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paying for mastering

mastering is a a skill that takes years to get good at, what does everyone think of paying for your mastering? what is the going rate per track?

I found ST mastering the claims to be the cheapest, does anyone know if their services are any good?

http://www.stmastering.co.uk/

any other mastering services that people can vouch for would be great

EDIT: i just saw th thread on st, but no one seemed to really comment on its quality.

I think, you pay for what you get, pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
If you look bigger names offerings you can pay anything between 75$ (eMastering) to 400$ (attended sessions) a track.

Also consider how good your product is, as one can not polish a turd and if it's just about getting things to commercial levels, that's something you can easily do yourself even.

Good engineer listens to your track, provides feedback and finds out what you're looking for and then applies unbiased treatment to the track where needed.

Depending on budget one get get a long way himself with Izotope or any other VST based tool. The value of mastering is as much in the 2nd pair of ears, a decent monitoring system, treated room and experience, as it is in esotheric outboard (some mastered tracks don't even touch outboard)

You can often tell a lot about a company by its website. I cannot 'easily' see what gear they have. Straight off the bat that tells me they may be a bit slapdash.

Bit like going into a restaurant that smells of old cooking oil / frying - you can pretty much guarantee a shity dinner.

A difficult issue.
You can have a studio which wants a lot of money to put the track through their effect chain. And you can have it the other way around.

I can recommend Sonic Art Mastering (www.sonic-art-mastering.com). The engineer behind it is the Hardtrance artist Accuface. I really like his sound, and I used his service for my productions. Sonic Art Mastering gives Mixing feedback if needed before the mastering process to make the final master sound better.
The prices are good as well.

ST Mastering is much cheaper, but that's Price dumping. I don't know how this works, if the mastering is processed individually on the track, and not through preset mastering effect chain.

Cheers,
John

consider this: is your track good? probably not and masterings not gonna help it.

quote:

Originally posted by Kenny Rogers consider this: is your track good? probably not and masterings not gonna help it.

What is it with you guys?!? is it global asshole day or something?!?

No matter what the topic is, you guys jump on all topics like flies on shit. The only thing that you're gonna acomplish is that no one even more cares to open new topics here. because every single topic becomes a "let's piss on TS" topic......

Steve Duda (BSOD with deadmau5) on Mastering

quote:

Mastering is a misunderstood concept. Mastering is more important for vinyl pressing than anything. Mastering has validity for vinyl and makes a lot of sense for album continuity if there is a variety of sound/levels/etc between tracks. Over time, however, mastering has became synonymous with "making the track sound better" and has become a crutch for unfinished mixes. A well mixed track (already compressed to taste) is all you should need. People frequently ask who or what we use for mastering and the answer is there is no mastering: you're hearing the render right out of the computer - exactly the same thing we heard...

http://www.soundstosample.com/10_qu...with_Steve_Duda

I do agree with him, personally.

quote:

Originally posted by Raphie What is it with you guys?!? is it global asshole day or something?!? No matter what the topic is, you guys jump on all topics like flies on shit. The only thing that you're gonna acomplish is that no one even more cares to open new topics here. because every single topic becomes a "let's piss on TS" topic......

the threads are already full of piss right from the start because theyre always about mastering or releasing unfinished material, or analog sidechain. alot of people around here needs realitycheck, groundcontrol call it whatever you want, but none of you really should worry about mastering just yet (probably ever). u dont even understand what soundcards are good for, let alone untorrented software so please dont start worry about what is best of software or hardware mastering services when your tracks aint even mixed properly. sorry but it has been too much lately, either you people start putting your act together or im out of here, it has surely turned shit again. luckely most of the WIPs our out lol, that was a sad chapter of TA history.

quote:

Originally posted by Kenny Rogers alot of people around here needs realitycheck

You being one of them. It's quite ironic that the person who posts the most random and incoherent bullshit here is trying to be the voice of reason.





