Okay guys, I need recommendations

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 9:22 pm

Think of it hourly -- I can give you about three hours of time, sequence and burn you a couple discs for $400.

Ideal? Maybe not. Rush job? Certainly. Does your project deserve better? That's up to you.

But if nothing else, I'd rather have someone (me, Mike, so many others) who actually "does this" working on it for a few hours than throwing it at one of so many [SELF-CENSORED] places and (ramming it into a cracked limiter through a set of nearfields, etc., etc., as mentioned).

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:25 am

So many people today don't have a clue as to what "real" mastering is all about. They come up with amounts that they can spend like $200 for 13 songs or $10.00 per song and expect that everyone will be rushing in to take the job.

If you look around on the Internet there are lots of places that offer mastering for the amount you are willing to spend and they are, most probably, bedroom setups with terrible acoustics, a handful of cracked software plug-ins and someone with zero experience doing mastering.

If you want CHEAP then go to them and get them to do your mastering. If you want a real mastering engineer to do your mastering then you will have to pay the price to get it done correctly.

It takes time, good equipment, a good monitoring environment and plenty of experience to produce a top quality mastering project. This is NOT something that comes CHEAP. Many mastering engineers have well over the cost of a house invested in their setups and they have monitoring gear that costs as much as a new car and they need to get a return on their investment. That is why they charge what they do. It is not to rip people off as you see so many people saying on forums such as this.

If you have friends who are willing to do your recording for free then you are saving the cost of recording so you should have more money to spend on the mastering. If they are as good as you say they are then you should have a superior product to take to the mastering engineer.

As everyone else has said the most important thing you can bring to a mastering session is a well recorded well mixed project that is ready for mastering. It you bring something that is below par then the mastering engineer can only do so much.

There are many GOOD mastering engineers that do excellent work here on this forum that you could contact to get your stuff done for a reasonable rate if you so chose. The rules are that we are not suppose to advertise or seek work from posters so most people are reluctant to tell you that they are interested in your work.

Best of luck!

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:57 am

To stretch the analogy further; you're asking for a good paint job on a badly mangled Ford Pinto, and want it to look like a Deloran. (Ok, that IS a bit of a strecth, but you get the idea...)

The resason you're getting the answers you're getting is that one thing just doens't connect to the other. Good mastering just isn't going to solve your problems.

Your "Free" engineers should know this, and should record & mix accordingly. From the moment you set up, all the way down to the final 2mix, you should be thinking about getting the very best product you can, ESPECIALLY if the gear and the location is a compromise. At best, Mastering is just going to put the last bit of polish on the best you can hand over the mastering engineer. If everyone involved on the FRONT end acted as if their lives (or livelihood) depended on it, you'd need very little mastering anyway.

Unless it's a wind tunnel or at the bottom of a lake, with the right attitude and approach you should be able to get SOMETHING usable, if not downright interesting - in the right hands. Make the badness work FOR you, and then mastering will be more like simple level matching and sequencing...which is about what $400 will get you these days.

Having never met a venue I didn't like..... Wink

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 10:31 am

Mckey you still there?

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 1:21 pm

Hey sorry, in the middle of finals. Okay so I've been taking in what you are all saying, so heres my question to you. What should I raise the price bar up to? Would a grand do it? Also I just want to make one thing revised, I'm going to be doing this record ALL summer, and I'm going to make damn sure nothing is sloppy or not sounding right. I'm just going to be putting in so much effort in the thing that I don't want it to be sounding like all the other local records out there, I know mastering wont "fix" anything. I never planned on it to fix it. Just enhance the records quality.

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 2:13 pm

I'm starting to get a clue here. In my own time and place.
But honestly, mastering is just access to expensive equipment for the purposes of generating ear candy. Don't raise your bar. Your dollars wont buy you anything unless you can supply ear candy from the start. No amount of money thrown at musicians will hide their talent. Use this summer to play and play and play and record it all and then show that to people and hopefully someone will see a way of converting your groups talent into ear candy which sells. Spend time not dollars.

Moderator Joined: Sep 12, 2002 Posts: 1880 Location: NYC

If you raise your bar to $1000 for the mastering, then that will open you up to a whole new level. You will have a whole host of very qualified ME's to pick from.

Heck it's just money. Look at how much time you are going to put into this. In the big picture, it's not a lot for something you are investing so much into. Also it's not something that has to happen by a certain date either. sure you would like to have it by so and so date, but if it takes a part time job to raise a little more money and get what you want, I think it's worth it.

But right now your focus is completely in the wrong place. Don't think about mastering right now. think recording.

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:39 pm

You're right. My mind is on so many things about the record. What and where I'm going to manufacture it, album art, distribution and merch and all that other junk. I'm racking up my mind. I have to make the record first, and I should have as clear a head as possible for that.

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 8:21 pm

wow. I actually agree with Fossenkemper...

I have been trying to not do that for years... Smile

As a manager of a recording studio I can say "follow his advice. " and really take it to heart. Best way to save money. HAVE YOUR BAND BE TIGHT BEFORE RECORDING. also a great way to move the project along quickly..

Find a producer that you can trust to give you ideas to make your songs go somewhere. if your the producer.. LEARN WHEN TO STOP !!! take after take after take, edit after edit after edits WASTE time and money.. once you have a good mix of your material then go find a quality Mastering Engineer for that added shine....

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 12:30 am

Yeah thats going to be a problem for me, I always am second guessing my decisions during recording. I'm also a tyrant to my band. I'm going to work on chilling out a little more though.

This topic sponsored by: