Hi, I produce beats for, and perform on Turntables in, a three piece band called Belleruche. We are just about to press our first seven inch (On a very low budget in the UK), and as a result of our singers Austrialian contacts we've had the first side mastered in Australia. She was the only one of us present at the mastering session (because it was in Sydney and we are in London) and the end result sounds poor and very different to our final mix when we listen to the mastered CD (on a variety of systems). The strings seem really lost and the whole thing seems to have got far to loud and bass heavy.
My question is, are the problems we percieve in the mastered CD a result of required adjustements being made to get the the thing to work well on vinyl? Or poor work by the engineer? Will a CDr master copy for vinyl sound loads different to the end record, I guess is my query? Because we really don't want the vinyl end product to sound like the master we're listening to.
Sorry for my ignorance, but although I've been djing for five years this is the first time I've had anything to do with producing a record.
Comments
In all likelyhood the finished vinyl will sound pretty much like
In all likelyhood the finished vinyl will sound pretty much like the CD. If you are unhappy, this is the time to stop & reconsider the sound. Mention the problem to the band member who attended the session & the mastering engineer as well. Re-EQ till satisfied and then cut vinyl masters, not before.
I would suspect that it is poor work by the mastering engineer w
I would suspect that it is poor work by the mastering engineer who was probably trying to give you as loud a mix as he could give you. If the problems were with your mix, I doubt if he would be enhancing the bass in the mix.
However, one expensive lesson I learnt not too long ago was that a lot of the mixes we would get away with on a CDR would not transfer well onto vinyl. There are a lot of things to be aware of when mixing for vinyl. To the extent that I now do separate mixes for CD and vinyl. E.g a lot of the vocal processing stuff we use cause problems with the vinyl medium and so I lessen their use.
Or it may have been the band members request(s) for a certain so
Or it may have been the band members request(s) for a certain sound that messed up the mastering. I have had individual band members come in for a mastering session that had their own ideas about what the mastering should sound like (basically favoring their own performance) and when the whole band heard the mastering they were somewhat upset.
It is easy to blame the mastering engineer but when it is an attended session it may be the person who attended the session who really made the decisions you did not like. Most mastering engineers I know will ask lots of questions and seek input from the person they are working with. They will also explain what will translate well into other mediums and will ask upfront what use will be made of this master. They will try and please the person they are working with since that person is paying the bills and is the only contact between the band and the mastering engineer and the mastering engineer assumes that this person is speaking for the WHOLE band.
FWIW
i would say poor work .....
i would say poor work .....