Hello, can you guys recommend me a good mastering studio or service for a melodeath band? My friends just finished the mix and look for such service. They want a portion of a song or one full song to be mastered as test.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Mastering Studio/Service
- Thread starter Raptor7
- Start date
egan.
daylightdies.com
Budget? I can think of ten great option but none are going to do a test on spec. unless you are a huge band on a big label.
Hello, thanks for reply and thanks also to the people who contacted me by PM. You will be contacted by the band very soon.
As for the budget I can only tell as far as I know that if the mastered track will be the band's favorite then the money will not be a matter.
PS I am not in the band, I only help them out here.
As for the budget I can only tell as far as I know that if the mastered track will be the band's favorite then the money will not be a matter.
PS I am not in the band, I only help them out here.
Hi guys, I am back. Sorry I was missing a few days due to flu (normal) but I'll make sure everyone who wrote me on PM will be contacted by the band. Cheers.
As I said above, the money are not a matter. They got offers from 300 USD up to 1000 and they still consider everyone. The result is what matters.
egan.
daylightdies.com
It just seems like with a grand to spend you would skip the hoops and head straight to Jens Bogren or James Murphy or Finnvox or the Cutting Room or....I guess I see the angle your working but I don't think any of those guys/houses would do work on spec so you are basically ruling out the best options.
Gomez
Member
Nice, thanks, I'll pass the info.
Note to all of you who contacted me for mastering: I am not the person who will took the decision of picking one of you, guys. I only did the tracking and mixing of the material. I just gave them some references and general ideas.. The band is the only one entitled to make the decision of choosing a studio/professional. This is just to make some things clear. Thanks.
Note to all of you who contacted me for mastering: I am not the person who will took the decision of picking one of you, guys. I only did the tracking and mixing of the material. I just gave them some references and general ideas.. The band is the only one entitled to make the decision of choosing a studio/professional. This is just to make some things clear. Thanks.
Ermz
¯\(°_o)/¯
Hi Ermz, I really have no idea. I haven't received from them not a single testmaster if they have received any. They only asked me to fix some parts of the mix based on the feedback they have received, which I did and sent back the mixes to them. It will be a surprise for me also when I will hear the finished album anyway. And I hope a good one.
Cheers to you.
Ermz
¯\(°_o)/¯
In my experience it rarely is, but you might get lucky and have the band choose someone good at their craft. It's nice of you to search for an ME on behalf of the band, but in the future you might want to put together a list of guys whose work you really like and suggest them after every project. This way you can almost guarantee that you will be satisfied along with the band.
Force666
Member
- Sep 12, 2007
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Mastering fucking blows! 
Seriously though, does it EVER come back how you envisioned it? Snare killed, guitars 10 times as loud as the mixes. Like isn't it painfully obvious that you would want that shit to sound roughly the same as the mixdown but louder. I understand with the Loudness War it's give and take, but FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.....
I really would love to start being able to "master" my own tracks. Of course being worse at mastering than mixing....it'll really end up a big pile of dogshit then.
2/3 of the last guys I sent for masters, returned a sample in under an hour. WTF? Did you even listen to the song before you started tweaking? Don't you have any other jobs to do? Atleast make it look like you're doing something. haha.
*End Bitterness*
Seriously though, does it EVER come back how you envisioned it? Snare killed, guitars 10 times as loud as the mixes. Like isn't it painfully obvious that you would want that shit to sound roughly the same as the mixdown but louder. I understand with the Loudness War it's give and take, but FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.....
I really would love to start being able to "master" my own tracks. Of course being worse at mastering than mixing....it'll really end up a big pile of dogshit then.
2/3 of the last guys I sent for masters, returned a sample in under an hour. WTF? Did you even listen to the song before you started tweaking? Don't you have any other jobs to do? Atleast make it look like you're doing something. haha.
*End Bitterness*
Gomez
Member
^Sounds like you're sending stuff to "mastering" places that just don't know what they're doing... kids with PC's and cracked plugs is certainly not the best way to go and they're screwing up the business on top of it. It's also hard to find out who they are as they tend to steal pictures from proper mastering suites and put them in their sites...
Having said that, I have heard some pretty atrocious masters by top mastering houses in London - including Metropolis.
On a different note, some mixes will sound fine at -9dB RMS, some start sounding like crap at -12dB, in which case, I believe is the mastering engineers responsibility to notify the client and suggest re mixing and this should be part of the service you're paying for.
Having said that, I have heard some pretty atrocious masters by top mastering houses in London - including Metropolis.
On a different note, some mixes will sound fine at -9dB RMS, some start sounding like crap at -12dB, in which case, I believe is the mastering engineers responsibility to notify the client and suggest re mixing and this should be part of the service you're paying for.
Force666
Member
- Sep 12, 2007
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Gomez, yeah I agree with you, but actually it isn't the case. I'm not gonna name names cause I don't want to publicly slag these guys. Maybe it was the mixes...maybe not. But 2/3 were guys were recomended by the forum here. And they weren't cheap or random interweb guys.
I will say on a friend's album that we got done. A well-known mastering guy really made it suck. Like bad. And they had it done by an interweb guy for 150$ for a 60min album and it smoked "pro guys" by a mile. Go figure.
The guy did a good job... www.azimuthmastering.com for anyone intested in "cheap" mastering. I'll give him a plug for a solid victory.
