demos - mastered or unmastered?

[patrick bateman]

do you send artwork?

nope

[dsat]

what sample rate, bit depth and format(.mp3 or .wav) would you send it in?

well first of all get in touch with the label and ask what they prefer
some labels still prefer to get a cd
don't send waves, takes too long to download :-)

if you can send mp3s, send them above 128k
and add some info about yourself, also include your e-mail address
sometimes people download the tracks, listen later and can't find the original e-mail anymore...

[thomasjaldemark]

yes, fill out the id3tags properly


gogoboy-untitled.mp3 with no id3tag with info doesnt say much ya know

[Gummo]

With a demo you are probably trying to impress a label, so IMO it's best if you actually DO spend some time for a "rough master", even if it's not going to be used -- adding a randomly picked limiter preset or something like that is probably going to just ruin the dynamics of a track and make it sound WORSE.

I don't agree.

So you believe everyone should just stick a randomly picked preset on their master bus? BETTER and LOUDER are very different things. It's the ABC of mastering: if you're going to do it, try to at least get it to sound good?

If all you're doing is trying to make it loud, there's this thing on most hi-fis, audio interfaces etc. called a volume knob: just tell the guy the stuff is unmastered so they might want to turn it up...?

[Jamesventuri]

With a demo you are probably trying to impress a label, so IMO it's best if you actually DO spend some time for a "rough master", even if it's not going to be used -- adding a randomly picked limiter preset or something like that is probably going to just ruin the dynamics of a track and make it sound WORSE.

I don't agree.

I wholeheartedly do agree though..

[patrick bateman]

With a demo you are probably trying to impress a label, so IMO it's best if you actually DO spend some time for a "rough master", even if it's not going to be used -- adding a randomly picked limiter preset or something like that is probably going to just ruin the dynamics of a track and make it sound WORSE.

I don't agree.

So you believe everyone should just stick a randomly picked preset on their master bus? BETTER and LOUDER are very different things. It's the ABC of mastering: if you're going to do it, try to at least get it to sound good?

If all you're doing is trying to make it loud, there's this thing on most hi-fis, audio interfaces etc. called a volume knob: just tell the guy the stuff is unmastered so they might want to turn it up...?

I don't agree that they should learn mastering in order to send a demo.

And if you say no presets in the world can make a track sound better and louder, then I of course believe you, as you seem to have good knowledge in this field.

[Gummo]

With a demo you are probably trying to impress a label, so IMO it's best if you actually DO spend some time for a "rough master", even if it's not going to be used -- adding a randomly picked limiter preset or something like that is probably going to just ruin the dynamics of a track and make it sound WORSE.

I don't agree.

So you believe everyone should just stick a randomly picked preset on their master bus? BETTER and LOUDER are very different things. It's the ABC of mastering: if you're going to do it, try to at least get it to sound good?

If all you're doing is trying to make it loud, there's this thing on most hi-fis, audio interfaces etc. called a volume knob: just tell the guy the stuff is unmastered so they might want to turn it up...?

I don't agree that they should learn mastering in order to send a demo.

And if you say no presets in the world can make a track sound better and louder, then I of course believe you, as you seem to have good knowledge in this field.

I have a degree in audio engineering (NOT mastering) and I've met a lot of mastering engineers and know how challenging it can be to actually make a mixed track sound better by just using the master bus WHILE keeping the dynamics and sounds intact.... but it doesn't even have to do with that. I mean, ANYTHING you are going to insert into a track should be fine-tuned to fit it, don't you think? Try inserting one of those older-school delay plugins that don't auto-sync to the tempo... they're not going to sound good "by default".

People need to learn their roles -- they need to decide whether they want to produce, mix or/and master a track, and whatever they decide to do they should do it at least DECENTLY. It's in their interest... lack of this kind of effort is why the genre is full of "fast food music". Any label owner/A&R should also listen to demos unmastered without any problem (which I think you do anyways?...not pointing at you directly.)

[patrick bateman]

With a demo you are probably trying to impress a label, so IMO it's best if you actually DO spend some time for a "rough master", even if it's not going to be used -- adding a randomly picked limiter preset or something like that is probably going to just ruin the dynamics of a track and make it sound WORSE.

I don't agree.

So you believe everyone should just stick a randomly picked preset on their master bus? BETTER and LOUDER are very different things. It's the ABC of mastering: if you're going to do it, try to at least get it to sound good?

If all you're doing is trying to make it loud, there's this thing on most hi-fis, audio interfaces etc. called a volume knob: just tell the guy the stuff is unmastered so they might want to turn it up...?

I don't agree that they should learn mastering in order to send a demo.

And if you say no presets in the world can make a track sound better and louder, then I of course believe you, as you seem to have good knowledge in this field.

I have a degree in audio engineering (NOT mastering) and I've met a lot of mastering engineers and know how challenging it can be to actually make a mixed track sound better by just using the master bus WHILE keeping the dynamics and sounds intact.... but it doesn't even have to do with that. I mean, ANYTHING you are going to insert into a track should be fine-tuned to fit it, don't you think? Try inserting one of those older-school delay plugins that don't auto-sync to the tempo... they're not going to sound good "by default".

People need to learn their roles -- they need to decide whether they want to produce, mix or/and master a track, and whatever they decide to do they should do it at least DECENTLY. It's in their interest... lack of this kind of effort is why the genre is full of "fast food music". Any label owner/A&R should also listen to demos unmastered without any problem (which I think you do anyways?...not pointing at you directly.)

I think this is what I've been pointing out in this thread