SubFunk wrote: by ALL RESPECT and i am doing computer generated music myself... (mainly plus recording of live instruments) with Ableton and Logic. (being mainly a Producer) but putting some material through mediocre soundcards, monitor setups with bad or non room treatmeant from people without at least a decade, at least A DECADE of experience and some plugs or even outboard gear... is NOT MASTERING!!!
that doesn't mean, that it is not possible to tweak things very nicely and to be able to make them louder... and b much better sounding. but all this el cheapo stuff, including waves, yes 4000 dollar for the diamond bundle is dead cheap crap when it comes to real MASTERING, all of that stuff which says mastering on the label, like T-Racks or whatever, has absolut nothing, but nothing to do with mastering at all. ARRGGGHHHH!! sorry for that!
so interesting to see this subject come up over and over again, its like mac vs pc: conversation is a valid one
.... but the positions become predictably more emotional and extreme; and the same cast of charachters - under different names - keep showing up saying the same things in a million different ways.
people have this concept of "mastering" that approaches religeous fervor, with people like bob katz approaching godhood, and anyone that every worked with him an engineering saint, all bestowed by the holy powers with mindbending mystical musical engineering talent that no mere mortal should even hope to simulate.
as always with this shit the reality is somewhere in between imo. and yes this is one of those subjects where the term (mastering, in this case) is totally bastardized by people using it in all sorts of ways, that arent really informed about what it really originally meant.
most people on a board like this, when they talk about mastering, mean "what is the process i need to use, and what gear do i need to buy, in order to make my stuff sound as good as most of the other stuff in my genre of choice that i hear"
thats all they mean. most of them are not recording the boston philharmonic, or miles davis latest album, or even abbey road.
they just want thier trance or house or metal band to sound as loud and clear and punchy as thier favorite artist, or as close to that as they can get within thier limited experience and budget.
to do that i think the first thing people need to do is not be intimidated by what people say in these conversations, that are comparing apples and oranges.
the digital source (synths and plugs and samples) that people use in thier music does not need the same kind of mastering tequiques and care and 30+ years of experiences and 100,000 worth of gear that a chamber orchestra does. its not even in the same league.
yes you need a room and monitors that are presenting all the frequencies accurately, and yes you need more experience and time to know what to listen for, and yes you need at least some plugins or maybe some midrange hardware that are good enough to do the kind of music your doing.
and yes, if your track is going to vinyl, its a specialty skill that is better left to someone that has the gear and experience to do it right
but basic electronic mastering is definitely doable because people do it all the time, and its not something that is passed down from generation to generation on a secret scroll, or something you need to suck the blood out of a virgin chicken to do really well. its just not
the people i know that are best at it - some have no formal engineering training - theyre using basic stuff like the wavs plugs or ozone or voxengo - on a pair of mackies or mid-range genelecs in an ordinary good sized livingroom studio with halfway decent acoustics.
and many of the tracks theyve done are well known., well played dance tracks some of which are on popular comps by famous touring DJs. nobody knows the difference and they sound amazing.
i just think a does of reality is in order about this whole thing because kids get freaked out when they see conversations like this and get all bent out of shape thinking they will never be able to do or afford to have things sounding professional
..
