Mastering ain't dear !

PaulBrewer

I was down with Limerick's Wav mastering on Saturday getting an Ever27 track done.

Richard did a great job, as always.

The thing that surprised me was the great value it was.

For the price of a nice dinner you can get a track mastered with all the right tools and a Pilot who's got a CV that goes on forever.
( I'm guessing true for Fergal at Suite too)

It's a no-brainer for anyone who's knocking out a single .... and still affordable for an album.

However, if you send him shyte ....

fitz

Yup, it can be cheaper than people think, and well worth the investment.
I can't speak highly enough of Geoff Pesche at Abbey Road. My 10 track album cost £800. With the exchange rate, that's a brilliant price for such a great job by a world renowned guy in one of the most prestigous facilities around. It's worth paying for good mastering, but I think people have this notion that it's gonna cost a small fortune...it's just not the case. Singles are even more financially manageable.

PaulBrewer

fitz wrote: »

Singles are even more financially manageable.

Indeed

johnnylakes

Good post. Richard mastered our first 'album'..did a great job with what he was given!! We are hoping to go to Abbey Road for the next one in a few weeks...interesting times

U R Soul

PaulBrewer wrote: »

I

For the price of a nice dinner ..

What type of dinner are we talkin here?

Big Mac and Fries, a slap up chinese meal or like one of those fancy retraunts in town?

fitz

johnnylakes wrote: »

Good post. Richard mastered our first 'album'..did a great job with what he was given!! We are hoping to go to Abbey Road for the next one in a few weeks...interesting times

If you do, you won't be sorry. Book Geoff if you can, he's an absolute gent to work with.

old gregg

yep, makes all the difference to the music. About 2 years ago I lashed together a test piece of music and sent it off to Colin Bennun of OOOD at the Stooodio in Bristol, Wales just to see what he'd make of it. He sent it back with a whole series of suggestions as to how I'd manage things like hi/low pass filters to make certain parts work better and then when I'd eventually got it right he mastered it beautifully for GBP30.00. I had no real intention of using the piece for anything but it was a great way of testing the water with someone who was potentially going to have a large impact upon my music. A year later and I was able to hand him a well mixed album to master and the results were wonderful. The entire album cost me GBP400.00 to master and was tiny money to spend polishing off a year's recording work.

PaulBrewer

U R Soul wrote: »

What type of dinner are we talkin here?

Big Mac and Fries, a slap up chinese meal or like one of those fancy retraunts in town?

Slap Up Chinese

PaulBrewer

There are lots of good guys, here the UK, US, wherever.

What we have here is a couple of very skilled / experienced guys.
I'm less familiar with Fergal's work but the Republic of Loose stuff holds it own with the best to my ears.

Similarly Richard's CV is bigger than my ego.

http://www.wavmastering.com/discography.php

Apart from the 'Day out' element there's not too many reasons to visit London or anywhere else these days.
I also think being able to attend the mastering locally without the flight costs (or the early start!) is cool.

Lastly and MOST importantly - if the mix is crap so is the master. Full stop, end of story.

I know one CD done locally and Mastered in London near a Pedestrian Crossing that was complete bollocx ...

Don't let Starlights distract from reality.

They're only Human Beings after all !

fitz

PaulBrewer wrote: »

Apart from the 'Day out' element there's not too many reasons to visit London or anywhere else these days.
I also think being able to attend the mastering locally without the flight costs (or the early start!) is cool.

Lastly and MOST importantly - if the mix is crap so is the master. Full stop, end of story.

I know one CD done locally and Mastered in London near a Pedestrian Crossing that was complete bollocx ...

Don't let Starlights distract from reality.

They're only Human Beings after all !

Most places offer an e-mastering service now, where you upload the files to their servers and they do the job as an unattended session. Good for singles, or if you've worked with the engineer before and have a good relationship.

Agree with Paul, mastering won't save a crap mix.
Out of interest Paul, what CD you referring to?

And yes, their only humans. There's a lot of smoke and mirrors and mystery about mastering. It's a fairly straightforward process though really. Apart from de-mistifying it for you, attending your session is something I'd recommend you do whenever possible simply cause you can have direct contact with the ME while they're working....it reduces the chances of you wanting a revision.

tweeky

I use Richard @ Wav because he's good not because he's Irish!
Over the years i have had tracks mastered with everybody from Bob Ludwig@ Masterdisk, Geoff Peche/Chris Blair @ Abbey Road, Ray Staff @ Sony, Ian Cooper/Tim Young/ tony Cousins/Kevin Metcalf @ Townhouse etc. etc. Blah Blah.....It's great there is finally a "mastering" talent on our doorstep as I used to have to fly to London to work with him when he was @ Transfermation.

PaulBrewer

fitz wrote: »

Most places offer an e-mastering service now, where you upload the files to their servers and they do the job as an unattended session. Good for singles, or if you've worked with the engineer before and have a good relationship.

Yep, that's important. The only way to build that is, of course, to attend.

