S
speakandspell
New member
Hi,
I have been producing my own electronic music (ranging from hard techno to less structured noise experiments) for about a year now, and I've only been working with real monitors (KRK v8's) for a few months now.
My dilemma, hell my OBSESSION, is: when is a song "done" in terms of the magic that I can work -- when is it ready to leave it to the mastering guy/gal?
Is it done when, after it sounds good on my KRKs, I burn it to CD and confirm that it sounds good/decent on a bunch of different systems (my Walkman, my computer speakers, my home stereo, my crappy boom box, etc)? Is it ready to be mastered then? I generally play my music on about 5 or 6 systems as it is, to get a different idea of the sound -- it sounds different on all of them, but decent -- how can I get it sounding almost the same everywhere, like a professional CD/record sounds? Will the mastering really do this? I'm just so worried that I'll say "hey, that's done", send it off, then it sounds different all over...
I'm just looking for some advice on what's within my power and how much mastering will take my music that extra step, so I can more easily make the call on when to stop working on something.
Also, I have a copy of T-RackS and, I've seen your recent discussion. I'm new at the whole game, so I like the way it makes my stuff sound. It's a quick and dirty way to make my demo sound better when playing my stuff for friends or giving people a copy for their own use. The trouble is that I like the way the T-Racks version sounds better than my original, of course -- in the sense that it sounds more alive, vibrant, sweet, etc. What do I give my mastering person -- my original (I assume that's the right answer), my T-Racks version (no way I'd give just the T-Racks version, right?) or both so that he/she can have the flexibilty that working on my original versions allow while at the same time having an idea of what I want the finished product to sorta sound like? And, if I apply EQ in T-Racks and I like it -- if it really rounds out the track -- should I make a version without T-Racks' compression/limiting and just the EQ and call that the original?
I have some friends that have a vinyl-only techno label. They seem to make mastering people sound like factory drones -- they get the product, they barely spend any time with it, robotically twist a few knobs and there you go. Will my stuff really receive that much neglect from the pro I hire? (Keep in mind, I'm not like a huge star, I'm just a bedroom techno geek -- this is the indie world, not the majors, and I have no concern about a major record deal... I want a good solid indie level production.) They said that if I were to give two CDs -- one with all the originals, one with my T-Racks version for reference -- that the mastering people would just be like "hey buddy, which one can I work on so that I can finish this and get to lunch?" -- that they wouldn't listen to the T-Racks CD, then the originals, and think "oh yeah, okay, I see where he's going, lemme work on those originals now". (Perhaps for my first time, I should go to the place it is mastered and sit with them for a bit, paying extra if necessary?)
It's a lot of questions, yeah, but it's all about the same thing. When am I done working and when is it time for a pro to work his/her magic?
many thanks,
spk
I have been producing my own electronic music (ranging from hard techno to less structured noise experiments) for about a year now, and I've only been working with real monitors (KRK v8's) for a few months now.
My dilemma, hell my OBSESSION, is: when is a song "done" in terms of the magic that I can work -- when is it ready to leave it to the mastering guy/gal?
Is it done when, after it sounds good on my KRKs, I burn it to CD and confirm that it sounds good/decent on a bunch of different systems (my Walkman, my computer speakers, my home stereo, my crappy boom box, etc)? Is it ready to be mastered then? I generally play my music on about 5 or 6 systems as it is, to get a different idea of the sound -- it sounds different on all of them, but decent -- how can I get it sounding almost the same everywhere, like a professional CD/record sounds? Will the mastering really do this? I'm just so worried that I'll say "hey, that's done", send it off, then it sounds different all over...
I'm just looking for some advice on what's within my power and how much mastering will take my music that extra step, so I can more easily make the call on when to stop working on something.
Also, I have a copy of T-RackS and, I've seen your recent discussion. I'm new at the whole game, so I like the way it makes my stuff sound. It's a quick and dirty way to make my demo sound better when playing my stuff for friends or giving people a copy for their own use. The trouble is that I like the way the T-Racks version sounds better than my original, of course -- in the sense that it sounds more alive, vibrant, sweet, etc. What do I give my mastering person -- my original (I assume that's the right answer), my T-Racks version (no way I'd give just the T-Racks version, right?) or both so that he/she can have the flexibilty that working on my original versions allow while at the same time having an idea of what I want the finished product to sorta sound like? And, if I apply EQ in T-Racks and I like it -- if it really rounds out the track -- should I make a version without T-Racks' compression/limiting and just the EQ and call that the original?
I have some friends that have a vinyl-only techno label. They seem to make mastering people sound like factory drones -- they get the product, they barely spend any time with it, robotically twist a few knobs and there you go. Will my stuff really receive that much neglect from the pro I hire? (Keep in mind, I'm not like a huge star, I'm just a bedroom techno geek -- this is the indie world, not the majors, and I have no concern about a major record deal... I want a good solid indie level production.) They said that if I were to give two CDs -- one with all the originals, one with my T-Racks version for reference -- that the mastering people would just be like "hey buddy, which one can I work on so that I can finish this and get to lunch?" -- that they wouldn't listen to the T-Racks CD, then the originals, and think "oh yeah, okay, I see where he's going, lemme work on those originals now". (Perhaps for my first time, I should go to the place it is mastered and sit with them for a bit, paying extra if necessary?)
It's a lot of questions, yeah, but it's all about the same thing. When am I done working and when is it time for a pro to work his/her magic?
many thanks,
spk
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