25th June 2007
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#1 | | Gear interested
Joined: Jun 2007 Location: new york
Posts: 21
Thread Starter  | Anybody has comments on Paul McCartney's New album's mastering?.
Hi, i really like Paul's new album, the man is 65 and still writes fresh, melodic and at the same time heavy music, with substance.
But what the hell happened with the mastering!!
I Heard something was off when the soft songs sounded as loud as the hard ones. Then, i saw my Dorrouh meter and there it was, it sounds like Brian "big bass" gardner's masters, no dynamics, the rms is up to the roof, and totally overcompressed, what happened?.
anyway, i want to know if anyone has an opinion about it, or is it just me?.
Thanks!.
Julian SIlva | 
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25th June 2007
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#2 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Aug 2006 Location: EUtopia, Stockholm
Posts: 959
| Quote:
Originally Posted by nothingface7602  Hi, i really like Paul's new album, the man is 65 and still writes fresh, melodic and at the same time heavy music, with substance.
But what the hell happened with the mastering!!
I Heard something was off when the soft songs sounded as loud as the hard ones. Then, i saw my Dorrouh meter and there it was, it sounds like Brian "big bass" gardner's masters, no dynamics, the rms is up to the roof, and totally overcompressed, what happened?.
anyway, i want to know if anyone has an opinion about it, or is it just me?.
Thanks!.
Julian SIlva | Perhaps the ME's aim was to unite the songs using the same preset?  | |
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25th June 2007
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#3 | | Gear interested
Joined: Jun 2007 Location: new york
Posts: 21
Thread Starter |
yeah, which is the final aim when you master, but leave it so loud and lifeless?. maybe it's just me, but my dorrough meter and my ears tell me there's no place to breathe...
Julian
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25th June 2007
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#4 | | Gear nut
Joined: Nov 2006 Location: NYC
Posts: 131
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I was at my friend's house last night (btw, he's an engineer at the soon-to-be-death Sony studios) and he was playing the album. I don't know his home system very well but it sounded good to me. I did notice a "flat" sound through out, though. The slower and more quit sections sounded as in-your-face as the punchy sections. I'm not a fan of that.
I'd like to get the album and listen to it at the studio to come up with an objective opinion.
The music and the production are great, btw.
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"Good engineers don't need great gear, bad engineers don't deserve it"
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25th June 2007
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#5 | | Gear interested
Joined: Jun 2007 Location: new york
Posts: 21
Thread Starter |
absolutely, i like slow, soft songs to be soft, and rock-hard ones to be loud!, that's music!. production is amazing, i really haven't been able to get it out of my head, first 3 songs are amazing. thanks for replying!.
J
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25th June 2007
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#6 | | Craneslut
Joined: Jun 2002 Location: The home of Rock-n-Roll, Memphis, TN
Posts: 1,917
Verified Member  |
It's too bad that evil mastering engineer forced his will on Paul McCartney like that!
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25th June 2007
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#7 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Apr 2006 Location: Toronto
Posts: 811
Verified Member | Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Blackwood It's too bad that evil mastering engineer forced his will on Paul McCartney like that! | Ha! That's really funny. Thanks for the morning chuckle.
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25th June 2007
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#8 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jan 2007 Location: Durham, NC
Posts: 1,525
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I don't care who you are, that's funny
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25th June 2007
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#10 | | Gear interested
Joined: Jun 2007 Location: new york
Posts: 21
Thread Starter |
thanks, i read the post and it's not me, now. i am glad somebody else finds this topic of interest, and willing to do something about it. to my clients, i always say: "if you want it the loudest, i am not your guy".
j
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25th June 2007
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#11 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Oct 2003 Location: Orange County California
Posts: 1,701
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Blackwood It's too bad that evil mastering engineer forced his will on Paul McCartney like that! | LMAO! 
Classic
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25th June 2007
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#12 | | Gear addict
Joined: Jun 2007 Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 481
Verified Member |
So, who is listed for the mastering?
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25th June 2007
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#13 | | Gear Guru
Joined: Dec 2002 Location: Columbus, Ohio
Posts: 12,504
Verified Member | Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Blackwood It's too bad that evil mastering engineer forced his will on Paul McCartney like that! | The joke assumes McCartney was present, and approved the master. Who knows? He may have left it to someone else, or he may have been swayed by a trusted colleague at the last minute, or he too may fear being sonically outdated. You don't know exactly what happened, and we'll never know.
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25th June 2007
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#14 | | Craneslut
Joined: Jun 2002 Location: The home of Rock-n-Roll, Memphis, TN
Posts: 1,917
Verified Member |
Ehh, never mind...
Last edited by Brad Blackwood; 25th June 2007 at 06:58 PM..
Reason: no sense in defending a joke...
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25th June 2007
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#15 | | Gear Guru
Joined: Dec 2002 Location: Columbus, Ohio
Posts: 12,504
Verified Member | Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Blackwood No, it assumes that someone other than Bob Ludwig approved the master.
But hey, thanks for missing the point! | Seems to me your point was to defend the ME. Who was never attacked.
So hey, thanks for missing the point of this thread in a defensive haze of cynical quips!
The point here, and it's valid ... is about music appreciation and the hopes of listeners. The OP wasn't attacking, not Ludwig nor McCartney ... no one.
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25th June 2007
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#16 | | Don't start
Joined: Oct 2005 Location: USA
Posts: 1,347
Verified Member |
....And then, all the air was sucked from the room.
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25th June 2007
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#17 | | Gear Guru
Joined: Dec 2002 Location: Columbus, Ohio
Posts: 12,504
Verified Member | Quote:
Originally Posted by Masterer ....And then, all the air was sucked from the room. | True, true. What is there to say that hasn't been said?
