Mastering - Modern Rock Music

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Curious about the tools used in today's rock music. I've referenced alot of material lately and they all seem to have been mastered either by the same person, or they use very similar techniques and tools. Not looking for EXACT details here, but looking for a general guideline what they might be doing with today's rock music, what tools, plug ins, hardware, being used, etc. Thanks...
 
I don't think they are being mastered by the same person, I think that most of the bands are just telling their producers and engineers that they want to sound like this or that.
 
Not looking for EXACT details here, but looking for a general guideline what they might be doing with today's rock music, what tools, plug ins, hardware, being used, etc.
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Just make it LOUD!!

And with no dynamics. In other words make the the softest part in the song the same level as the loudest part.

Tukkis
 
Tukkis said:
In other words make the the softest part in the song the same level as the loudest part.
Tukkis
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If done correctly, the softest parts will appear much louder than the loudest parts.

MP

p.s. Never mind.
 
Tools that I've seen most often used are:

DAWS: Sonic Solutions, Sadie, Pro Tools, Wavelab, Nuendo, Sequoia

Waves L2 - This can be hardware or plug-in, and is an essential piece to make things LOUD as said previously.

Digitial EQ - Weiss EQ1

Digital Compressor - Weiss DS1

Analog Compressor - This varies a bit, but popular ones include Manley Variable-MU, Crane Song STC-8, Avalon 2004, Urei 1176

Analog EQs - Again lots of variation, popular ones include GML 8200, Manley Massive Passive, Avalon 2055

Other items - Crane Song HEDD, Zsystems Digital Detangler, TC Electronic 5000, Alesis Masterlink, A/D converters from Pacific Microsonics, Lucid, etc.

Plugins - Waves Mastering Bundle, Waves Restoration bundle, Crane Song Phoenix, Spectra Foo Metering, Focusrite EQs, Bomb Factory compressors, Drawmer, TC Tools / Master X
 
I agree with masteringhouse.

masteringhouse his the nail right on the head. I'd say the 2/3rds of masters done today use those tools that masteringhouse has mentioned, Sonic Solutions being the major one.

sonicpaint
 
They all sound the same just due to the fact that they are all being mastered under the same constraints of the leading edge of today's technology. You can master on you computer pretty well, but if you really want quality you are ging to have to send it off to a masering house and get a glass master ect. as for the tools, most mastering that i've seen they use compressor/limiter, e.q. and some reverb. all cases are different, but these seem to be the basics.
 
Thanks Masteringhouse

I just want to thank Masteringhouse for NOT including Ozone and explaining how it is just as good or better than Waves Mastering Tools!

Oh, maybe its not a "tool" but those big custom speakers are usually important too.
 
Re: Thanks Masteringhouse

greggybud said:
Oh, maybe its not a "tool" but those big custom speakers are usually important too.
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Along with an accurate room and an experienced and tasteful pair of ears.

Now where does one buy those ears? :)
 
ashgallows said:
You can master on you computer pretty well, but if you really want quality you are ging to have to send it off to a masering house and get a glass master ect.
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Glass master??? lol... you don't know what a glass master is, do you? If you want quality you need to get a glass master?.....lol... sorry that's funny.

sonicpaint
 
wow, thanks for the replies. However, based on the tools listed it doesn't sound realistic that they would use everyone on a song would it?

How about someone listing the steps one of those mastering houses would take to master a rock tune? I'm sure they follow some sort of the same guideline for every tune.

Ofcourse you can't buy their "ears" but I'm just interested what steps the pros take when mastering. There HAS to be a basic set of steps they take. I'd love to see the path taken from initial stereo mix to final master.
 
homeuser said:
wow, thanks for the replies. However, based on the tools listed it doesn't sound realistic that they would use everyone on a song would it?

How about someone listing the steps one of those mastering houses would take to master a rock tune? I'm sure they follow some sort of the same guideline for every tune.