I like to attend as I like the craic and instead of it being ' see how you always do X ? Maybe try Y next time' you can have it pointed out there and then.
(Usually my reply is 'Shove yer Y up yer Jacksy, I like X')

However, a Professional opinion is to be listened to and understood.
Once you do that you can agree or disagree with confidence.
I would still consider myself to be on the learning curve working with high end gear in the studio so I enjoy getting feedback. Things can always be better.

Agree with Paul, mastering won't save a crap mix.
Out of interest Paul, what CD you referring to?

Yours of course ........












Nah, only jokin.
As if I'm going to say !;)

Frootboy

johnnylakes wrote: »

Good post. Richard mastered our first 'album'..did a great job with what he was given!! We are hoping to go to Abbey Road for the next one in a few weeks...interesting times

Hi Johnnylakes

I have mastered with Richard Dowling for years now - from the good old days in London through to his current state of the art setup WAV in Limerick and I have always found his work to be impeccable. I find it interesting that you were so pleased with his mastering on your first album, so why the move to Abbey Road with this new project ?
I hope it's not just to say" I've been to Abbey Road " because there really is nothing exclusive about that these days. The important thing is to maximize the potential of your mixes and get the best result possible from an engineer who genuinely cares about your stuff even though you might not be on a major label.

PaulBrewer

tweeky wrote: »

I use Richard @ Wav because he's good not because he's Irish!
Over the years i have had tracks mastered with everybody from Bob Ludwig@ Masterdisk, Geoff Peche/Chris Blair @ Abbey Road, Ray Staff @ Sony, Ian Cooper/Tim Young/ tony Cousins/Kevin Metcalf @ Townhouse etc. etc. Blah Blah.....It's great there is finally a "mastering" talent on our doorstep as I used to have to fly to London to work with him when he was @ Transfermation.

Yup, I agree.

From my point of view I'd rather be having my work generating income for local guys but patriotism doesn't come into if the nail isn't being hit.

Don't use anybody because they're local but because they're good. Being Local is just a bonus!

PaulBrewer

Frootboy wrote: »

Hi Johnnylakes

I have mastered with Richard Dowling for years now - from the good old days in London through to his current state of the art setup WAV in Limerick and I have always found his work to be impeccable. I find it interesting that you were so pleased with his mastering on your first album, so why the move to Abbey Road with this new project ?
I hope it's not just to say" I've been to Abbey Road " because there really is nothing exclusive about that these days. The important thing is to maximize the potential of your mixes and get the best result possible from an engineer who genuinely cares about your stuff even though you might not be on a major label.

What Richard should do is get a Zebra Crossing outside his place !:D

iquinn

PaulBrewer wrote: »

There are lots of good guys, here the UK, US, wherever.

What we have here is a couple of very skilled / experienced guys.
I'm less familiar with Fergal's work but the Republic of Loose stuff holds it own with the best to my ears.

Just to note, Mark Chalecki did the latest ROL album and singles.

johnnylakes

The short answer...to try something different..analog. I don't buy into the 'prestige' bull**** or whatever...
Looking through the ME s I think the guys at Abbey Road have worked on more stuff in our 'vein' than Mr Dowling, who has a more 'pop' CV. (I guess that probably doesn't matter).
Maybe it's the geek in me...wanting to see Abbey Road...where it all began and all that. Also been looking at amsterdammastering.com...anyone here have any experience with them???


Have I contradicted myself???
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

dav nagle

Richard did a very good job for me and not only that but his prices and quality of service was really good, not expensive at all for a nice polish. Hello Richard by the way I know you are a boards production forum snooper, hee hee.

PaulBrewer

johnnylakes wrote: »

Have I contradicted myself???
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

That is your right!

johnnylakes

PaulBrewer

johnnylakes wrote: »

And our right to point out ...;)

Rockshamrover

PaulBrewer wrote: »

What Richard should do is get a Zebra Crossing outside his place !:D

Could run into problems with animal rights people:D

PaulBrewer

Rockshamrover wrote: »

Could run into problems with animal rights people:D

Zebra's were invented in Limerick's ...

studiorat

I was chatting with a guy the other day who brought an album to Abbey Road for a mastering gig. They were very disappointed with the results and got the album re-mastered over here again. I know that it certainly wasn't bad mixes or the like that were sent over in the first place.

Personally I think it's down to the guy behind the desk.

PaulBrewer

studiorat wrote: »

I was chatting with a guy the other day who brought an album to Abbey Road for a mastering gig. They were very disappointed with the results and got the album re-mastered over here again. I know that it certainly wasn't bad mixes or the like that were sent over in the first place.

Personally I think it's down to the guy behind the desk.

Yup - even more so as Mastering gear is even more 'Industry Standard' than recording. They nearly all use the same tools

old gregg

so true. I reckon that if the person doing the mastering knows what they are doing and has a genuine feel for your music then they will do the business, otherwise not. the location of their desk is of secondary importance.

PMI

Cheers for the heads up guys, never used him before but will now....

PaulBrewer

PMI wrote: »

Cheers for the heads up guys, never used him before but will now....

Tell him we sent you !:D