Whos the master masterer (1 Viewer)

[Serpico]

Can anyone recommend a good masterer for me? Have an album I want to get mastered and am willing to spend the cashquiche but I want to know
1. Who's good
2. Why you consider them good
3. Ballpark how much per track

Thats about it my lovelies, thanks muchly.
C.

P.S. Just cause Im listening to Mogwai doesn't mean the album is of that ilk. It isnt.

 

[kmastering]

Fergal Davis. Cause he's the best. He does it for a living so he's not just going to slam it into any old pc plugins. Also and the main reason, he has good ears.

 

[egg_]

We used Svante Forsback in Helsinki (Finland) for the Stoat album - I highly recommend him, he's an international level mastering engineer and a nice accommodating fella who listened to what we wanted and made whatever changes we asked for with no quibbles. Oh, also he made our album sound like a proper record. Cost €850

 

[#10-7]

We used Svante Forsback in Helsinki (Finland) for the Stoat album - I highly recommend him, he's an international level mastering engineer and a nice accommodating fella who listened to what we wanted and made whatever changes we asked for with no quibbles. Oh, also he made our album sound like a proper record. Cost €850

€850? just for mastering?

abbey road is about €200 an hour, and it takes (roughly) 2 songs an hour approx.
Fergal Davis' price is about half that.

this is what i hear. in an unmastered fashion.

 

[dudley]

we used aidan foley, and he had some special deal for independent bands, not sure if he still does it, about 500 if memory serves.

something like you leave the masters with him with instructions, and he returns it a couple of days later.

actually we got to be there for it, i think he does individual things to suit requirements.

his studio is amazing also, a room inside a room inside a room.

 

[egg_]

€850? just for mastering?

Just got the bill - it was actually €800. Plus vat, which I had forgotten about
Worth it? Yes - he even transferred the tracks onto 1/2 inch tape and back to digital in order to round out the sound. I sent a copy of the album to your work, so you can judge for yourself

mp3ing a mastered and unmastered version of a tune for ye all to hear, will post in a while

 

[guy of the tiger]

I'll do it for cheap.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

There's a weird kinda middle-ground between the low end of the market, say sub-€300 (which has some decent fellas) and the price range at which I'd recommend something was done abroad ; say €700+. I assume that Davis and Foley are the most well-known fellas who occupy this area - anyone know any others?

 

[Pantone247]

I'll do it for cheap.

I'll do it cheaper...

I use one of these on each stereo channel...

then run both channels thru one of these for the compression and limiting...

then slap it on to one of these, really hot, for you to take to your duplication house

 

[egg_]

I assume that Davis and Foley are the most well-known fellas who occupy this area - anyone know any others?

Bobby Boughton in Richmond Studios is in this area too I reckon - he did some older Stoat stuff and I was quite pleased with him. Will be using Svante though in future if we ever recover from doing the album and decide to record something else

Here's the examples I said I'd post - it's a song off the Stoat album (old song, new recording)

Mixed by me:
http://stoatmusic.com/acunamanacana_cormac.mp3

Mixed by Mikko (our Finnish mixer):
http://stoatmusic.com/acunamanacana_skwaidu.mp3

Mastered by Svante:
http://stoatmusic.com/acunamanacana_svante.mp3

Edit: these links weren't working earlier, but they are now. Anybody who asked why I didn't mix the album myself will have their answer above

 

[Anthony]

Fergal Davis did Raised On Rock back in 2002. I was there when he did and to be honest I came out wondering what i just paid for. That *was* ages ago and I've since heard great things about his work from people I'd trust.

Aidan Foley did Go Forth And Amplify and I think it was money well spent. I thought I was giving him decent mixes but when I went to pick up the master he was playing me the pre and post mastering songs and the difference was huge. A tad heavy on the compression in places but he remastered a couple of songs no problem. He went into great detail enthusiastically telling me how, on a few songs, he chopped them up and mastered the bits differently and then put the thing back together again.

next time I'm using Ty though.
http://www.tytabor.net/ (click on Alien Beans Studio)

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Well played, egg, I'm gonna download the shit outta those suckas as soon as I'm in an internet café. I kinda wish my collection of Irish releases was a bit larger, I'd love to be able to form a better impression of some of these fellas work.

[Disclaimer] I looked at one master, which could have landed in his lap in any state, or he could well have been coerced, or whatever. In short, there's many, many reasons why it's not necessarily his fault.. Indeed, who the hell am I..[Disclaimer]

I took a look at one master Boughton did 2/3 years ago and didn't like what I saw.

 

[Anthony]

I kinda wish my collection of Irish releases was a bit larger,

you can always buy some.

 

[Rogue]

With all due respect to your fingers, that's some difference between all three versions. Svante saturated it pretty heavily, a bit crunchy for me - overloading my cheapo headphones - but very effective, especially the choral bit in middle!

I assume that he only had access to the stereo mix and he only mastered; no extra mixing by him...?

 

[Rogue]

General mastering question:

The "mastering CD-R" that you walk away with after, is that fundamentaly different from a common or garden CD-R? and is it necessary to master onto one of these when approaching duplication places?

 

[egg_]

I assume that he only had access to the stereo mix and he only mastered; no extra mixing by him...?

Mikko, the mixing guy, sent him the stereo mix and stems with/without vocals, but he only used the stereo mix AFAIK

 

[roxy]

Here's the examples I said I'd post - it's a song off the Stoat album (old song, new recording)

Fuck, Cormac - I love the re-recording . I really really liked the old single version but the way you changed to syllables on some of the eh, "words", to give it a more syncopated rhythm is absolutely spot on. Makes such a difference. Especially in the first few lines. That's cheered me up immensely. Dying to hear the album. *claps hands* Are all the old a-sides on it? Dey behur be.

And the Svante version is the best - real crispy.

 

[Anthony]

Mixed by me:[/url]

don't give up the programming Cormac!

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

you can always buy some.

You wouldn't believe how little money I make. Probably not helped by mouting off on the internet in the vain hope of educating folks a little bit

 

[Pantone247]

You wouldn't believe how little money I make. Probably not helped by mouting off on the internet in the vain hope of educating folks a little bit

by the by i'm really digging the Crumb album, it's jangleicious. I loved Sewing Room and Stars of Heaven so I was well pleased to hear that the Crumb stuff is in that same great vein.

Anyhow kudos on the guitar sounds, that bright shiney appegio guitar thing can get brittle and thin sounding and tiring really quickly, but on the crumb record it's all there and easy on the ear through out.