Everybody Listen Up

::BLM:: · Post by **::BLM::** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:36 pm

Casanova808 wrote:One of the reasons I don't say who I am on the web is so that I can say things without it complicating my business relationships.

It is a big mess because the mastering, cutting, and plating have all been paid for. I didn't like the mastered waves to begin with, and I HATE the cut because they have cut the audio files too hot. It is just sad, the place completely fucked up what could be a very big record for me.

I don't want to get specific because the label still has to deal with these people to correct the situation. I don't want to make thing any more difficult than they already are. That is why I am not naming names.

I was going to take down what I said after you had responded. If the label hates them too then just get them repressed? I'm sure you could get a deal. Why did they just go ahead and press up if you were not into the digital masters?

Casanova808 · Post by **Casanova808** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:26 pm

They did not press them up. At this point, I am just hoping that we can have the record recut from the mediocre masters and have it track properly without distortion.

I don't want to get any more specific.

deccard · Post by **deccard** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:01 pm

oh i hate that. happened to me too. even worse that the label didnt send me the mastered files for checking. so when i heard the promo mp3
there was a distortion in some sound that came later in.
so bad file was put on vinyl.

and its a well known label. always be careful.

on another label i had a similiar problem. also one distorted sound (badly and obviously distorted) and the mastering guy didnt get it. (also a known mastering and cutting studio.)
preset mastering. they dont really listen to your music.

or another mastering guy added so much tube distortion that the shakers sounded harsh and not smooth anymore. besides that he wasnt able to remove a little phase problem in a chordsound so i had to give that track to a friend and professional mastering guy who solved that problem in a minute without changing or harming the original sound.

tone-def · Post by **tone-def** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 10:15 pm

some sad stories. maybe i've just been luckly with the records i buy.

Torque · Post by **Torque** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 12:40 am

My job for the last few years has required me to look for a good vinyl mastering house since Ron Murphy died. Nothing personal against Europe but every single project i have sent over there to be mastered has been completely destroyed. I don't know what the deal is over there, everything we have sent over there has come back on a test pressing and been rejected by us for manufacturing. It's cost us allot of money to shop around. There are some great guys here in the US that do a spectacular job that are oldschool record cutters and will straight up reject your business if you want them to squash your record. These are the guys you should be searching for. A record company that really cares about sound and their own reputation will get a record re-cut if it comes back to them fucked up.

The best way to combat this type of thing in the industry is to not accept a bad product from a mastering house, make it known to them why what they did is some bullshit and don't go back. Tell your friends in the industry who the bad ones are. You don't have to necessarily blast them out in public but just let your friends know.

s.k. · Post by **s.k.** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 8:12 am

kdgh wrote:besides that... the (bedroom) producers nowadays have WAY more knowledge as in mixdowns and even mastering. The producers of 20 years ago didn't have a clue the f*ck they're doing most of the time (electronic music).

while i see your reasoning, i have to seriously disagree. it is nowadays producers that dont have a clue, a proper mixdown seems to be a dying art. nevertheless the vast possibilities in the digital world, it only seems to get worse.

as for electronic producers 20 years back - someone was mixing/engineering those records for them, that is the difference. and theres no way todays "bedroom producers" know more than that "someone".

sorry for OT

steevio · Post by **steevio** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:44 am

kdgh wrote:besides that... the (bedroom) producers nowadays have WAY more knowledge as in mixdowns and even mastering. The producers of 20 years ago didn't have a clue the f*ck they're doing most of the time (electronic music).

i have to totally disagree with this. i knew alot of producers back in the early 1990's and they were way more clued up than alot of people these days.
many had excellent hardware studios and had indepth knowlege of all aspects of production, including mastering.
there were some very dedicated artists back then.
its easy to imagine that everything was somehow primative back then. absolutely not so.

steevio · Post by **steevio** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:58 am

Torque wrote:My job for the last few years has required me to look for a good vinyl mastering house since Ron Murphy died. Nothing personal against Europe but every single project i have sent over there to be mastered has been completely destroyed. I don't know what the deal is over there, everything we have sent over there has come back on a test pressing and been rejected by us for manufacturing. .

in the UK at least, but i can imagine its the same in the rest of europe, a test pressing is considered just a check to see that the correct tunes have been put on the disc, and that theres no obvious major flaws.
they are not good representations of the finished product as they are pressed up when the press is still cold. they are effectively the same as the first discs that are thrown away while the press is warming up.

they generally have less top end and sound fairly muddy.

it took me a while to figure this out, i kept asking for tunes to be recut after hearing what i thought was a representation of a shitty cut, till i talked to one of the guys at the old EMI plant.

i've no idea why they do this, it probably causes more problems with dissatisfied customers demanding re-cuts, than it saves in time warming up presses.