Some mastering questions

[indecizo]

What? If the CD was mixed by a good mixing engineer, and you think it sounds the same as the recording but louder (and with different kick and snare) the guy was either fucking with you or there's something seriously wrong with your ears. That's just impossible, even untrained ears gotta notice the difference.

You didnt understand well. There was the first recording, I think the guitar player did it, didnt sound THAT bad. The band send that mix to an american mixer and changed the snare/kick and improved effects and bass and the mastering with Ted. The final product is not so different from the original (what the guitar player did). Not that sounds bad but it would sound way better, in my opinion. I doubt the original is on internet but check the final:

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Can you be specific about what ME's do besides getting your tracks loud??

In the ideal scenario, the ME doesn't do anything but makes sure the album is technically ok. In the real life, that doesn't really happen that many times a week, though

If it helps at all, this is usually my workflow when mastering an album. It's definitely not a guideline on how everyone (or anyone) should do it, but maybe it'll shed some light on the process. The order of ther steps isn't set in stone either, and I might be forgetting something, but here we go:

1) Check the files. What format they're in, sample rate, bit depth, mono or stereo, are all the files there, etc. After that, I convert the files to the proper specs for the job. When I'm mastering a music album, that's most often 44.1kHz/24bit.
2) Arrange the songs in the desired order and listen the material carefully through.
3) Remove any clicks, pops, noise and such that shouldn't be there. This is one of the many reasons why good monitoring is crucial. Headphones are often your friend.
4) Create the fade ins and fade outs. It sounds trivial, but a good fade out on a song, for example, can do a lot to the overall mood and it should be done carefully.
5) Place the songs timewise so that the pauses between the tracks serve the material. You can't just go by a rule like 1 second between each song. After a really mellow, fading outro it might be good to leave a bit more space between the next, aggressive song etc.
6) Crossfades between songs if necessary.
7) Place track start/end markers.
8) The actual sonic processing. As you can see, there's a lot of stuff to do before I even think about inserting a limiter. Some of the most usual processing methods in my case are the following:
- Compression (ONLY IF REALLY NEEDED)
- Saturation (ONLY IF REALLY NEEDED)
- Equalizing. In mastering, I often use a mid/side EQ for more control. The better the mix, the more subtle changes are required. Usual changes for a well mixed song are 1.5dB tops for me.
- Reverb (very, very, very seldom and only in special cases)
- Stereo width altering (subtle changes are your friend)
- Limiting
- Dithering (pretty much always, since I mostly master in 24bit and the project is usually a CD release, so it'll end up in 44.1kHz/16bit)
While processing, I monitor the RMS and the spectrum analyzer almost constantly.
9) Metadata embedding. Inserting the ISRC codes and CD text (if requested), for example.
10) Final QC listen-throughs, both with monitors and headphones. Always, always, always have a final listen with accurate headphones.
11) Print into desired format. I usually export both WAV's and the PMCD, either in DDP format or burn a physical disc. Sometimes all three.
12) Convert the WAV's into MP3's if requested, and add the ID3 metadata to the songs.
13) Final check of the sent media (files and CD's). You can't be too careful. The ME is responsible for the final quality control, so don't fuck it up.
14) Upload/send. I either upload the final files to my FTP server or send the discs in mail. Usually both.
15) Tap yourself on the back and have a beer for a job well done.

What I didn't include in the list is the first test master. I send a song or two after the processing stage to the client to get their blessing on the final sound, or do any changes if they wish and if I agree about them.

Sorry if I forgot something or was unclear, as I'm in a bit of a hurry. And keep in mind that's just my personal workflow, definitely not a how-to.

 

[jipchen]

You didnt understand well. There was the first recording, I think the guitar player did it, didnt sound THAT bad. The band send that mix to an american mixer and changed the snare/kick and improved effects and bass and the mastering with Ted. The final product is not so different from the original (what the guitar player did). Not that sounds bad but it would sound way better, in my opinion.

I didn't understand well? You didn't mention there was already a mix done! lol
But yeah, different mixes with the same files will always sound somehow similar. If the guitarist made a good mix and the tracks were well recorded, there is a good chance the mixes won't sound very different at first listen - the differences will most likely be the details, the overall balance, depth, dynamic, and loudness. Getting something loud isn't hard, but getting it loud without making it sound flat and like shit is pretty fucking difficult. With improved monitoring (room first, then the monitors) and a bit more listening experience the differences will get a lot more obvious.

I don't know who it was but someone on the forum said something like:
"My dog could make a good mix with tracks recorded by Jens Borgen,
but Jens Bogren couldn't make a good mix with tracks recorded by my dog"