Question about mastering an album?

[xANDREWLIFERx]

Basically do you keep the same mastering chain for the whole album or is each song catered to differently? I just wanted too know if each song on an album has a different sound or they all stay pretty consistent in terms of feel and sound.

If possible can someone point me to an album where there's huge variation per song and then an album where things are pretty consistent?

 

[pikachu69]

It depends on the source.
If the mix is consistant from song to song the mastering chain will remain mostly the same song to song. This can be based on style of music and arrangment/overdubs too. In metal it is common to have drums/bass/guitar/vox for all/most songs so the mix/master should change very little. Other styles that may use different types of instruments from song to song may have large differences between songs and therefore more potential for the mastering chain to change.

 

[rob w]

For typical consistant metal stuff I'll use the same chain maybe tweaking some settings if there's a particularly fast or slow track. Softer ballad type stuff usually gets treated differently to ensure it sits in it's dynamic place. But if tracks of a similar tempo tracked consistently need vastly different chains then something ain't right somewhere. Saying that, I don't go mad mastering. Most of the end result is tracking and mixing.

 

[Manicompression]

I like to think of mastering as the step that ties any discrepancies from song to song together as well as make the best of your mix for various systems. However that needs to be achieved is always going to vary a bit.
In my experience if your working on something you hope to sound professional then sending out your mixes to be mastered by a proper mastering house or an experienced engineer is a must. I have heard a very small handfull of self mastered records that sounded better than just passable and it really doesnt cost that much to send out if you plan accordingly (around 50-100 a song for most places). On the other hand I have heard a considerable amount of mixes that were pretty bad to average made way better by professional mastering.

 

[Leon--]

If you are not sure and you want something serious then send it to a master engineer.Of course it's more expensive.but the result will be way better than an anerage recording studio.Mastering needs different room,different equipment..