The Definition of Mastering

[nickfever]

Soon I think we will just have to choose whether we want to listen to pink noise or white noise.... I guess music will be narrowed down to 2 genres.

[milfus]

see I really dont believe that, the best quote I have ever heard was an amazing engineer named mike stavrou, ultimately, the final volume is in the listeners hand, if they like the song and mix, they will turn it up themselves, if they dont and its loud, they will turn it down, the compression wars works by immediate comparison, but it can be overcome with good songs and mixes because actually liking the song will always defeat a subconcious reaction to the rms volume.

[anne]

I have to agree with milfus on the volume issue - I think there is a backlash against " louder is better", at least with many independent artists. The for pop artists, you look at someone like Sting, or U2, or Prince and see more range. I just hope that it catches on to the rest of the music - my ears are getting tired when I listen to anything current!!One of the books I read on mixing and mastering compared the files that mastering engineers are getting now, with almost no headroom left in them, to the tapes they got just a few years ago that had a good 7 or 8 db of headroom. I think that the switch from analog mixing, where you mixed to 0db on the meter, and the current state of digital, where you want to have your pre-mastered mix at no more than -3db is where many musicians get stumped as well. I'll try and find the book again so you can read it if interested. Its a good one that helps explain mastering really clearly.

[guitarhacker]

I guess it all depends on what you plan to do with your tunes. If they are for you and maybe a few friends, mix away and have fun. For songwriting demos, I would also say a good clean recording and a clean mix with vocals up front would work fine. Only if I were considering releasing to airplay and record companies as an artist would I consider professional mastering. Quite a few software packages are capable of delivering a quality mastering job. It depends alot on the ears & abilities of the mastering engineer. (I don't claim that title)

[fidgetyfeet]

Hi folks,Probably the most highly recommended book on mastering is "Mastering Audio" by Bob Katz. I've recently gotten back into recording after a long break, and I'm learning the differences between my old Soundtracs console, and mixing in a DAW. I've been trying to keep my mix levels down and I like the results so far. I haven't read Mastering Audio yet, but I have read a lot of great articles at his website.http://www.digido.com/articles/index.phpMikeWorks in progress...critques welcomehttp://www.soundclick.com/bands/fidgetyfeet

[mazz]

Quote:see I really dont believe that, the best quote I have ever heard was an amazing engineer named mike stavrou, ultimately, the final volume is in the listeners hand, if they like the song and mix, they will turn it up themselves, if they dont and its loud, they will turn it down, the compression wars works by immediate comparison, but it can be overcome with good songs and mixes because actually liking the song will always defeat a subconcious reaction to the rms volume.I think a lot of the loudness wars were started by producers wanting their records to sound louder on the radio than another record. Since radio stations cannot under any circumstances go above a certain level, they do some rather severe compression on their output. So records started to be mastered so the average level was brought up and the peaks were minimized so as to not "touch" the radio stations' compressors as hard. The effect of bringing up the average level in relationship to the peaks makes the record sound louder even though the maximum volume wouldn't exceed the level determined by the station's compressor.Then the hype machine started when the inexpensive mastering tools came out and mixes started to sound like a face pushed up against a window looks, flattened out and distorted. This, of course, became an aesthetic and we're stuck with it for what appears to be a while. Heck, I even do it to my instrumentals to make them "pop" more. Maybe, just maybe, dynamics will make a return to pop music.Mazz

[milfus]

yeah nah, thats what i meant, but the end of the line is the volume knob on the car radio, if its a good song, the person in the car cranks it, if its not, they turn it down.

[andreh]

Quote:yeah nah, thats what i meant, but the end of the line is the volume knob on the car radio, if its a good song, the person in the car cranks it, if its not, they turn it down.Unless it's a great song that was mastered horribly, then it gets turned down also. Listen to Ne-Yo's latest album, and you'll see what I mean...all fantastic songs and performances, but mastered so bright it tears your head off.André

[milfus]

yeah good point, but we are talkin about gettin it done propperly to avoid that, yeah I definitely have to agree about ne-yo being too bright

[vladamir]

i have not joined taxi yet, but am considering it..my question is..have you ever mastered a song, and then had someone contact you,interested in the song, but wanted you to make changes in which case, you would need to re-master, after you made the changes?