Mastering Metal (as in Audio Mastering)

[SirKnucklesmd]

The "art" of mastering is something I never really paid particular attention to or had much regard in caring for, until I was presented with a metalcore project. I admit, i'm a hack when it comes to mastering... Margin at -.3db, limit threshold so RMS level doesn't live above 6, toy around with stereo imaging for a second, done. Oh, and maybe multiband compress some low eq, and if i'm feeling REALLY adventurous i'll throw an aural exictor plugin on it at the end. I'm here today becuase I have recently been paying more and more attention to the final stage in the production process (mastering) as I notice that my editing and mixing has greatly improved over the last few years. It would only make sense to me, as I hone in on my mixing skills I should really be pushing my mastering skills with it as well... I came up with a KILLER mix on this metalcore bands song last week however, when I went in to master it my frist attempt came out sounding like a garbage disposaled roadside mess that was repeatedly ran over by 18-wheeler after 18-wheeler on the 101 N. Dissapointing to say the least...
My biggest hurdle/problem/question that I would like to ask seasoned mastering engineers, who have experience with such a loud "everything in your face" genre, what is the best route to go when dealing with compression and limiting? I would listen to bands mastered by Sturgis and Castleman and they are able to acheive such a loud sound while clearly maintaining the dynamics of the drums, or without mudding up the guitars or cluttering the center... everything i heard seemed to have it's "space". It seemed to me that when they go in to master they BARELY attenuate the mix with a very light comrpessor to help reduce peaks, then slam it with the limiter with a release of, what seems to be some negative value... (if that were possible, haha). I just wanted to gather some opinions of others who have experience with this... light attentuation before limiting? heavy attenuation quick release? slow release? fast attack? etc. etc...
I undestand there's no "one" way to do things... but there's a common way that i'm not too keen on yet, and it would make a world of difference and save me countless hours of stress and headache if I could atleast be pointed in the right direction.

 

[colonel kurtz]

honestly man, the one thing that works best for me when it comes to keeping the thump in a mix...assuming you'll be "mastering" it yourself...is to set up the compressor/limiter/whatever on the 2-buss pretty early in the mix, and keep that shit on all the time

i hear way too many stories of snares being eaten alive when they get mastered...not a problem if the snare is being cranked and properly treated to poke through the compressed mix in the 1st place. same thing with reverb tails suddenly becoming way too pronounced, vocals buried, etc. etc.

then when you're done mixing, turn off the comp/limiter, bounce tracks, then re-import into your mastering session. you'll probably end up needing to tweak the master buss settings a bit when all is said and done, but at least your mix is mostly built to withstand whatever it's about to get crushed with!

 

[tempe]

If the band has the budget I would always recommend getting an outside mastering engineer as the second perspective is worth its weight in gold. Never mind the fact that you're paying someone who specializes in that part of the process as opposed to treating it a little as an afterthought which it always seems to be when you master your own material, at least in my experience.

 

[Manicompression]

plus 1 to what tempe said, there is no substitute for a quality mastering job performed in a zillion dollar, acoustically sound room by a pro mastering engineer. And it does not cost that much to send it out to a proper mastering house or atleast an engineer with mastering experience who will be able to offer some outside ears and perspective. I have ruined perfectly good mixes trying to self master, so i understand where your at. But as Kurtz said, mixing with the process in mind is a workaround of sorts. Some of the only decent sounding self mastered recordings ive heard by other locals in my area have just been really good mixes that were done into a buss comp and limited very slightly. If the mix is good enough that method will do. I would prefer leaving it be and telling the band to deal with the mastering when they can afford it rather than offering a "mastering" service when your not confident in your abilities or have lost perspective on delivering that last bit of sheen.

 

[MIAnn]

If the band has the budget I would always recommend getting an outside mastering engineer as the second perspective is worth its weight in gold. Never mind the fact that you're paying someone who specializes in that part of the process as opposed to treating it a little as an afterthought which it always seems to be when you master your own material, at least in my experience.

^^

 

[colonel kurtz]

I would prefer leaving it be and telling the band to deal with the mastering when they can afford it rather than offering a "mastering" service when your not confident in your abilities or have lost perspective on delivering that last bit of sheen.

i would too, but when dealing with a bunch of broke-ass musicians who can barely scrape up enough to pay the stupidly low rates i charge them in the 1st place, the suggestion of sending it to someone else who also needs paid usually gets thrown out pretty quickly!

 

[SirKnucklesmd]

i would too, but when dealing with a bunch of broke-ass musicians who can barely scrape up enough to pay the stupidly low rates i charge them in the 1st place, the suggestion of sending it to someone else who also needs paid usually gets thrown out pretty quickly!

Thanks for the input so far guys, but yes ^^ this is what i'm dealing with currently. Some pimply teenagers who have probably yet to aquire drivers licenses. I practically had to crack skulls just for the initial deposit.. If it were my own music i'd send it to the Sturge himself, or any of the other slew of professional mastering studios in my area. But being the over analytical self satisfied smug asshole that I try to be, I feel the incessant need to atleast posses the know-how myself as well.

 

[SirKnucklesmd]

Some of the only decent sounding self mastered recordings ive heard by other locals in my area have just been really good mixes that were done into a buss comp and limited very slightly. If the mix is good enough that method will do.

This I could give a try, I typically mix with a very light buss compressor on. I have the SSL bundle and use the master buss comp (obviously) set at 14db Attack@3 Release@.1 (or sometimes auto) and 4:1 ratio, and that's usually how it stays. Then i would slam it into an Ozone4 limiter... I could try heavier compression then light on the limiter... Or even get more fancy with a multiband comp. I have much to learn here still.

