Newbie needing to get to grips with mastering.

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ToniMorreti

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Hi guys, I'm new to the mastering game but been producing for around 10 years.

I have had many releases on labels but have always sent my music off to be mastered but always felt that I can't fully appreciate the finished product as I should because it wasn't all my own work.

I look forward to learning a thing or two from you all.

Toni
 
Are you aware that no top-flight mixers/producers do their own mastering? Mastering is the last step, and it seems to me that if you can afford to have your work mastered by an actual mastering engineer, you should do that. There is mastering, and then there is "mastering."
 
This is true. Mastering is it's own thing that tends to be more technical that artistic, which is one of the reasons that artists tend not to master their own stuff.
 
Farview said:
This is true. Mastering is it's own thing that tends to be more technical that artistic, which is one of the reasons that artists tend not to master their own stuff.
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NOT! That my opinion amounts to a hill of beans but I agree. Give the Mastering Men their due, bit like cutting discs, specialized area.

And surely this question is out of place in the Noobs section of a HOME recording forum?

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
And surely this question is out of place in the Noobs section of a HOME recording forum?

Dave.
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This. I'd be a bit wary of the responses you get here. We have a guy or two who does mastering but I'd reckon that most of us aren't qualified to give you much advice.
 
I thought as this forum has a mastering section that it may have some knowledge behind it.

I know many of engineers that produce for people and are mastering engineers too so its not uncommon for people to actually become a 1 man band so to speak.
 
The general difference between the two is the difference between the classic job description of a producer and a guy that puts beats together.

Either way, there are a couple things that make mastering your own stuff kind of a bad idea.

1. Mastering generally needs specialized equipment designed for the task. You wouldn't use the same type of Compressor or limiter that you would on a vocal, bass or drum kit.

2. If you are using the same set of speakers in the same room that you mixed in, you will not be able to hear anything differently than you did when you mixed it.

3. You are using g the same ears, so you don't have a fresh enough perspective of what you are hearing.

Of course, all of us have "mastered" our own stuff from time to time, but for me, it's always my client's budget or time frame that forces me to. I never recommend it and admittedly don't do as good a job as the mastering engineer I recommend. It isn't because I'm incapable, it's because I choose to focus on mixing. Mastering is a different mindset with very different goals.
 
Farview said:
The general difference between the two is the difference between the classic job description of a producer and a guy that puts beats together.

Either way, there are a couple things that make mastering your own stuff kind of a bad idea.

1. Mastering generally needs specialized equipment designed for the task. You wouldn't use the same type of Compressor or limiter that you would on a vocal, bass or drum kit.

2. If you are using the same set of speakers in the same room that you mixed in, you will not be able to hear anything differently than you did when you mixed it.

3. You are using g the same ears, so you don't have a fresh enough perspective of what you are hearing.

Of course, all of us have "mastered" our own stuff from time to time, but for me, it's always my client's budget or time frame that forces me to. I never recommend it and admittedly don't do as good a job as the mastering engineer I recommend. It isn't because I'm incapable, it's because I choose to focus on mixing. Mastering is a different mindset with very different goals.
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When you put it like that it does make sense. I feel that I'm at a point where I want some more knowledge under my belt and more weapons in my arsenal. I want to take things a little further and that seems like the next step.
 
If you can divorce yourself from the production, get a different set of speakers, and make sure your room is well treated, there is no reason you can't do it.

The only thing that worried me in your OP was when you said something about not feeling like you did the whole thing. Mastering shouldn't be part of the creative process any more than CD replication is.
It is simply the act of taking the final mixes and preparing them for replication/distribution. Making sure the album flows from one song to the well by making sure they all have similar frequency content, volume, etc... And then, of course, all the technical things that need to be taken care of to create a proper redbook standard cd.

If you were putting this out on vinyl, you wouldn't be able to master it because you don't know how to run the lathe...
 
Farview said:
If you can divorce yourself from the production, get a different set of speakers, and make sure your room is well treated, there is no reason you can't do it.

The only thing that worried me in your OP was when you said something about not feeling like you did the whole thing. Mastering shouldn't be part of the creative process any more than CD replication is.
It is simply the act of taking the final mixes and preparing them for replication/distribution. Making sure the album flows from one song to the well by making sure they all have similar frequency content, volume, etc... And then, of course, all the technical things that need to be taken care of to create a proper redbook standard cd.

If you were putting this out on vinyl, you wouldn't be able to master it because you don't know how to run the lathe...
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Yeah I hear you, mastering for vinyl is different to mastering for cd. I have a well acoustically treated room and have 4 pairs of monitors so thats not a problem. I've got Adam A77X, NS10's, Truth B2031A & Pioneer SDJ-80X.
 
Look at some mastering sites. You will notice none of them use studio monitors.

I really dont mean to dicourage you, but to do it well you do have to have a completely different set of tools and frame of mind. I'm sure you understand my point, I'll shut up now about that.

The better the mix is, the less the mastering engineer has to do. In a perfect world, all he would have to do is sequence the tracks.
 
Farview said:
Look at some mastering sites. You will notice none of them use studio monitors.
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I only wish fewer studios used studio monitors.

Not that all studio monitors are terrible speakers with a sticker that says "STUDIO MONITOR" on them, but there certainly are plenty of 'em...
 
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