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I’m a rube from the provinces re mastering and have a lot to learn but I’m gonna be presumptuous enough to call BS on some of this. https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/adding-luster-to-your-master
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Nothing presumptious about it, Bud. You just see things differently.
I do, too. The only specific thing I disagree with is changing the speed.
My issue with the current way of mixing is the in-your-face quality of much of what I hear, particularly bass drum. I can't tell you how many times I have heard sound men at live events mix so that you can hear drums and bass out the wazoo but the vocals are unintelligible. On country and pop recordings, I hear a lot of stuff mashed together so you can't pick out anything except drums and vocals.
What we are losing is the air, what they call white space in visual arts. I have used Al Green's records as an example of a lost style. Another is Miles Davis' Kind of Blue.
So that's my two cents. I guess if you want to be radio-ready, you have to go with the trend. Thankfully, I don't have to do it.
2b
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I didn’t find a single thing in the article BS. The speed increase really only can work with tape, however.
All of the methods mentioned are exactly what mastering engineers do.
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Not the greatest article I've ever read on the subject but I didn't see anything too far out.
Radio stations have been speeding up music since the vinyl days. They also add another layer of compression so it could possibly get a little weird if you have an already sped up overcompressed record but I doubt most home studios will ever face that dilemma.
I think your sound is great. I just look at these articles like to each his own - some help me, some confuse me, and some are well....meh. What can I say.
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First they alluded to all the reasons that one would like a well mastered song. But I would suggest for the general listener that the lyric is a huge variable regarding one’s like and dislike of a tune. Granted that is not a mastering variable but..... Secondly I think the only reason so many suggest that mix engineers should not master their work is simply an allegiance to the old way of doing it and support for keeping it that way. What are the technical reasons a good mix person cannot via good references master a song well? If folks want to send their mixes to a master specialist have at at it. I just don’t get it. Not to disparage anybody but given the access us home studio folks have to Izotope and Waves products, etc., I think we’re in the midst of a fundamental shift. I could be wrong, there is ample precedent, but I don’t think the number of tunes we have licensed would be different if we’d paid to have them mastered by a master 
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I think the only reason to suggest you can't master you own stuff these days with all the phenomenal DIY mastering stuff out there is someone wants your money.
There are also SO many different sound possibilities in what you are trying to achieve or CAN achieve--just trying to keep up with the genres and subgenres on Spotify is simply impossible. In a way, Radio does not matter anymore. It is the black and white t.v. of the world, whereas Spotify (or places like it) are Netflix. People don't watch t.v. They watch Netflix, or cable, where they have 1,000,000 choices per second and a new level of weird each week.
Myself, I am going for the analog sound, and I keep working on it. I will never be happy with anything I do and I cringe at some things I did last year, but that's how it is--you keep growing.
Anyway, I have a friend (won't mention his name) who is one of the the most famous mastering engineers in the world, and he says he likes the sound I am getting with my little plug-ins.
The Pro Channel Strip on Cakewalk 2018 has more than you need for a start on the master bus, and with other judicious plug-ins, you can do whatever you want--you can make it sound like tape.
It is simply a matter of learning how to use what you have and being true to your own sound.
Nothing else matters.
With 1,000,000 sounds at play right now, any type of generic advice is kinda foolish.
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I think the only reason to suggest you can't master you own stuff these days with all the phenomenal DIY mastering stuff out there is someone wants your money
While I do agree with that... I also disagree. I can walk into Home Depot or Lowes and buy everything I need to put down a tile floor. And they even have free classes that attempt to show you the basics. But...when I get all that stuff home and start slopping the mud on the floor and laying that tile..... well, there will be tile on the floor. No doubt.... but, will it be done right? Will a pro walk in a year later and be amazed or dismayed at the work? Kind of the same thing with sound. Yeah, we can buy all the amazing plugs and stuff.... but when we get it home....and watch a few videos and ask a few forum guys and gals for advice.... will the result be something that amazes others or will there be obvious issues in the mix? All that aside.... I do lay my own tile and I do mix and polish my own mixes.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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If I had the money I'd love to pay a famous golden ears mastering engineer to do mine.