I definitely understand the principle of mastering, but can't stand the "Black Art" that it's made out to be. Not to mention 9/10 things that I would record, such as demos for buddies bands and stuff don't really call for "pro mastering" by any means. I just need to learn a little about burning redbook cds and all the "true mastering" stuff so I can send them off with something to upload to myspace and dupe some demos and such.
I will say on a friend's album that we got done. A well-known mastering guy really made it suck. Like bad. And they had it done by an interweb guy for 150$ for a 60min album and it smoked "pro guys" by a mile. Go figure.
The guy did a good job... www.azimuthmastering.com for anyone intested in "cheap" mastering. I'll give him a plug for a solid victory.
I definitely understand the principle of mastering, but can't stand the "Black Art" that it's made out to be. Not to mention 9/10 things that I would record, such as demos for buddies bands and stuff don't really call for "pro mastering" by any means. I just need to learn a little about burning redbook cds and all the "true mastering" stuff so I can send them off with something to upload to myspace and dupe some demos and such.
have to agree with Gomez here.... despite that the 2/3 guys were "well known" or whatever... doesn't mean they aren't hacks, or that they don't have some intern to do it.
it's mainly considered a "black art' because it takes several years to get any good at it.... by that same token, mixing also is a "black art" to the uninitiated, and it too takes several years.. usually about a decade... to get any good at it.
sadly, in both mixing and mastering, most newer guys don't realize they aren't good yet until some months pass on any given job.... and that's IF they are applying themselvs to honing the craft. basically, once you can listen to a mix/master you did a year earlier and not want to hide your head, you've started to become "good".... either that or you've just not gotten any better, lol.
it's mainly considered a "black art' because it takes several years to get any good at it.... by that same token, mixing also is a "black art" to the uninitiated, and it too takes several years.. usually about a decade... to get any good at it.
sadly, in both mixing and mastering, most newer guys don't realize they aren't good yet until some months pass on any given job.... and that's IF they are applying themselvs to honing the craft. basically, once you can listen to a mix/master you did a year earlier and not want to hide your head, you've started to become "good".... either that or you've just not gotten any better, lol.
Force666
Member
- Sep 12, 2007
- 1,096
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Well, there's the conundrum. I KNOW I suck. But I've also listened to music long enough to know what it "should" sound like. Basically, from what I understand, to some degree mastering is supposed to be somewhat transparent. And this specific time it was anything but.
Not trying to argue here, cause I agree with everything you both said. Now unfortunatly for YOU guys, I'll probably send my next project to one of you!
But I've also listened to music long enough to know what it "should" sound like. Basically, from what I understand, to some degree mastering is supposed to be somewhat transparent. And this specific time it was anything but.Not trying to argue here, cause I agree with everything you both said. Now unfortunatly for YOU guys, I'll probably send my next project to one of you!
Gomez
Member
i have also heard good masters for 150 pounds for a whole album...
i think what'a happening at the moment is that the mastering business is saturated - home mastering really only kicked off in the last 5 years as people figured out it wasn't a 'black art' and the quality of the equipment and the room didn't 'really' matter... Kind of irritating when i have spent nearly 10k us on my monitoring alone...
But not really. Mastering in some cases IS indeed a black art and here is one of the situations where having experience and good equipment pays off.
i find it 'easy' to make a bad mix sound good, the tricky part is to make a good mix sound great... I have heard some WEIRD stuff happening while maatering a good (or bad) mix - this is where the 'black art' comes into the equation, which basically consists of a number of tricks and techniques gathered through years of work... And that ain't worth 150 bucks
Also knowing your tools inside out is also what i would call 'black art'... It's all about knowledge, experience, attention to detail and communication with your client. Being honest helps heaps too.
there's also the fact that the ME is the final link between a project and consumers and this is a big responsibilty. Ever heard dodgy track markers on a good cd? Annoying isn't it? Have you ever had a pressing plant rejecting your master? I's not all about making it sound loud and good...
james, i got a copy of the latest version of peak kindly donated to my by bias. I has definitely improved a lot since v4. Not 100% converted yet, but i'm starting to use it more and more. Thanks for the tip.
i think what'a happening at the moment is that the mastering business is saturated - home mastering really only kicked off in the last 5 years as people figured out it wasn't a 'black art' and the quality of the equipment and the room didn't 'really' matter... Kind of irritating when i have spent nearly 10k us on my monitoring alone...
But not really. Mastering in some cases IS indeed a black art and here is one of the situations where having experience and good equipment pays off.
i find it 'easy' to make a bad mix sound good, the tricky part is to make a good mix sound great... I have heard some WEIRD stuff happening while maatering a good (or bad) mix - this is where the 'black art' comes into the equation, which basically consists of a number of tricks and techniques gathered through years of work... And that ain't worth 150 bucks
Also knowing your tools inside out is also what i would call 'black art'... It's all about knowledge, experience, attention to detail and communication with your client. Being honest helps heaps too.
there's also the fact that the ME is the final link between a project and consumers and this is a big responsibilty. Ever heard dodgy track markers on a good cd? Annoying isn't it? Have you ever had a pressing plant rejecting your master? I's not all about making it sound loud and good...
james, i got a copy of the latest version of peak kindly donated to my by bias. I has definitely improved a lot since v4. Not 100% converted yet, but i'm starting to use it more and more. Thanks for the tip.
