Professional mastering

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pongasoft
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20 Sep 2018

I was wondering if anybody had any recommendation in terms of professional mastering. I just don't like to do it myself (my ears are not that good...). I have used Monarch mastering in the past but it looks like since last I used them, the website/company complete changed and they jacked up their prices.

I just tried CloudBounce which is supposed to be "automated" and for $4.90 for a track I was honestly not expecting much but the end result turned out to be even worse than I thought: my unmastered track + 6dB = CloundBounce master even after tweaking some settings.. not even worth $4.90

Any recommendation would be appreciated..

Thanks
Yan


RobC
Posts: 1833
Joined: 10 Mar 2018

21 Sep 2018

I'm working on a simple, efficient, excellent sounding standard, that everyone could pull off with a bit of engineering knowledge. It will be open knowledge, of course.

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KirkMarkarian
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Location: Tucson, AZ
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21 Sep 2018

RobC wrote:
21 Sep 2018
I'm working on a simple, efficient, excellent sounding standard, that everyone could pull off with a bit of engineering knowledge. It will be open knowledge, of course.
I'm interested - I've been able to get Reason to pop out some better sounds with a few better REs (and taking the time to get to know them more intimately than I normally would), but I would LOVE to get some better ideas on how to get that little bit of extra sparkle at the end of the chain.

RobC
Posts: 1833
Joined: 10 Mar 2018

21 Sep 2018

KirkMarkarian wrote:
21 Sep 2018
RobC wrote:
21 Sep 2018
I'm working on a simple, efficient, excellent sounding standard, that everyone could pull off with a bit of engineering knowledge. It will be open knowledge, of course.
I'm interested - I've been able to get Reason to pop out some better sounds with a few better REs (and taking the time to get to know them more intimately than I normally would), but I would LOVE to get some better ideas on how to get that little bit of extra sparkle at the end of the chain.
I'm about to get into the next step of experimenting / researching, though in my head, it all stands together already, so it shouldn't take more than this month (maybe even less). You will have to be very open, though and give it a try. Promising news is, that earlier pre-tests worked, and usually what I imagine, works out the same way.

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Regin
Posts: 17
Joined: 04 May 2018

21 Sep 2018

Use Bob Katz at https://www.digido.com/mastering-demo/

He is by far the best I've used

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Data_Shrine
Posts: 517
Joined: 23 Jan 2015

23 Sep 2018

No idea about them or the price but I've seen quite a few recent local releases mastered by these guys : http://www.greymarketmastering.com

cool website too.

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normen
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23 Sep 2018

Whats the aim of mastering your tracks?

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selig
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23 Sep 2018

normen wrote:
23 Sep 2018
Whats the aim of mastering your tracks?
Good question - and what medium are you mastering for, and what genre are you mastering?

I've used Bob Olhsson (Nashville) for years myself, an old Motown ME from the 60/70s. Reasonable rates, amazing quality, knows vinyl like the back of his hand but is up on all modern mastering techniques too.
Selig Audio, LLC

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pongasoft
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23 Sep 2018

normen wrote:
23 Sep 2018
Whats the aim of mastering your tracks?
I guess the aim is that they sound "professional" quality similar to something you would hear on the radio. But because it is a hobby (not being meant to become a #1 hit, nor make any money out of it...) I am also not willing to spend $100s for 1 song. The service I was using before (which seems to have completely changed..) was in the $20-$50 and I personally thought it made a huge difference on the final/mastered version certainly way better than "unmastered + 6dB" (which is what the service I mentioned seems to be doing).

I probably can spend hours learning how to do it properly, but because I do have issues with my hearing and TBH this is something that I do not particularly enjoy doing (I did try) I would rather have somebody else do it.

Yan

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normen
Posts: 3431
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23 Sep 2018

pongasoft wrote:
23 Sep 2018
I guess the aim is that they sound "professional" quality similar to something you would hear on the radio. But because it is a hobby (not being meant to become a #1 hit, nor make any money out of it...) I am also not willing to spend $100s for 1 song. The service I was using before (which seems to have completely changed..) was in the $20-$50 and I personally thought it made a huge difference on the final/mastered version certainly way better than "unmastered + 6dB" (which is what the service I mentioned seems to be doing).

I probably can spend hours learning how to do it properly, but because I do have issues with my hearing and TBH this is something that I do not particularly enjoy doing (I did try) I would rather have somebody else do it.

Yan
Really everything that mastering can do is that the tracks frequency response is similar to all other tracks (on the radio) and that it's loudness is up there as well. It won't make your bass drum fat, your ride groovy or your hookline in your face. It *will* however make your track not stick out like a sore thumb in a Spotify playlist if it can keep up in everything else but frequency response and loudness.

This is really and honestly what I think - I didn't hear your music and it could be the most awesome music in the world, so I am not saying anything about your tracks being bad or anything. Just really, you only need mastering if you plan to release somewhere.

Edit: Also if you compare mastered vs unmastered make sure you compare with the same volume, louder always sounds better. If it still sounds better when it actually appears a bit more silent - THEN it's better :)

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FutureSomeday
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25 Sep 2018

It depends on your budget. Often times you can just contact the mastering engineers of albums that you've heard and like (if your music is in a similar genre) and they'll let you know what their price is. I've used Noel Summerville in the past and he's quite good.

For the genre of music I make I might also look at someone like Daddy Kev, or for ambient maybe Chihei Hatakeyama - these are just people who have mastered albums that I like a lot. And again these are people who I would be saving up to pay for the mastering.
http://www.likenoorange.com/
Like No Orange - Premium Sound Sets and ReFills

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devilfish
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Joined: 20 Jan 2015

26 Sep 2018

Fix it in the Mix, than use the Ozon Limiter.. done..

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kuhliloach
Posts: 880
Joined: 09 Dec 2015

26 Sep 2018

Gotta agree with devilfish. Mastering was used for vinyl transfers, and yeah it can have a positive effect in our modern digital world. But... There is no substitute for a great mix and if you can properly manage the stereo bus the song is done! IMO mastering is over-rated in modern times. Running a HPF on most all tracks at least to some extent will allow the limiter on the stereo bus to work much better.

Troublemecca
Posts: 151
Joined: 04 Jun 2018

26 Sep 2018

I find myself eqing my mixes to sound better when listening through different devices, with fairly similar adjustments... I think my next trial and error fiddling mission is to eq the whole mix...

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Dabbler
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Location: Louisville, KY
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28 Sep 2018

normen wrote:
23 Sep 2018
Whats the aim of mastering your tracks?
My aim was to get my track to sound right in rotation.
My attempts were woeful once I heard the track in the context of rotation, so I had it mastered by a pro.
The ME said it must have had an odd personality.
They had me remove all my compression efforts and reduce the overall level -6db.
I was very happy with the results.

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