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Originally posted by Raphie Ofcourse, but it depends on how u define mistake? example 1: a track with way too less bass because of standing waves in the room, it sounds thin and lacks definition in lows between kick and bass. Artist provides a reference track of how he thinks his track should sound. you are the ME, what would u do? example 2: you've received a track, which has been emphasized by the artist as "final" the percussion loops in the track don't allign nicely and every 8 measures you hear a little bit of tearing when the loop goes round, you are the ME, what would u do? example 3: You get a track with nice dynamics, well mixed really not much to complain about, supplied reference track is a piece of the latest ASOT podcast. and artist want to have it sound EXACTLY like that, you are the ME, what would u do? Curious what decissions u guys will make and why?

Example 1: Well, there are two issues here. The low bass level overall and the lack of definition between the kick and bass. It sounds like a remix would be in order. If the kick and bass in the reference track sound very different to the customer's sounds, I'd point that out to them. Maybe they can choose sounds which work better. If the sound of the kick and bass is fine, but they're just too low in the mix, I'd just ask for a mix with these instruments turned up by a specified amount.

Example 2: Again, I'd point out to the customer that the loop doesn't loop nicely. Maybe they didn't notice. In any case, this is something that should be fixed via a remix.

Example 3: I'd listen to their tune and the ASOT reference and point out the differences and what would be required to push it towards the ASOT track. I'd explain what I could do, and what some undesirable effects of this processing could be, and let the customer decide.

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Originally posted by kitphillips Of course it COULD have been fixed, and in a perfect world it might have been. But realistically, none of us live in a perfect world, and mastering engineers undoubtedly fix errors that could have otherwise been fixed at the mixing stage all the time. Its not neccesarily a bad thing, you have to remember that the producer's primary job is to produce the music, if they're obsessing over minor details then NO music is ever going to get produced. So sometimes its better to pass it off to the mastering engineer.

Plenty of music gets produced by artists/producers who obsess over the "minor details".

However, in some cases these minor details aren't so minor, meaning the mastered version sounds noticeably different from the final mixdown. When that happens, it's not because a producer missed some minor details.

When I started out producing and took my songs to mastering engineers, I wish some of them had pointed out the deficiencies in my mixes, rather than just working with what was there, just doing the best job they could. I went into these sessions looking for feedback and I paid a good chunk of money for them. I just didn't get that much out of the sessions, in terms of learning how to mix better. They just worked with my rubbish mixes and turned them into slightly improved rubbish mixes.

I eventually found a local guy who gives me good feedback and is great to talk to about my vision for my music. He takes it where I want it to go, rather than where he thinks it should go. Obviously, there's a good deal of back and forth communication, pros and cons of various decisions, but he never comes across as "knowing what's best" for my music. He's done excellent work with a number of my songs and he'd be my first port of call for future mastering work.

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Originally posted by derail Example 1: Well, there are two issues here. The low bass level overall and the lack of definition between the kick and bass. It sounds like a remix would be in order. If the kick and bass in the reference track sound very different to the customer's sounds, I'd point that out to them. Maybe they can choose sounds which work better. If the sound of the kick and bass is fine, but they're just too low in the mix, I'd just ask for a mix with these instruments turned up by a specified amount. Example 2: Again, I'd point out to the customer that the loop doesn't loop nicely. Maybe they didn't notice. In any case, this is something that should be fixed via a remix. Example 3: I'd listen to their tune and the ASOT reference and point out the differences and what would be required to push it towards the ASOT track. I'd explain what I could do, and what some undesirable effects of this processing could be, and let the customer decide.

Those are all right answers from where i'm coming from. being open, receptive and transparent, point it out and let the artist decide.

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Analogue Mastering
Esoteric sound for the discerning ear

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Originally posted by Raphie Ofcourse, but it depends on how u define mistake? example 1: a track with way too less bass because of standing waves in the room, it sounds thin and lacks definition in lows between kick and bass. Artist provides a reference track of how he thinks his track should sound. you are the ME, what would u do? example 2: you've received a track, which has been emphasized by the artist as "final" the percussion loops in the track don't allign nicely and every 8 measures you hear a little bit of tearing when the loop goes round, you are the ME, what would u do? example 3: You get a track with nice dynamics, well mixed really not much to complain about, supplied reference track is a piece of the latest ASOT podcast. and artist want to have it sound EXACTLY like that, you are the ME, what would u do?

Honestly, raise your price and 99% of these cases will belong to the past. Pricing is exactly the way to filter out this type of crap in any possible field. Go up in price if you deliver quality and get too much crappy offers (or crappy mixdowns), you're obviously worth more. Lower price if nobody comes to you.

Even if you're kind enough to point anything out you're effectively doing almost double the work than what you're paid for. It takes a lot of time to correspond with your clients.

Usually those that are willing to spend money know what they want and/or what they're doing.

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Storyteller Website | Storyteller @ Facebook | Storyteller @ Beatport | Storyteller @ Soundcloud | Stephen J. Kroos - Europa (Storyteller Remix)
Anthony Mea - Get It On (Storyteller Remix)

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If less is more think about how much more more would be. -Frasier

More people actually mentioned that, maybe i should. I've done some price benchmarking and simmilar studio's with same league of room and gear do charge more.

However since i specialize in EDM and the typical proceeds from EDM tracks aren't that big, you don't want your mastering costs to outweight the proceeds of your release.

I have to say though that i don't find above examples "shit" i love to work with customers and try to add value where possible. If one is short tempered, then being a ME is going to be quite challenging

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Analogue Mastering
Esoteric sound for the discerning ear