But yeah, you shouldn't worry yourself with mastering, let alone pay for it. If and when you get something signed you can let the label take care of it. Until then it really isn't necessary - just keep practicing those mixing skills as close to perfect as you can, that's far more important.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Mystery You being one of them.

i dont see why.

1. i know i dont need to worry about mastering because my mixing sucks
2. i know i suck
3. i dont care about releasing stuff caus theres no money anyway, and i suck
4. analog is overrated
5. hardware is overrated
6. being "signed" is bullshit
7. software is underrated
8. monitors and soundcards are important

sounds like having my feet on the ground to me. i know i post some random shit for laughs though, probably why no one takes me serious when i am.

You know, maybe its just me? trying to have some serious discussions, be helpful, open. I like the guys like Cryophonik and RANN, you know guys that have experience, still are ambitous and have no ambiguity around them. These are the guys that i come back for.

And then, and you all know who your are, you have the pube trolls, acting childish, swinging around their ePenis in every topic, having nothing to show for, other then from some kind of abused self acclaimed stardom, piss on everything that they consider noob.

Everybody needs to start somewhere, but you guys just keep hyjacking every single thread with your self eTestosteron.

We now have merely 5 new topics a day, because no-one bothers anymore. This is supposed to be a "Producers" foeum, so one can expect noobish questions around sidechaining, mastering, layered basslines, samplerates etc etc.

Members will come and go, but if this attitude continues, the few of you can grow old here, but within a year, there will be no one left for you to piss on. Is that's what you want?

atleast im leaving if i see another mastering thread.

quote:

Originally posted by Raphie And then, and you all know who your are, you have the pube trolls, acting childish, swinging around their ePenis in every topic, having nothing to show for, other then from some kind of abused self acclaimed stardom, piss on everything that they consider noob.

Hey, M4B quit.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Mystery But yeah, you shouldn't worry yourself with mastering, let alone pay for it. If and when you get something signed you can let the label take care of it. Until then it really isn't necessary - just keep practicing those mixing skills as close to perfect as you can, that's far more important.

this ^^^

also the OP seems to be a pathetic attempt to advertise certain mastering services

While mastering is nearly always needed for vinyl (in which case I'd take it one of the guys who really specialise in that), I don't think it's JUST for vinyl.

There have been instances with purely digital releases where a nice polish can be added to an already nice mix that makes a valuable and subtle improvement to the sound.
I've also been involved in projects where mastering is used to give a little sonic continuity between tracks as a complete album, which I think is quite a good idea. I've also seen the opposite where they take it to different mix and mastering engineers to give variety (although a general continuity was established to stop it sounding too disparate).

This subject has been done to death here and frankly I think rather than go over the reasons and arguments once again, just point the OP to one of the many threads and get Digi to close it.

What I will say is though that too many producers think their tracks needs mastering when really (in 99% of cases) it simply needs more or better mixing.

Frankly, a lot of tracks can get away without any mastering at all (it should stand up on it's own) but there's nothing wrong with polishing something when you've done all the technical and creative things you can do.

I liken it to making a piece of jewelry in that respect. You don't do the final polish to make it glisten when you still have to adjust the design, setting of the stones or the making of clasp do you?

It's the very last thing you do before you put it down. If more people were aware of that, there would be far less meaningless discussion about it's merits.

A talented friend of mine who is an Ableton Live certified instructor and has releases on some big labels offers mastering services. $50.00 / track. PM me if interested.

quote:

Originally posted by Nick Cenik A talented friend of mine who is an Ableton Live certified instructor and has releases on some big labels offers mastering services. $50.00 / track. PM me if interested.

Fuck it, I give up.

quote:

Originally posted by evo8 also the OP seems to be a pathetic attempt to advertise certain mastering services

I sorta thought the same thing at first, but the OP has been around a long time and, while I haven't seen his name around here in a while, I don't recall him being the spamming type.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN I've also been involved in projects where mastering is used to give a little sonic continuity between tracks as a complete album, which I think is quite a good idea.

