No such thing as a dumb question right!! so here goes .I am really curious about how much better the mastering process( done professionnaly by a mastering enginneer/company!) enhances the overall sound quality of the final mix( done properly!)?. I often try to envision some of my favorite artist's tracks and what they would sound like before they are mastered in million dollar studios by million dollar mastering engineers!!! Would they sound quite different? So for example, if I properly mixed a track in Ableton, nothing on the master track, and sent it to be professionaly mastered, when it came back would I be like..
1- Holy F@#$ that sounds amazing,
2-Sounds nice and polished up, or
3-Sounds better, but I expected more!
Question about mastering......
it would have to be mixed well in the first place. strictly speaking its just a preparation for the format it is to be consumed in but it can be a bit more than that. but yeah, they're not miracle workers. they could make it more balanced, give it more depth/warmth (or other vague audio words) maybe enhance something a bit. that sort of thing. depends on who you send it to. i'm sure people with really nice compressors, mixers, eqs etc (and the knowledge of how to use them properly) could do a really nice job on a reasonably well mixed track.
there has been a few topics on this that people have said more interesting things. also, read soundonsound. they always have the good stuff about this.
there has been a few topics on this that people have said more interesting things. also, read soundonsound. they always have the good stuff about this.
in my opinion the master track should sound as good as the track you sent out. Too me its all about the mix down.
Mastering sort of has a different meaning in electronic music because you are trying to get the tracks to sound like they can mix with others. Unlike, where you want to make all the tracks fit well on an album together.
Better to do this in the mix i think... and then let the mastering allow it to work on different systems as best as it can. Someone else may have different opinions on this... but this is mine.
Mastering sort of has a different meaning in electronic music because you are trying to get the tracks to sound like they can mix with others. Unlike, where you want to make all the tracks fit well on an album together.
Better to do this in the mix i think... and then let the mastering allow it to work on different systems as best as it can. Someone else may have different opinions on this... but this is mine.
------------------------------------------------------
http://soundcloud.com/kirkwoodwest
http://soundcloud.com/kirkwoodwest
talk to any mastering engineer, and they will tell you the same thing, if you provide them with a really well mixed track, then theres very little for them to do.
if your track is well mixed, and the EQ's of the individual instruments are well balanced, you wouldnt notice that much difference in the mastered version, maybe just louder and more cohesive.
if your track is well mixed, and the EQ's of the individual instruments are well balanced, you wouldnt notice that much difference in the mastered version, maybe just louder and more cohesive.
Re: Question about mastering......
IMO it comes to what you ask them to do. But keep in mind that (well I don't know you but i assume) you might not have the perfect environment for mastering, mixing down your track, so there might be a lot to do. That said, sending it to mastering, the engineer is there to make it sound production-ready.Raddler wrote: So for example, if I properly mixed a track in Ableton, nothing on the master track, and sent it to be professionaly mastered, when it came back would I be like..
1- Holy F@#$ that sounds amazing,
2-Sounds nice and polished up, or
3-Sounds better, but I expected more!
If you're an artist with a very meticulous approach, you might want the tech to only make sure there's no weird frequency but you want it to sound as it is. Then the engineer will make sure there's no phase problems, dc offset and so. If its for vinyl, then there might be some special tweaking for better results. The results might be very subtle.
The other approach is to ask the master engineer to take your mix and make it sound [a certain way or like an artist you like]. Then of course there might be a huge impact in the final result.
Keep in mind that mastering is an art in itself and it can be either very technical or very colorful (or both). You are the customer, so you can decide.
If you never made the experience, I encourage you to try it. It might reveal if your mixdowns are actually accurate or not.
I hope this helps.