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Post by andyhowell on Mar 13, 2018 11:21:03 GMT
Been doing it ten years now, about seven full time. It's like anything really, the more you do it the better you get. The more experience you have working on many different styles of music, but in the same room, on the same monitors, the easier and quicker it is to already know what, if any, processing you will apply, on first hearing the track. Single tracks are very easy. The real skill comes in balancing an album, where recordings may have been done at different times in different studios with different gear. Getting a cohesive whole in terms of both loudness and timbre is very important to album flow. Compilations are hard! (I just started work this week on a double CD comp for Interchill Records in Canada). It takes time to establish a name, "vibe", and client base too. Each year I've grown things bigger than the year before, but I'm still not nearly at full capacity. Still, working from home certainly beats the 9-5 vibe! I have a reputation for dynamics and sound quality over insane loudness, and have done most of my work with electronic music artists, but am hoping to work with more acoustic and Folk artists in the future. I'd be happy to do a freebie track master for any member here, time permitting! That's a great offer and I'm sure somebody will be in touch! I'll be scouring my own recordings to see if any of them are good enough as a starting point! I think the movement to LUFS and the prioritisation of the dynamics make a real difference and this particularly marked in acoustic music. My own personal enjoyment at then moment comes form the vinyl brigade who keep telling me how much better it is — they just seem to not like bass and highs :-) i've been experimenting a lot with 'mastering' techniques recently. I certainly take your point about making a variety of tracks sound harmonious. This is certainly beyond me! I reckon I'm not the only one around here interested in mastering. You should post more about it — though obviously keeping the real secrets to yourself :-) SaveSave
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2018 13:07:56 GMT
Happy to do it! This seems like a nice place, always liked smaller forums where the S/N and troll ratio is much better! People need to stop worrying about the numbers and meters and just get back to making great music, IMHO. First it was VU, then peak, then RMS, and now LUFS etc. These days with digital, as long as you record/mix/render in 24 bit or higher, and don't clip your ADC on recording, or your DAC when mixing, you are good to go. Been listening to vinyl since I was a baby and I love it. I have great digital (Crookwood mastering console) and vinyl systems, they rival each other for sound quality. I think the whole vinyl vs. digital debate, like so many of these things, is a bit of a smoke screen as there are so many other variables to great sound quality. It's never black and white. I'd say, all else being equal, that the vinyl is a more engaging listen. I've been fortunate enough to have mastered stuff for vinyl so I have good comparisons with my original master and what ends up on the wax. It's all about the music at the end of the day, and both digital and vinyl can sound amazing or crap. Much like "tube vs. solid state" and all these other silly arguments. I have no secrets, I don't like the fact mastering is sometimes considered "a dark art" as I'm always open to sharing everything I do!
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Post by andyhowell on Mar 13, 2018 16:30:07 GMT
Well. I agree with all of that of course.
I do think LUFS — and LUFS measurements have been helpful to me.
I always end up with something that is mastered to the K14 scale — but using LUFS measurement really does have an impact on dynamic range and has seen me pull back a bit on compressors!
Feel free to share those arts, even thought I still think some are dark :-)
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leoroberts
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Posts: 24,487
My main instrument is: probably needing new strings
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Post by leoroberts on Mar 13, 2018 18:45:26 GMT
Once again....whoosh That’s a great offer, though, Gregg Hermetech. There’s quite a few on here with the musical ability to make that worthwhile. We could create a Forum charity CD - help towards a forum cause, maybe the Autism Society, or Musicians Against Homelessness...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2018 18:57:43 GMT
Well. I agree with all of that of course. I do think LUFS — and LUFS measurements have been helpful to me. I always end up with something that is mastered to the K14 scale — but using LUFS measurement really does have an impact on dynamic range and has seen me pull back a bit on compressors! Feel free to share those arts, even thought I still think some are dark :-) I do find LUFS a better indication of perceived loudness than anything else previously, but it's still not accurate. I will sometimes balance the loudest sections of each track on an album by LUFS, but it always calls for listening and tweaking the levels by ear afterwards too.
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