Ofcourse you can't buy their "ears" but I'm just interested what steps the pros take when mastering. There HAS to be a basic set of steps they take. I'd love to see the path taken from initial stereo mix to final master.
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Actually there isn't a step by step approach or specific guideline no more than there is a step by step approach for writing a rock tune. If there was, we would all be replaced by computers and that would make for a very boring concert.

The worst thing that you can do is immediately start slapping together a signal chain. The general approach is first to listen to the material (wow, some insight) and based on your level of experience make a determination of what is missing or what there is too much of. Also hear in your "mind's ear" what a mix may be capable of and decide on a direction. Choose one song that might serve as a reference for the album. Not necessarily the best sounding, but more of the middle ground. From there you start to try different things.

Usually the first step in processing for me is to get the level up (if it needs it), not to the final volume but a good average. Volume plays an important factor in how we percieve EQ (Fletcher-Munson) so I like to work at a reasonable level.

Then I usually work on cleaning up the bottom (again if it needs it) as bottom is where most of the power is in a rock tune and can mask quite a bit of stuff in the frequencies above. Possibly use a high pass filter to start at 21Hz, and I usually end up working with the freqs around 125 and 220 to clean up mud. From that point on it varies on the tune and the problem(s) I'm trying to fix. It's an iterative cycle of trying, listening, fixing or leaving it alone ...
 
I have a book I got on amazon called "Mastering Engineers Handbook". It explains the entire mastering process from getting "master" mixes from the mix engineer to delivery to the duplication house.

Did it make me into a mastering engineer? No, but there's a mastering engineer somewhere who's missing a hand book:). It's an interesting look into a very exclusive area of audio. After reading it I feel like I have an understanding of what a mastering engineer can work with. It left me with the feeling that less is more. Less compression from me equals more room for the trained ears of the mastering engineer and his specialized tools. Less hyped eq from me is more room for the mastering engineer to tweak the details.

Cheers, RD
 
Bob Katz Rock!

I have learned a lot from the many pages at Digital Domain! He is one smart and experienced guy when it comes to audio mastering and audio in general. Blue Bear Sound has the right idea, though I haven't got the book yet myself I know it's only a matter of time. (right after I get my monitors). I'm sure the book is more than most people can handle.

sonicpaint
 
Re: Bob Katz Rock!

sonicpaint said:
I'm sure the book is more than most people can handle.
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It is, but people can adapt the knowledge (or at least some of it!) to suit their own purposes.

It's not, however, going to instantly turn them into mastering engineers!
 
Re: Bob Katz Rock!

sonicpaint said:
I have learned a lot from the many pages at Digital Domain! He is one smart and experienced guy when it comes to audio mastering and audio in general. ...
sonicpaint
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Bob is not only very knowledable, but he's a very nice guy as well. Very generous with what he knows and approachable, particularly considering his position in the mastering world.

One of the true "Masters of Mastering".
 
Re: Re: Bob Katz Rock!

masteringhouse said:
Bob is not only very knowledable, but he's a very nice guy as well. Very generous with what he knows and approachable, particularly considering his position in the mastering world.

One of the true "Masters of Mastering".
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Awe come on...lets not get all jittery eyed here ;)



I think Bobs book should be required for mixers too, since it give you an idea of what is happening at the next level. Having an idea will help mixers new to dealing with ME's have enough information so that the dialog is open and communication is positive.

SoMm
 
Re: Re: Re: Bob Katz Rock!

Son of Mixerman said:
Awe come on...lets not get all jittery eyed here
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Are you kidding????

Bob Katz is my hero.... I have his name/website tattooed around my navel! :p

:D :D
 
What more can you say?

lol....Blue Bear Sound. As far as being a great person, you can kind of tell by all the experience that he is willing to share with anyone who visits his webpage. It's great too that a guy at his level still tries to help out the little guy.

I think everyone should be visiting his page, he has so much to learn there it's easy to get lost in all the information!

It's cool that their are others the respect him as much as I do. Thanks for sharing guys.

later,
sonicpaint

:D
 
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