okay, i still don't get it ->master with?

  • Thread starter Thread starter guhlenn
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guhlenn

guhlenn

Oh REALLY????
like i said, i still don't get it. with what program can i master recordings to make 'm sound good? now i know it's best done by an outside facility specialised in...blablabla...

but i'm gonna try it myself first. now which software would do the trick?

i have sound forge cool edit pro and the waves gold plus buncha plug-ins.

help me....

greetz guhlenn;)
 
thanks bobsleigh,

the thing is: i always thought sound forge was best for mastering. but then i heard someone say; uh SF is only 16 bit and mastering should be done at 24 bit. at least that was the meaning of his message.

any comment?

greetz guhlenn
 
If the original tracks are 24 bit then yes, Master at 24. Do your dithering in the mastering process.

one word-

WAVELAB- that and youre waves bundle will do the trick. Theoritically anyway. Depends on your ears. :D

-jhe
 
sigh....

Edit AFTER EQ and Compression! Not before like that weirdo in that link suggests.

If you don't know why, don't master your recordings. You can cheat and just follow my advice and say that you know why and when someone asks, you can say something witty like "Well, you tell me. I want to see if you know". Don't try that on me because I will then make up an answer that is bogus just to see if you agree with it....LOL.

I am insane sometimes...

Ed
 
don't get me wrong, i know why to master, i'm beginning to understand how, but i don't know with what

hey Ed, you tell me why...;)

sorry, just had to do that. so why do people use Sound Forge then?

i guess what i'm asking is this: our last cd was recorded on adat, mixed to two tracks -> into computer -> mastered with T-racks. Although the raw mix was absolutly fat, it sounded like shit after the master. the guy told us that was from taking 15 tracks to two, but i don't buy that anymore... he told us we were losing headroom and dynamics cuz there was less space in 2 tracks.

but now i'm not so sure he's right.

do you think he's done it right?


greetz guhlenn
 
Well I'm going to give a stab at some controversy here. I think a lot of the "tradition" of mastering is useless today. Mastering derives it's heritage when engineers had to create a "Master" print for the record press. By the inherent shortcomings of "record" technology the engineer would follow a process to insure that the pressing was able to handle the dynamic range of the "mix". Part of the process included pre-emphasis, and Eqing for the record and also making sure that the mix sounded good on the worst of playback devices.
So I guess you have to ask yourself what you want to achieve. I think that you may find that less is better. If you recorded your tracks properly to begin with, you will need little work to get it to fit into 2 tracks. I've heard a lot of recordings go out for mastering only to come back sounding like shit.
 
hey camn,

see my problem here?

so much crap is told about mastering. what do you do?
(apart from sending it to a master facility)

just for the record (;)) i'm not saying wesley talks shit i meant it in general.
lots of people act really violent and such... DON'T i wasn't talking bout you
Now i'm kinda saying wesley would react violent... Ah well take it as you want i don't really care...
:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

greetz guhlenn
 
you should send it to someone else anyway.

Im firmly against mastering a project you mixed... even if you have the right equipment to do it... just because its a good ides to get some fresh ears in on the thing. Cuz seriously, you think you're hearing your project objectively after 100 listens? or does your ear home in on that guitar part you love so much. In your mind, do you overlook things that a fresh pair would hear? probably. Even if you dont send it off, get someone else to do it. Cuz odds are you will NEVER get a single peice of honest feedback from your freinds or bandmates, and thus you have NO idea how the thing sounds to a normal human.

but before you go on at all... search this site for threads with the word 'mastering' and the poster 'sonusman'. then come back and kick wesley's ass. :)

xoxo
 
That post, camn, doesn't apply if you're in a lo fi rock band and send the mix to an engineer who tries to be Brian Eno and eq-filter-compresses the piss out of your stuff to "clear up that noisy recording".

Just had to get it out of my system. Trauma, you know. :-)
 
i know i know i know

but....(there's always a but)

i hate that that guy ruined our cd!!

i mean he did his best but what the f**k does that for me.

sooooo, i thought if noone else can then i will have to learn it . (plus it saves on expenses, i'm cheap!)

Now we could search for another facility but still, we're an amatuer band so the good ones are like " what's in it for me" and the ones that wanna do it are plain shit. i called around and found only one whop was specialised in mastering so i asked him what he used to master with. so he mastered with sound forge...

i mean it should be possible to do it ourselves (by the way we have VERY critical fans/friends, they trashed our first cd when i asked them if they liked it :)) given enough time... oh i don't know...

add: no i do not think i'm objective but i don't wanna be either. we know what we wanna hear. maybe this is naive but i think it's not necessary to be totally objective. i write the lyrics alone, why should an objective person correct them (except for the band members). When i get tired of listening to the mix i can go home and not see or hear it for a week so i can work with fresh ideas (and fresh patience) you'll probably think i'm mad and i probably am. but hey, i didn't ask to be me either...;)

thanks anyway
guhlenn
 
Go guhlenn!

