he doesn't want to or can't answer.

G.

south see my English is very very bad sorry I can not make an easy conversation .... I do not know those things I regret sorry

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

south see my English is very very bad sorry I can not make an easy conversation .... I do not know those things I regret sorry

Fala, you answered question #7 a few posts ago. Is what you are offering to do here for free the same thing as that answer?

Or, in broken Italian:

Fala, lei ha risposto la domanda numera 7 pochi messaggi fa. È che lei offre di fare qui per libero la stessa cosa come quella risposta?

G.

 

[AMcB]

Mastering is an art, correct? There's no real right way to do it. Who cares if you don't like his masters. Don't hire him. Done.

I don't know much, if anything, about mastering. I wouldn't charge people to do it. But that's me.

You don't have to shoot people down just because they aren't good at something. You have to learn somehow. Your criticism isn't at all constructive. You aren't trying to help at all. You are like other people have said, just picking on him. I've heard your work, and appriciate it, not close to what I could even begin to understand to do. But just because you're netter than someone, doesn't mean you need to shoot them down.

It's just plain rude. And childish. And that coming from a child himself.

You don't know fala ir whatever. He could of spend good money on whatever gear/plugins he has. Alot of people hack plugins. But you can just assume. Ass.

 

[moresound]

I'm offering FREE open heart surgery!!

While in Vietnam I had to sew up a few legs and administer some morphine but now I have some space in my basement and all the correct tools to do the surgery.
If you like the end results of my work fine. I can expand and do other magical procedures at a reasonable cost.
But if your not satisfied well........................you don't have to pay.

 

[Gidge]

fala ain't harming nobody . . . nothing wrong with free

other moderators have ruled differently in the past...just sayin'...

 

[miroslav]

I don't know much, if anything, about mastering. I wouldn't charge people to do it.

And see...this is kinda the heart if it all.
Because it's misunderstood, some people reduce mastering to nothing of any real importance...just pure art that anyone can do and do it for free or on the cheap..and still call it *mastering*.
You're wrong.
There IS a right and wrong way to do it....because there IS a certain amount of technical skill required.
Oh…and even with art there IS good and bad art.

You don't have to shoot people down just because they aren't good at something.

No...he's not being shot down because he isn't good at it...it's the manner in which he described and offered "mastering"...in that it has little to do with real mastering.

Boy, this thread sure took a wrong turn and went down some dirt road!
It took quite a lot of posts before Fala coughed up the “I’m not a pro, I’m just practicing” explanation. Had he started this thread with those words, while also offering some free “mastering” to folks so he could learn more about it…
…it would have gone a lot differently.

But I knew where he was coming from at the start.
He must have picked up some “tips” from his “mastering friend”…and probably thought it was mostly about running some software plugs and making things LOUD, and so he figured he would try his hand at it, maybe eventually even making some $$$ from it down the road…and he even originally put up someone else's website for some instant "credibility" (which he then took down when asked about it).
BUT…even HE wasn’t sure of his skills so he cloaked the “I’m not a pro, I’m just practicing” reality behind the word “FREE”...though just a few posts later, he was already looking toward charging $$$ for it.

I have NO problem with anyone’s entrepreneurial motivations…just do it in a manner that’s not misleading, and make sure that you know what you are actually doing, because there are almost always going to be people who will know more than you, and who will take you to task…especially on an open Internet forum.

This ain't about a bunch of us beating up on some poor innocent kid with a heart of gold who's trying to do nothing but good....

 

[AMcB]

I'm offering FREE open heart surgery!!

While in Vietnam I had to sew up a few legs and administer some morphine but now I have some space in my basement and all the correct tools to do the surgery.
If you like the end results of my work fine. I can expand and do other magical procedures at a reasonable cost.
But if your not satisfied well........................you don't have to pay.

And I would choose to pass on that. But thanks. NOTHING wrong with offering.