 

[shaggysi0]

Currently, I'm trying to keep a simple less-is-more master chain. I was using a ridiculous amount of plugs in my chain which ended up giving less than favorable results. Currently on the master I will have an SSL Comp using a Mastering preset as a starting point but I will tweak it so I'm getting no more than -3 to -4db gain reduction. I *may* use MaxxBass on the master depending on the material, but after that I pretty much let Ozone do all the work, using a little smidgin of everything it has to offer, and getting the loudness. If I've mixed the elements well enough find I can get a decent -7db RMS master that doesn't out of control. I recently tested the last mix I did with this at a friend's house with my iPod plugged into his system at a ridiculously loud volume and I was pretty pleased with it!

 

[Uros]

-7dB RMS? Why don't you just print the sine wave at 0 dBFS RMS and be done with it

 

[OrderedAudio]

I use ozone and then bus it out to MS paint and call it a day

 

[beyond dead]

As Kurtz said mixing into your mastering chain will help you get a more balanced mix, and ultimately a cleaner/louder/punchier master. Not only does it give you an idea of what the mastering chain will do to your drums, reverbs and vocals, it also gives you an idea of which instruments/frequencies are fighting for headroom, masking each other, and pumping your master bus processing. Often masking only becomes apparent after you apply compression to the master bus. If you mix with a master bus comp/limiter you can more easily detect problematic frequencies and carve them out with eq which creates separation between instruments and makes headroom for other frequencies.


Also, try using a clipper on your snare and master bus. You can usually shave off a few db's and gain some loudness without any noticeable deterioration in sound quality.

I have grown increasingly skeptical of the need for an expensive mastering engineer. Most of my favorite producers/engineers do their own mastering work. How you process the individual elements of your mix makes more of a difference to the final sound than the master bus processing. Most listeners listen in less than ideal circumstances, so having a gazzillion dollar room with fancy snake oil monitors isnt necessary. Just make sure your mixes/masters sound comparable to other mixes/masters you enjoy on a variety of playback systems.

 

[Mendel]

I've had countless lessons in mastering on school and could write a book on this topic on this forum about it. Let's cut to the chase:

One of my favorite lines is: "The perfect mix doesn't need to be mastered" from a wonderful book.

Mastering is way more then: " Het let's get some compression on there and up the volume and heeeyyy it's mastered".

Get this book:

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Audio-The-Art-Science/dp/0240805453[/ame]

Mastering Audio (The art Science) by Bob Katz.

Bob Katz is like the Einstein of Audio mastering (no, joke, there).

Read it!

 

[Uros]

^^Yeah, great book. I also really like his K-metering system.

K-20 (each monitor calibrated to produce -20dB RMS pink noise @83dB SPL), or alternatively K-14. That way you can really better hear effects of compression while you mix, just as advertised.

 

[IrvOnly]

Hey,

does anyone know about any good affordable mastering place? We are currently looking for one to work on my band tracks. Im all hyped up about having this work release.

 

[tenebre]

Affordable is subjective..... How many tracks and what is your budget?

Our master kicks ass if i say so so I would recommend that house.. but your budget matters

 

[MaorAppelbaumMastering]

Metal mastering is different from mastering other rock , blues , pop and other styles as there is a big amount of transients passing and the density of the instrumentation.
Its not harder or easier its just different.
and in all styles you have different types of mixes and productions that call for different types of mastering engineers and styles.

Strapping a limiter might make it loud and tight but can easily take out the life of the song and move the focus.

Every band has there own story and sound and that why i personally think that each master doesn't have to fit in the same level ( volume ) or compression as the other.

Its about enhancing the vibe and essence of the production and the music - not about getting it loud.
even when a mix is great there is still the option or chance to make the listener enjoy it even more when its mastered in the right way for the band and not trying to be on certain specs or sets of rules.
In the end its all about bringing whats inside the music to the outside world - or from the pro-sumer to the con-sumer

 

[Klosure]

I tend to have a bunch of plugins on my master bus just to check whats going on. I dont push them, many times it reveals that I need to visit back to the drums to get what I am after.


But mastering is a pain sometimes. I sent of some stuff to quite a good highly regarded mixer and engineer and what I got back was not as good as I wanted by a long shot.

Now partly it was my mixing experience, but I was unable to get feedback or anything, so actually we (not my band but we agreed to all cough up to hear the results as a bit of a test) lost 90 quid. (this I might add was some years ago I have learnt a bit since then)



So whilst it might seem like such a great thing to send of your song or a band to send it of to be mastered sometimes it can be a disaster. This is why I think understanding mastering is very important for a mix engineer.

Mastering has changed and become much a part of the mix these days I think, which is why many of us are in a postion to make out mixes feel mastered. There will always be a point to polish of to perfection by another set of ears but you need a reliable mastering engineer who isnt just going to send back crap without warning youy first.


Personally I trusted this guy, and not only did it sadden me that I got no feedback, it led me to be less than impressed by one of my main mixing idols.

 

[Headof75]

http://www.fxmastering.co.uk/

They've just remastered a shit load of the great rock albums of the 20th century for SACD format (including Quadrophenia, Sticky Fingers and Master of Reality). They're highly regarded and their prices start from £40 per track.
Can you afford not to?

 

[JB Mastering]

If you require a professional opinion about your mixes and an amazing outcome, please visit JB Mastering on soundcloud, have a listen and send me an email so we can begin our project together.

soundcloud.com/jb-mastering-inc