PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production LANDR - an opinions on their mastering?

Not having a good enough ear to master a mix other than get it how I like it, has anyone tried the Landr service?
You send them your "mixed down" wav ( with decent headroom) and you get back a "mastered" track in 3 "loudness" options.
Verdict, anyone?
Ian

Wow, It's Déjà vu all over again!



http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=327524#Post327524

I used them several times a year or two ago and was always satisfied with the result. At the time, they would return a 192khz 'Master' for free. It took seconds to do.

It was better than I could do myself at the time due to the software I had access to and the level of my experience.

The quality was no better than any mastering preset of any decent software with mastering capabilities.

I had no complaints with their quality of sound for what it was but today, I would invest in Ozone or an actual mastering company. Particularly with any song that could ever serve to be a demo pitch.

I did the same. I thought their "masters" were quite good, considering they were automatic.

Thanks for all the input. Much appreciated.
The reason I asked is, I seem to get the feeling on "Forums" (ours excluded!!)these days is that, for any music to be considered worthy of a 'listen', not only must one be a master of composition, but be a world class arranger, singer, player but now be the ultimate MixMasterer to avoid your 'ubalanced' mix offending them.
I'll give Landr a try in the New Year and see if I (personally) like what they've done to my song, Ma.
Cheers
Ian

I guess it takes all kinds. But the 2 forums I tend to inhabit are not like that. PG & Cakewalk.

In both of these forums, a newb can feel relatively safe posting the most amateurish mix. I don't think in all the years hanging in either, that anyone ever ripped someone a new one for posting a rough mix.

In fact, quite the opposite. Folks will jump in and offer suggestions and advice to improve the mix. I know, because I was one of those rank beginners at one time. The advice I was given and in many cases, asked for, was never given in a demeaning manner. Lots of good folks with good ears and the knowledge to explain things in detail took the time to point out the deficiencies in my mixes. I also hung out on some songwriting forums where the same sort of attitude was exhibited towards the writing of the song.

Yes those kinds of forums exist. I would not, and do not hang out in forums where people are rude know-it-all's and think everyone else should live up to their arbitrary standards of excellence.


edit: regarding Landr..... I sent a song to them... I believe it was them. The raw wave of one of my tunes. I simply bypassed all the plugs.... just to see what they would do and compare it to what I had done as my finished version.


To call the result a "mastered" project, could, I guess, be used to describe it. It was certainly compressed. Total quality was not bad but overall, the song lacked the quality that (IMHO) was evident in my mix version and with less obvious compression.

You have to know that Landr doesn't take the time or the effort that a mastering house will take to get things right. The best that they can do is apply a generic preset to a mastering suite like Ozone and get the song back to you quickly. At their monthly prices, you can get Ozone and be ahead of the game in less than a year. And.... by buying Ozone or some other quality "mastering" suite, you will actually learn something further about mixing and mastering your music.

"The reason I asked is, I seem to get the feeling on "Forums" (ours excluded!!)these days is that, for any music to be considered worthy of a 'listen', not only must one be a master of composition, but be a world class arranger, singer, player but now be the ultimate Mix Masterer to avoid your 'unbalanced' mix offending them."

I do not know but to make my point, imagine that James Taylor made all of his recordings as an instrumentalist/vocalist and that each and every one of his recordings were set up, mic'd, recorded and mixed by professionals. If James Taylor were to subsequently make a home recording by himself, in his home without the benefit and help of professionals, and post a simple, clean, clear and balanced mix of this work on any of the above forums, how critical do you think those same forum masters would be toward his mix. I'll wager you would not see offenses and unbalanced mix comments. His clean, simple mix would be lauded as a goal to reach for.

My point being for me, BIAB provides the opportunity to attain a level of music instrumentation beyond my personal pay grade of ability and talent. Most of my productions, although they are originals, do not sound like me. I tend to over produce my work.

Herb mentions, and I have personally received, public comments and private messages from helpful forum members that see areas that I can improve my work product. One of the most prominent suggestions are toward securing a vocalist because I have written and produced a song in a style and production manner I cannot sing. The criticism is warranted.

I find my song productions are better received here on this forum than they may be on other forums because the members here understand how Biab works and can tell some of the behind the scenes production mistakes I'm making.

Every song does not have to be 'mastered', compressed, eq'd, nectared and Ozoned. But they do need to be recorded cleanly, clearly and properly balanced. The more production placed in a project presents more opportunities for someone to find fault in your work. Not to say don't experiment or try new things, but leave your experiments in your studio except to share for evaluation with trusted ears. Publish your good stuff that is clean, clear and balanced, even if it's just you and a single instrument.

I've always been fascinated with people on forums who actually believe they're great composers, arrangers, singers, players, and ME's, all wrapped up in a magnificent package.

No one is. For me, the song is most important, especially since I am less than adequate in the other areas. I gave up trying to be Bob Katz years ago.

As Harry Callahan once said:

“A man's got to know his limitations.”


Regards,

Bob

One free way that helps to improve your mix and master would be to sign up for Graham's The Recording Revolution.

http://therecordingrevolution.com/

Just my opinion.

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