I don't so I press on.
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I think the only reason to suggest you can't master you own stuff these days with all the phenomenal DIY mastering stuff out there is someone wants your money
While I do agree with that... I also disagree. I can walk into Home Depot or Lowes and buy everything I need to put down a tile floor. And they even have free classes that attempt to show you the basics. But...when I get all that stuff home and start slopping the mud on the floor and laying that tile..... well, there will be tile on the floor. No doubt.... but, will it be done right? Will a pro walk in a year later and be amazed or dismayed at the work? Kind of the same thing with sound. Yeah, we can buy all the amazing plugs and stuff.... but when we get it home....and watch a few videos and ask a few forum guys and gals for advice.... will the result be something that amazes others or will there be obvious issues in the mix? All that aside.... I do lay my own tile and I do mix and polish my own mixes. Over the years I have discovered that there are things that I can do as well as a "master" but the big difference is the time it takes. A master carpenter can do work exponentially faster than I can...but with enough time I can get certain small jobs done and done well. Now I have friends who are phenomenal wood workers and are true artists (bowl turning, etc). -can I do that? Hell no. So if we assume that post mix mastering folks are simply artists then there's little left to say. But If they just are trained to listen for artifacts, imbalances, things they "think" might not work in a streaming world and, of course, their personal opinions, etc., then I suggest us mere mortals can learn that. And as David alluded to we can apply that knowledge to our own objectives. As the risk of sounding stubborn - I like open/airy mixes with few tracks that sound live. I "know" how I want it to sound and, albeit a struggle at times, I try to master our songs toward that end. I'm not sure I could even articulate the sound I want if I was sourcing it out. But when I get it I know I'm there. I will add that, FWIW, my mastering is very light. A very small amount of compression (typically multi-band), a 50db down eq shelf and some limiting. I guess what I'm struggling to say is that I feel that anybody who can produce a good mix can produce a good master. Which do we spend the most time at? What the heck...I'm just an ole guy who like to pontificate on occasion and pretend, I guess, that he can master Bud PS I will say that I have been mountain bike racing in the grandmaster age group for years if that counts
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See, we all, agree to.....agree?? I never said you didn't have to LEARN your plugins. I practice music stuff 4-5 hours a day. I don't expect my guitar to learn itself. Anybody can BUY a Stratocaster. But that's the same as.. [Herb help me fill in the dots here.] So I think we are same thing.
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I think there needs to be consideration for what and why you are mastering. What is the end game. Are you aiming the song at radio, streaming or are you basically creating backing tracks for live performances. There a subtle differences in the needs.
I have been using Izotope Ozone 8 for “mastering”. I find other than the limiting often there is not much, if any real differences between the “master” and the mix. Having said that I know there sound I am looking for and I know it is only being played through a PA. Normally through the same PA. I am happy to do my own mixing and mastering that is a part of why I do all this in the first place.
I do this for fun and enjoyment
Tony
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Once you have found there is no difference between the mix and master you have arrived at the lotus point of the eternal sacred lily pad, grasshopper. Welcome. You now have 19th degree black belt mixing robe. Mix. No Master. Done. Very good, Daniel son.
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I helped a friend put together a demo of a song for an album that will be out sometime at the end of the year.
It was just so the engineer he hired could see what he had in mind. (Less time in the studio = less costs.)
Last week I heard the final product. Our demo was good; the engineer's was amazing.
And, yes, it was expensive.
...Deb
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I helped a friend put together a demo of a song for an album that will be out sometime at the end of the year.
It was just so the engineer he hired could see what he had in mind. (Less time in the studio = less costs.)
Last week I heard the final product. Our demo was good; the engineer's was amazing.
And, yes, it was expensive.
...Deb
So he mixed and mastered it? Or was the demo the final mix that he only mastered? Just wondering, thanks Bud
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The CD has live musicians. Our demo was just to show what he wanted for that one song.
The engineer mixed and will mastered the whole CD. I understand there is one more mix to work through.
...Deb
Last edited by DSM; 11/02/18 08:14 AM.
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