Mastering Thought for the Day

T

Tomeh

Member
Give whoever you are considering to Master your album/project just one track/song of yours to Master.

Then listen to it on the best system available to you.

You should clearly hear every detail on the original mix much better and be already thinking about making tweaks to your original mix.

If you don't have this urge, try someone else?
 
Tomeh said:
You should clearly hear every detail on the original mix much better and be already thinking about making tweaks to your original mix.
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And then what? Tweak your original mix and have it mastered again necessitating more tweaking of the tweaked mix?
That process could go on forever.
 

Ujn Hunter​

Funny, I didn't say "bad."

It is the detail that you should hear that might make you want to tweak somethings.

Either you have experienced it or not.

Have a good day.
 
60's guy said:
And then what? Tweak your original mix and have it mastered again necessitating more tweaking of the tweaked mix?
That process could go on forever.
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No, in practise usually the mixing engineer hears somethings that he would want to fine tune.

A Mastering engineer and Mixing Engineer can discuss the details and mutually gain insight.

That is a healthy conversation that benefits the project much more than a "blind", best effort.

Maybe check out someone more famous like Bob Katz's discussions and see how much communications and insight goes between the two?

Just something to think about.

Have a nice day.
 
Tomeh said:
.... already thinking about making tweaks to your original mix.
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Perhaps I was mistaken. I was under the impression that it was you who had done the original mix and not a mixing engineer to whom you had hired who then passed it on to a mastering engineer.
 
I get what you're saying... now that you can hear each track better you can hear the flaws better. Makes sense but I wouldn't try someone else if the master sounded good with nothing to tweak.
 
Tomeh said:
Give whoever you are considering to Master your album/project just one track/song of yours to Master.

Then listen to it on the best system available to you.

You should clearly hear every detail on the original mix much better and be already thinking about making tweaks to your original mix.

If you don't have this urge, try someone else?
Click to expand...
You can achieve the same outcome, ( thinking of making tweaks to the original mix ) without paying a mastering engineer.
Simply set it aside for a month, then listen to it with brand new ears. You’ll notice what could be better.
 
markmann said:
I get what you're saying... now that you can hear each track better you can hear the flaws better. Makes sense but I wouldn't try someone else if the master sounded good with nothing to tweak.
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The question is 1. I can more detail, Y or N ? 2. After hearing more detail clearly and taking some time to consider, am I going to tweak anything? If the answer to ! is "yes" than your aren't going to change up Mastering Engineers. I also like RFR's reminder to leave time to re-listen but, you still can't exclude the Mastering. Making certain thqt you are rested and coming in with a set of neutral ears is great preparation not a set of Mastering skills.
 
RFR said:
You can achieve the same outcome, ( thinking of making tweaks to the original mix ) without paying a mastering engineer.
Simply set it aside for a month, then listen to it with brand new ears. You’ll notice what could be better.
Click to expand...
A great reminder about taking or leaving time to re-listen but, you still can't exclude the Mastering. Making certain that you are rested and coming in with a set of neutral ears is great preparation but not a replacement for a set of Mastering skills.
 
Tomeh said:
A great reminder about taking or leaving time to re-listen but, you still can't exclude the Mastering. Making certain that you are rested and coming in with a set of neutral ears is great preparation but not a replacement for a set of Mastering skills.
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Wouldn’t it be best to make the mix as good as you can, set it aside, tweak, and then master???

Why master and then tweak? You’ll just have to have it mastered again. $$$
 
One thing to remember is that a lot of stuff that used to be done by a mastering engineer (before digital recording and all of the great software we have now) is being done during mixing so theoretically there shouldn't be much left to "master."

In my case, I am trying to hone my mastering skills and I think that I am getting better at it. I know it's not good to master your own music but that is what I'm doing and what I find is that I need at least a few weeks time between mixing and mastering. Honestly, by the time I'm done with my final mix it really only needs the final polish of mastering.
 
RFR said:
Wouldn’t it be best to make the mix as good as you can, set it aside, tweak, and then master???

Why master and then tweak? You’ll just have to have it mastered again. $$$
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I agree that the mixing level has improved greatly. :-)

I encourage everyone to keep mixing and mastering, if only to improve your skills. Fantastic.

Well as you make it clearer and clearer to hear the detail (break out the clearer lens to see through analogue), the better it will be all around. If you are looking to save money and don't want the best possible way to launch your project and musical creation, you can skip Mastering, mix it yourself, play all instruments yourself etc.

To repeat what I said earlier IMHO "Making certain that you are rested and coming in with a set of neutral ears is great preparation but not a replacement for a set of Mastering skills."

In addition to Mastering skills, "real" Mastering setups have a much better room, setup and playback system than what was used to Mix the songs.
It is a huge investment and step that most would rather save their money on, at least until they believe their skills are getting to that point.

Have a look at this Master studio layout, speakers etc. and his comments around 22:30 "normally mixes are version 5 or 6 when they get them...." The complete ideo is very interesting and if oI couldn't follow along the conversation and understand exactly what they are saying, then I'm not ready to Master at that level.

But that's just MHO and experience.

Cheers
 
This is how I learn to mix.

Nothing more valuable than getting the best mix you can and having someone who is pro to master it then trying to match the master with your mix, or trying to "beat" the master.

There is no better way
 
Tomeh said:
You should clearly hear every detail on the original mix much better and be already thinking about making tweaks to your original mix
Click to expand...
Why would you be thinking that way if you're happy with the mastering ?
Tomeh said:
If you don't have this urge, try someone else?
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I don't get the logic behind this. For me, if something is being mastered, my default thinking is that it should be to my satisfaction and only if it isn't will I get back to the masterer. And then, only if the masterer can't or won't do the biz will I think about someone else.
 
On occasion, the mastering engineer I work with will send me back notes for minor changes on a song or two after he hears the material. I trust him, I know what I can expect, and I appreciate the subtle collaboration.
 
58,

I think that the changes the "mastering engineer" is suggesting is more of what the producer used to do. Guys like George Martin, Bones Howe, Jimmy Iovine, Tom Dowd, Mutt Lange and Phil Spector would guide the artists to produce the best song, the best mix, the best balance. From that would come the master tape. Of course, somebody sitting in their basement isn't going to get Jimmy Iovine to come by and adjust their mixes.

Mastering engineers in the original vinyl area would adjust the final two track master tape so that it fit into the parameters needed for cutting a lacquer on a lathe. These were guys like Stan Ricker, Bernie Grundman, Bob Katz and Robert Ludwig, and in many cases were uncredited unless you knew the codes in the lead out groove area. They were needed because tape masters had fewer limitations than vinyl records. You could put the bass on the left without a problem on a tape, but it wasn't a good idea to cut grooves that way. Cut too loud and you needed to have wider groove spaces, which means less time on the side. Cut too low, and the surface noise intrudes on the music. It was up to the mastering engineer to make the square peg fit into the round hole, so to speak.

I can't ever remember a story about a mastering engineer going back to Phil Spector or Mutt Lange and saying "you need to bring up the bass, and take down the drums. It needs more vocals." They probably would have gotten a mic stand shoved up their butt!
 
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