Much of music is suffering and no one is to blame. When you have U2 and McCartney slamming meters the idea that "someone famous" will make a more dynamic record and reverse the trend is just not happening. It is what it is. So make your own record more dynamic if you have the courage, because that's all you can control.
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25th June 2007
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#18 | | Don't start
Joined: Oct 2005 Location: USA
Posts: 1,347
Verified Member | Quote:
Originally Posted by lucey So make your own record more dynamic if you have the courage, because that's all you can control. |
Yep.
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25th June 2007
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#19 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 587
| Quote:
Originally Posted by lucey The joke assumes McCartney was present, and approved the master. Who knows? He may have left it to someone else, or he may have been swayed by a trusted colleague at the last minute, or he too may fear being sonically outdated. You don't know exactly what happened, and we'll never know. | it was after all a joke... but since you're making a big deal out of it.
It doesn't matter if McCartney passed it off or didn't. Its HIS record, and he and the label are responsible for it. They obviously wanted it to sound that way, or don't care.
And your last comment assumes that we aren't already making our own records dynamic.
the original topic was McCartney's new album and the mastering job done.
I think the joke fit the bill pretty nice.
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25th June 2007
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#20 | | Gear Guru
Joined: Dec 2002 Location: Columbus, Ohio
Posts: 12,504
Verified Member | Quote:
Originally Posted by hangman iAnd your last comment assumes that we aren't already making our own records dynamic. | I wasn't assuming anything about your record making. I was simply stating a fact about what we can and can't control.
At the end of the analysis fear is driving this train, and no one has a remedy to give others for their fears. Not in a mastering room, or in any other form of relationship. It has to be a brave choice, and that kind of character is going to be rare.
As a music lover, this reality can really suck, but it is what it is.
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25th June 2007
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#21 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 587
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Very true, and I'm with you, as long as you don't mind some more jokes.
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26th June 2007
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#22 | | Gear interested
Joined: Jun 2007 Location: new york
Posts: 21
Thread Starter |
Ok, so we agree the record, and others, have followed this trend, anyone heard death Cab For Cutie's "we have the facts and we're voting yes"?. it is VERY dynamic, and i am a total Metalhead, but this record really touched something inside me, now don't make fun of this!.
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29th June 2007
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#23 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Jun 2007 Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 277
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i work with a wonderful new york woman who says it "sounds like someone yelling at her" and this is at below 70db ambient! didn't mr. big bass master the killer's "hot fuss"?
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29th June 2007
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#24 | | Gear Head
Joined: Jun 2007 Location: Nashville
Posts: 63
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MAAAAAAAAAYBE............
He is following the volume wars and just wants to make the album sell on the charts, from the sound that is popular today.
who knows.
the master dosent take away from the artist for me.
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Music = Life | |
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29th June 2007
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#25 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Nov 2002 Location: Basel, Switzerland
Posts: 6,410
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I haven't heard the album yet but is it really that bad? And as far as 'over-compressing' is concerned, what about 'Paperback Writer', didn't the Beatles (and Joe Meek of course) pretty much start the 'creative compression' trend back in the day?
Is 'digital distortion' the problem or just the perceived lack of dynamics?
__________________ 'Ever since the Supreme Court overturned the Snare Act, it has been legal to use any mic you like on snare.' - joeq http://www.doorknocker.ch/ | |
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29th June 2007
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#26 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Oct 2003 Location: Orange County California
Posts: 1,701
| Quote:
Originally Posted by doorknocker I haven't heard the album yet but is it really that bad? And as far as 'over-compressing' is concerned, what about 'Paperback Writer', didn't the Beatles (and Joe Meek of course) pretty much start the 'creative compression' trend back in the day?
Is 'digital distortion' the problem or just the perceived lack of dynamics? | good observation  | |
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30th June 2007
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#27 | | Gear nut
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 123
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I agree about the sound of the record. Its sonically very aggressive. Interestingly,
that is how his band sounds live too. Great players, great band, the greatest songwriter,...but not much happening dynamically, a lot of hard hitting...esp in the drum dept (again...a great player)...not a lot of dynamic sensitivity. I guess that's what he wants.
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1st July 2007
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#28 | | Gear interested
Joined: Jun 2007 Location: new york
Posts: 21
Thread Starter |
OK, that's a very good observation, if the band sounds like that, i agree with the album sounding like that.
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1st July 2007
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#29 | | Gear Guru
Joined: Dec 2002 Location: Columbus, Ohio
Posts: 12,504
Verified Member | Quote:
Originally Posted by nothingface7602 OK, that's a very good observation, if the band sounds like that, i agree with the album sounding like that. | I have not heard the record ... but no songwriter oriented band sounds like slammed limiting and I can't imagine that Paul McCartney is doing wall of noise music.
We had a client in today who said (totally on her own) that she can't listen to the record because it, "irritated me to listen to it." She didn't know why but, "I can't listen to it".
Again, I have not heard it, but that was very interesting.
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1st July 2007
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#30 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Aug 2003 Location: Cork Ireland
Posts: 8,790
| It does sound awful.
This Paul McCartney CD has been getting good reviews, except for one which I noticed which slated it. I listened to this the other day. With apologies to those involved, I don't like it. It is a very good example of what has gone wrong with the sound of music. It has all the well documented problems which come with over-mastering. It felt like being force fed with a gruel containing square granules. I am curious if the M-E did this or were the mixes naff, and if pressure was applied by the client.
DanDan FitzGerald
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