Mastering Madness part 1 (1 Viewer)

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Golden rules!
(geddit?)

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

That studio 'Alex the Great' they recorded at looks great.
No website though.

http://flickr.com/photos/beccagillespie/sets/72057594053115771/

 

[egg_]

good article in today's Guardian about remastering hell.

I have that "remastered by Iggy" version of Raw Power and it's appalling - can't even listen to it it's so distorted, and you don't need any graphs to tell ya
Who the fuck would let Iggy Pop master their album? Not I

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

i've been asked to "master" an album on friday because i'm cheap (free in fact...) but i havent a clue about mastering.... and i have a dodgy speaker...

anyway, since i reckon this album will already be beautifully recorded i intend only to balance the levels so that there arent big changes in volume from track to track and that only if its necessary.

what do people think of plugins like psp vintage warmer or waves SSL e-channel for trying to warm up/enhance the sound? are they best avoided?

what about a small bit of L1 ultramaximizer for the levels?

i'm way out of my depth...

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Vintage warmer is fun, but as with everything in mastering, I'd err on the side of less rather than more.
If I were you, I'd check out Massey's L2007 mastering limiter.
You can get a free, fully functional demo at smassey.com
You'll have to write down settings if you're moving between sessions though, as the demo doesn't remember your settings.
Folks seem to like it better than L1.

The one hugely important thing you can't avoid is that the master should sound good on as many different systems as possible.
With that in mind, you're gonna need to listen to it on literally every system or speaker you can get your hands on.
Monitors.
Hifi.
In the car.
Clock radio.
PC speakers.
Laptop speakers.
Everything.

If you're eq'ing, make it mostly shallow-Q boosts and cuts.
Don't limit the shit out of it.
A/B everything you do, and make SURE it's improving things, not just making them louder.
In fact, compare level matched before and after mastering on each song.
Careful now.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

thanks!

i think i wont go near eq, its too hard

would you insert the vintage warmer on the master track or have it on a send?

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

You're gonna want to insert everything you're doing on the master track if it's eq/comp/limiting.

 

[Pantone247]

If you have any stereo image/expander/whatever type plug-ins have a look at them. I have a nice one from MDA (old Mac Os9 one) that really widens the image, suddenly the vocal, or anything down centre, has a more distinct ammount of space and it really picks out small details in the mix and reverbs and stuff... it's easy to get carried away with it, but it's a great tool.

The argument against them is that they can cause problems when you go to Mono, but in this day and age unless your looking for radio play, does it matter? But worth keeping an eye on as you.

Worth seeing if anything like that is available to you

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

grand. im dreading it - the band want to sit in on it

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

If you have any stereo image/expander/whatever type plug-ins have a look at them. I have a nice one from MDA (old Mac Os9 one) that really widens the image, suddenly the vocal, or anything down centre, has a more distinct ammount of space and it really picks out small details in the mix and reverbs and stuff... it's easy to get carried away with it, but it's a great tool.

The argument against them is that they can cause problems when you go to Mono, but in this day and age unless your looking for radio play, does it matter? But worth keeping an eye on as you.

Worth seeing if anything like that is available to you

i believe i have some of those things but ive found in the past that these things (compressors, eq, stereo stuff etc) sound good at first but i always end up taking them off again (or wishing i did). probably because i dont really know what im at with them...

 

[Pantone247]

i believe i have some of those things but ive found in the past that these things (compressors, eq, stereo stuff etc) sound good at first but i always end up taking them off again (or wishing i did). probably because i dont really know what im at with them...

crikey I don't either! but I've just spent long enough twiddling with them to know which ones I like at which settings... I find that Stereo stuff can sort out the sludge when needs be (though it could be argued if I was a better recorder I'd have no sludge to sort out)

I know what you mean though, the best thing you can do for a mix or a master, is come back the next day with fresh ears... the ammount of times I've mistaken "good" for "I've stuck a rotating speaker effect over the entire mix just to break up the tedium of listening to this thing on repeat for the last four hours"

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

crikey I don't either! but I've just spent long enough twiddling with them to know which ones I like at which settings... I find that Stereo stuff can sort out the sludge when needs be (though it could be argued if I was a better recorder I'd have no sludge to sort out)

I know what you mean though, the best thing you can do for a mix or a master, is come back the next day with fresh ears... the ammount of times I've mistaken "good" for "I've stuck a rotating speaker effect over the entire mix just to break up the tedium of listening to this thing on repeat for the last four hours"

i hate going back to things - i like to just get it done to fuck

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Me, I don't go anywhere near mastering.
Trying to do a decent job of recording and mixing is more than enough to keep me going without opening that can 'o worms.

 

[dubh in seattle]

OH pete red tape... soon you will join the dark side...
yummy yummy can of worms it is...
full of dirt and poo and fetid worm-nectar though it is...

 

[dubh in seattle]

pete! FKN GREEEEEAAAAAT!
Just read the whole dilly, super-mega-props, or whatever ye durn kids say nowadays...

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

i gave up on the mastering - too hard

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Yeah, it's for the professionals, whoever they are.