Software Mastering?

rayc said:
jaynm26,
Reread your 1st post in this thread...I think you did a 180 degree turn in the course of your discourse.
I was going to say backflip but that'd take you a step back but in the same general direction.
180 is correct, I hope.
karumba has mastered for me. If the combo of mouse and real knobs is what arrived at the masters I received than it's def. a great way to go.
Jan, I've noted that you've bought a bit of hardware lately. If it keeps you engaged with the task - that's cool by me.
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Im confused? You mean 180 in the course of my arguments??? I thought I steered the course I never said digital was necessarily better? I sad analog in most cases is better in some cases digital is easier and I didn't revert from that statement with each post...Or are you talkin bout me lookin for John? lol

Yes sir I have bought some new hardware lately, not to much Im a lil slow with building my mastering room really just trying to take my time.

Recent purchases... Lynx Hilo (over the HEDD), and the Crane Ibis (Over the sontec, even tho deep down I still want that thing) thanks to John & others Im broke now :lol: 2 months ago I bought the Bax I kiss it every time its in my presence (no like for real)
 
Murdersgalore said:
No offense, but this kind of emotional argument is illogical and benefits no one. If something works better than it just simply works better.
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i'm perfectly fine with your statement, but my view is, that music (or art in general) actually is *emotional* and it is quite often illogical, isn't it?

rayc said:
Jan, I've noted that you've bought a bit of hardware lately. If it keeps you engaged with the task - that's cool by me.
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it somehow connects me better to the music. mastering with hardware is more like playing an instrument. in some cases it could also happen, that a digital-only master wins. so of course, as others said before, the end result is most important & not my own feeling when working. but in most of the cases the analog master wins. so its not the only aspect, when i feel good (right) when mastering analog (hybrid). it think its not only the sound, its also the decisions.

Massive Master said:
Sure it's a passion -- It's also a business. If you can make more while spending less, it's generally something you do.

That said, again, I'm not looking to sell off the analog gear -- But also again, if I could get software that sounded just as good and it could potentially put tens of thousands in the "unallocated" column... I could probably get a nice controller (and another Harley, perhaps a newer car, etc.) if I really wanted to feel the knobs.
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ok, i'm sure a harley has really nice knobs - convinced. ;-)

Farview said:
I think your view comes from you not feeling as connected to the music with software. That feeling is not universal. With software, I feel like a magician that can make just about anything happen. With hardware, I tend to feel limited by the hardware at hand. (I am a mix engineer, not an me)

I understand what you are saying because I have that same sort of reaction when I play an electronic drum set vs a real one. But I know guys that feel the other way too, mainly because of how they use them and the type of parts they come up with.
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i have the same feeling as you when it comes to mixing. but this is also more due to the fact, that mixing nowadays has to be efficient (unless you hire a big name like lord-alge, brauer, manny, etc.) & you typically have some revisions which you cannot handle (that easily) when mixing analog.
 
karumba said:
i have the same feeling as you when it comes to mixing. but this is also more due to the fact, that mixing nowadays has to be efficient (unless you hire a big name like lord-alge, brauer, manny, etc.) & you typically have some revisions which you cannot handle (that easily) when mixing analog.
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Even Lord-Alge pretty much has the mixer set up one way and sets up (or has minions set up) the pro tools session to feed the mixer a certain way. Then he just makes little tweaks from there and chooses the delay and reverbs that he wants, etc... To a certain extent, he is almost using presets in the analog world, because he has that enough equipment to pull that off.
 
karumba said:
ok, i'm sure a harley has really nice knobs - convinced. ;-)
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The Harley is a passion.

Mastering is a job.

Is it a great job? Sure. Do I love my job? Eh, as much as one could love a job I suppose. At least on some days. But it's still a job... If I don't treat it like a business, it won't be around for long.

My job drives me insane. My Harley helps keep me sane.
 
You can certainly correct and enhance a mix down with plug in software if you have the accuracy of monitoring/knowledge in place. Mastering with hardware or with a combination of both software and hardware provides the optimal circumstance and thats what people who charge for audio mastering need to provide. High end analogue equipment can often add secondary and desirable characteristics to the palette of sounds a mastering engineer needs to create the best possible end results.

cheers

http://www.masteringmastering.co.uk/mastering.html
 
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Farview said:
Even Lord-Alge pretty much has the mixer set up one way and sets up (or has minions set up) the pro tools session to feed the mixer a certain way. Then he just makes little tweaks from there and chooses the delay and reverbs that he wants, etc... To a certain extent, he is almost using presets in the analog world, because he has that enough equipment to pull that off.
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yes, thats true. but the lord-alge's seldomly make revisions.
 
I'm perfectly fine with your statement, but my view is, that music (or art in general) actually is *emotional* and it is quite often illogical, isn't it?
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What's artistic about feeling hardware knobs? I think the problems come from people believing that mastering is as artistic as music creating. While there may be some artistic decisions an ME can make, mastering is more about the technical aspect than art.
 
Murdersgalore said:
What's artistic about feeling hardware knobs? I think the problems come from people believing that mastering is as artistic as music creating. While there may be some artistic decisions an ME can make, mastering is more about the technical aspect than art.
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you could see recording, mixing or mastering music as a technical job. of course, it is (thats why they are called engineers, not?), to some extent. but different engineers achive completely different results with respect to e.g. taste - why is that the case? the good engineers are not booked (out) for their technical understanding (a lot of people have greater technical understanding than them), but for their taste! so the result wouldn't be the same anymore if you would take "the knobs" (of course, we are not talking about only "the knobs") out of the equation. you only know how it really feels & what aspects are important for you if you did it at least 10 years professionally.
 
Taste is not art. I like ranch dressing and prefer jeans to slacks. Nothing artistic about that. Besides, people who have their shit down don't hire an engineer so he can make their music sound the way he likes. They hire an engineer because he has the technical prowess to give them the sound that they want. Something tells me you don't spend a whole lot of time working with other artists. You would know that you usually don't (nor should you) have THAT much control unless, of course, you're dealing with newbs that don't know yet what they want.
 
Murdersgalore said:
Taste is not art. I like ranch dressing and prefer jeans to slacks. Nothing artistic about that. Besides, people who have their shit down don't hire an engineer so he can make their music sound the way he likes. They hire an engineer because he has the technical prowess to give them the sound that they want. Something tells me you don't spend a whole lot of time working with other artists. You would know that you usually don't (nor should you) have THAT much control unless, of course, you're dealing with newbs that don't know yet what they want.
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i'm working with other artists every day & i'm mastering a handful albums every week, for known names, music labels or companies but also unknown artists & bands of all genres. some of them know exactly what they want & and others need some proposal from my side.

anyway, i already described my views & as i said above, i'm perfectly fine if your experience is different.
 
Murdersgalore said:
Besides, people who have their shit down don't hire an engineer so he can make their music sound the way he likes.
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Actually, sometimes they do.

In most of the work I do, I am engaged as just an engineer, i.e. to reproduce the sound that the artist has in mind.

But sometimes, i am engaged to be engineer and producer, and they are specifically asking me to put my musical stamp on it.
 
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