There's no reason to let professional assholes, who spend their days producing everything from gypsy music to a- capella nun choirs, tamper with your sound. Unless they FULLY understand the kind of sound your're after, specialize in that genre, are easy to work with and dead cheap - you're better off trying it out for yourself.

Ahhh...now I guess I've put most major studios out of business - all in a days work, hehe.
 
and piss off lots of mastering engineers...


hahahahaahah!!!

i'm you're worst nightmare mastering engineer!!!!!1


hahahahahahahahaha!!!!11


i'm gonna do it myself harharharharharhar!!!!


i'm scaring myself now. wait till i get my first recording... i'll be scaring noone but myself...

(let's see who's laughing then...)

greetz guhlenn;)
 
Guhlenn - Did you send your Cd with out hearing this guys work before.Did you get reference's for his work?.

An idiot who calls himself a mastering engineer stays an idiot.

Every Shmo Joe opens a studio today. They by a PC, some software, a mixer
and 2 reverbs and they now have a studio, and call themselfs an engineer.
So maybe now we should say all engineers are a waste?!?.

I've seen assistant engineers stick around studio's for 2-3 years and have mixed over 600 different projects yet some how they don't see themselfs as master engineer's nor would even try to master for the life of them.

Home recording is a fantastic thing !. I have tons of respect to all home recorders who do this for a hobby and realy care about there music but...
i'm still waiting for the home recordist who will kick ass to a fair studio with fair equipment with a good engineer.
I don't get it... music is an art but engineering is not? mastering is not?.

How would you like it if I was a hobbist dentist and bought siome standard
equipment. Would you sit in my chair ?!?!?
How about if I told you about the DR. from John Hopkins medical school of dentistry who ruined my teeth and now I told you "I'm going to do it myself from now on" ?!?!?.

One last suggestion - If you are serious about your music spend the money and get the work done by a pro and BE THERE to here and guide him to a result you want.



[Edited by Shailat on 12-21-2000 at 09:15]
 
guhlenn,
It sounds like you may not really understand what mastering is. When a recording is mastered, it's played through "reference standard" equipment, in a "reference standard" room, and listen through "reference standard" ears. The speakers have to be very high quality. The room has to be specially designed. Have you ever seen those pictures where they test speakers in an anechoic chamber. It's a foam lined room where the speaker is suspended in the air and they do measurements. They are using a "reference standard" room. I guess my point is that mastering isn't which software, or who does it. It's an entire process. You can call sitting in front of a pair $500 speakers and tweaking you sound with Sound Forge Mastering, but it isn't. If you don't have 1/2 million bucks or more your not going to be able build a mastering studio. And the sad fact is that most of can't really afford to send our stuff to a real mastering studio anyways.
I hope this doesn't sound to negative...
 
Wesley - what you're basically saying is that "proper" sound is for millionaires, and the rest of us should quit because we don't get "reference sound"?

Of COURSE twiddling your sound in Sound Forge is mastering.
Isn't a great photo taken by an amateur a photograohy?
A painting's not art if it's not made by a famous artist?

I doubt that Revolver by The Beatles was anywhere near speakers hovering in the air, it's still a great record. Man, I even love my Pavement bootlegs, and they sound like they've been recorded on a dictaphone by someone sitting in the venue toilet.

It's not how hi your fi is, it's how good your tunes are. End of story.

-Bobsleigh
 
Bobsleigh,
It's not only the equipment it's who is standing behind it.
If you don't have the knowledge you won't get results twiddling anything.
If you think that reading a couple of articles in a mag/book or twiddling for a couple of months on your software will get you there then by all means to it to yourself.

I personaly prefer to pay the extra cost and get it done by a mastering artist.
Some of these called by you "professional assholes" have done excellent work for me.
And trust me when I say I could atempt to do it by myself.

And again... I am waiting for the day a Home recordist with his PC and $500 sound card, does better work then the "assholes".
 
yo im sticking to my guns.

Have someone else in on it.

Im NOT saying you MUST send it to a pro, even, but a fresh set of ears is critical. (if you are gonna go to a pro, id say send him a track, have him do THAT, and decide when you get that back if hes your man. If they wont work with you by doing that, dont work with them.)
When I say objective, I mean that your subjective ears will always hone in on that fat bass run that you spent 14 hours working on... and you wont _really_ hear how it sits to a new listener. Its an impossibility. So what you need to do is find a friend you can trust to help you, or hire someone, or send it to Wesly for gods sake, let them take a crack at it. In fact, do it yourself, TOO, and pick whichever one your girlfriend likes best to put on the CD.
Its REAL easy to get too emotional about what sounds "good" and what doesnt, but I think after 50 listens or so, Im not really hearing it the same way ANYONE else ever will.

xoxo
 
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