I think that's one of the better, and most overlooked, purposes for mastering in the digital age, when you consider that most EDM releases these days consist of one or two mixes by the original artist, and several remixes all done by different artists in different settings, with different gear, etc. So, mastering for overall sonic continuity is definitely a benefit, yet it doesn't seem to get mentioned much during mastering discussions or by the MEs themselves.

Experienced

I suggest you do pay for mastering.why ? i did and noticed a big difference between my mastering (which is not bad as it looks,i've had release with an own mastering) and the mastering engineer.

i can post the online mastering sources if you want and they are trusty.
i'm waiting an own release to be mastered by an engineer at the moment.
and this is the fourth time that i'm dealing with them and i'm much satisfied with the outcome.

If you really want to dig through the scene i think Mastering is the key.

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik I think that's one of the better, and most overlooked, purposes for mastering in the digital age, when you consider that most EDM releases these days consist of one or two mixes by the original artist, and several remixes all done by different artists in different settings, with different gear, etc. So, mastering for overall sonic continuity is definitely a benefit, yet it doesn't seem to get mentioned much during mastering discussions or by the MEs themselves.

Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of having different remixes with different sounds for different contexts?

quote:

Originally posted by Beatflux Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of having different remixes with different sounds for different contexts?

I'm guessing he means loudness/volume etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Beatflux Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of having different remixes with different sounds for different contexts?

No, because you can have completely different sounds but the mastering can be the one thing that is cohesive between the the different mixes or tracks. It's very subtle but all the same.

Remember, you're not making drastic artistic statements with mastering, just adding a final aesthetic, if you will.

quote:

Originally posted by Raphie You know, maybe its just me? trying to have some serious discussions, be helpful, open. I like the guys like Cryophonik and RANN, you know guys that have experience, still are ambitous and have no ambiguity around them. These are the guys that i come back for. And then, and you all know who your are, you have the pube trolls, acting childish, swinging around their ePenis in every topic, having nothing to show for, other then from some kind of abused self acclaimed stardom, piss on everything that they consider noob. Everybody needs to start somewhere, but you guys just keep hyjacking every single thread with your self eTestosteron. We now have merely 5 new topics a day, because no-one bothers anymore. This is supposed to be a "Producers" foeum, so one can expect noobish questions around sidechaining, mastering, layered basslines, samplerates etc etc. Members will come and go, but if this attitude continues, the few of you can grow old here, but within a year, there will be no one left for you to piss on. Is that's what you want?

Mate, its not my fault that my epenis sways when I walk... In all seriousness though, I think this forum is almost complete shit and I really mostly come here to observe the stupidity of certain members. There is the odd good discussion, but I certainly don't expect it. I am getting incredibly bored of shitty mastering threads and threads about clipping, almost no one on here understands these concepts, and it just leads to misinformation and daft advertising. The spam situation is just getting out of control around here IMO.

Anyway, regarding this thread; its all been covered before. I agree with rann about it being the label's responsibility, and not something to worry about yourself. So I would never pay for my own mastering without a very good reason, like if I was self releasing the track. Its also important to remember that you're unlikely to ever make the money back as well.

Labels need to do it so that their catalogues have a similar sound, a sonic signature which marks the track out as their own. I think some of the best labels do this, as their releases all have a certain something that other labels don't. I personally put this down to using a certain mastering house and having great communication with them. It could also be just being very picky about the A&R and always selecting tracks for their coherence with the label, but I think the mastering has a bit to do with it.

Basically, mastering is all about getting tracks to sound great across all mediums, (esp vinyl) homogenising the various sounds of different tracks and artists in the context of an album or (IMO) label. Therefore, its not something the artist should ever do themselves. That said, putting a limiter and some EQs, compression etc on the master channel is NOT mastering, and is definately something the artist CAN do themselves. Either as a prelude to a proper mastering (in which case drop the limiter) or in order to give the label a demo with a decent RMS.

Basically, don't worry about it.

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