Earbrass Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Hello everyone, Our band has a CD that's nearing completion - we're just tweaking the mixes at the moment. The plan is to get, I think, 500 pressed up and then sell them at gigs/via our website/give them away as Xmas presents to relatives we don't really like/etc. Although the original recordings were mostly made in a studio, the subsequent mixing has been done at band-members' houses, and listened to on a variety of stereos and headphones, none of which are of studio quality, and in environments that are not acoustically neutral. So, for example, a mix often sounds bass-light on one system and bass-heavy on another one. We've tried comparing with 'real' CDs, which helps somewhat. We are wondering whether it's worth while getting the final stereo mixes professionally "mastered" before sending them off for CD pressing. As far as I can tell, this would mean someone adjusting overall EQ, compression, stereo image, comparative loudness between tracks and length of gap between tracks. So my questions really are - 1) have I understood correctly what professional mastering would provide? 2) do any of you have any experience of using such services, and if so what are your recommendations? Many thanks for any help/info/off topic ranting you can provide. Regards Earbrass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnylager Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 A little light [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cd_mastering"]reading[/url] on the subject... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earbrass Posted September 25, 2008 Author Share Posted September 25, 2008 Cheers Johnny, Here's a couple of links I've found that discuss the evils of modern mastering: [url="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/jan/18/pop.music"]www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/jan/18/pop.music[/url] [url="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2006/oct/02/cdmasteringis"]www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2006/oct/02/cdmasteringis[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDM Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Check out the new Metallica album Made with millions or dollars of gear, and it still sounds like sh*t. (I love Metallica, but the production on Death Magnetic is terrible) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Speak to SRT in Cambridge, they did our new album (linky in my sig!) and were brilliant. They even [b]dropped[/b] the volume level of our mixes a touch. It was about £1000 for a 4 hour session (we were present) plus 1000 CDs printed and "pressed". Damn fine service Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earbrass Posted September 26, 2008 Author Share Posted September 26, 2008 [quote name='Merton' post='292037' date='Sep 25 2008, 05:47 PM']Speak to SRT in Cambridge, they did our new album (linky in my sig!) and were brilliant. They even [b]dropped[/b] the volume level of our mixes a touch. It was about £1000 for a 4 hour session (we were present) plus 1000 CDs printed and "pressed". Damn fine service [/quote] Thanks Merton. Listened to some of your tracks - they sound really good. Is that a real horn section on Shoulder to cry on, or MIDI magic? I'd never heard of CD Baby before - how are you finding them as a way of selling your music? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noisyjon Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 [quote name='thedonutman' post='292023' date='Sep 25 2008, 05:36 PM']Check out the new Metallica album Made with millions or dollars of gear, and it still sounds like sh*t. (I love Metallica, but the production on Death Magnetic is terrible)[/quote] In [i]YOUR[/i] opinion I think it ain't bad for a year 2008 thrash album! +1 for getting your tunes properly mastered and pressed. It's the icing on the cake and in my case saved a potential disaster (long, long boring story that involves a Guitard!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 [quote name='Earbrass' post='292489' date='Sep 26 2008, 09:52 AM']Thanks Merton. Listened to some of your tracks - they sound really good. Is that a real horn section on Shoulder to cry on, or MIDI magic? I'd never heard of CD Baby before - how are you finding them as a way of selling your music?[/quote] Real horns, backed up with a very subtle bit of MIDI to phatten them up. Cheers for the nice words bout the tracks - it's all pure cheese but is good fun CDBaby are good, but people need to know that the CD is there and available coz they don't do any marketing of their own. We're just finishing off getitng various web banners, a dedicated album websiteand stuff done in a vain attempt to shift some CDs!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDM Posted September 27, 2008 Share Posted September 27, 2008 (edited) [quote name='jonthebass' post='292525' date='Sep 26 2008, 10:27 AM']In [i]YOUR[/i] opinion I think it ain't bad for a year 2008 thrash album![/quote] I didn't mean the actual music and songwriting, I agree with you there - I like the songs. I am referring to the way the album sounds itself - the ridiculous compression and the clipping on a lot of parts. Edited September 27, 2008 by thedonutman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderthumbs Posted September 27, 2008 Share Posted September 27, 2008 "Fronted by former three-times world champion kickboxer Cengiz Dervis".... So you have no problems at your gigs then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelk27 Posted September 27, 2008 Share Posted September 27, 2008 [quote name='Earbrass' post='291827' date='Sep 25 2008, 01:58 PM']We've tried comparing with 'real' CDs, which helps somewhat. We are wondering whether it's worth while getting the final stereo mixes professionally "mastered" ... As far as I can tell, this would mean someone adjusting overall EQ, compression, stereo image, comparative loudness between tracks and length of gap between tracks.[/quote] Making up a reference CD is a trick that professional engineers / mixers use. It's essential to help you dial into any equipment or space you're using. Be sure thought not to make up a CD of your favourite tracks, but ones that you consider good mixes. You should always include a few examples of tracks where you feel the mix has been pushed a little too far, to assist you in spotting when you might be doing the same. Mastering is essential, if just to attain the loudness that listeners expect from modern music. You should check out Sound on Sound online, www.soundonsound.com, as there's an Everest of information there that might assist you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 [quote name='Thunderthumbs' post='293427' date='Sep 27 2008, 02:12 PM']"Fronted by former three-times world champion kickboxer Cengiz Dervis".... So you have no problems at your gigs then [/quote] Haha! He actually got done for ABH once when 3 big mofos tried mugging him, he wriggled free then ended up leaving them each with at least one broken rib Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderthumbs Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 [quote name='Merton' post='294447' date='Sep 29 2008, 12:08 PM']Haha! He actually got done for ABH once when 3 big mofos tried mugging him, he wriggled free then ended up leaving them each with at least one broken rib [/quote] No justice! Reminds me of pretty much the same from a story I read years ago of three lads that tried to mug a guy at a cash machine, not knowing he was a Royal Marine. Guess who came off worst there too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earbrass Posted October 1, 2008 Author Share Posted October 1, 2008 [quote name='noelk27' post='293567' date='Sep 27 2008, 07:27 PM']Making up a reference CD is a trick that professional engineers / mixers use. It's essential to help you dial into any equipment or space you're using. Be sure thought not to make up a CD of your favourite tracks, but ones that you consider good mixes. You should always include a few examples of tracks where you feel the mix has been pushed a little too far, to assist you in spotting when you might be doing the same. Mastering is essential, if just to attain the loudness that listeners expect from modern music. You should check out Sound on Sound online, www.soundonsound.com, as there's an Everest of information there that might assist you.[/quote] Thanks for that, though I'm not sure about the drive for loudness for loudness's sake (see the links I posted above). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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