Audio Mastering Discussion

[Dimension3D]

I’m conducting some research on audio mastering and I would appreciate a response to the questions below:

1). What are your feelings towards the way music is currently being mastered?

2). Has your listening habits towards music changed?

3). What does dynamics mean to you?

4). Is mastering compromising dynamics in music?


There are some more questions relating to the subject, which can be found at this link:

Audio Professional Forum Survey


(Optional online questionnaire).

Thank you for taking part,

Dimension3D.

[fader8]

Originally Posted by Dimension3D

1). What are your feelings towards the way music is currently being mastered?

Currently my feelings are that I could really use a new chair. If it had a cup holder, that would be great. If it could have a padded slot that can hold stemware too, that would be very nice.

2). Has your listening habits towards music changed?

I used to smoke a lot while listening, but I've cut down quite a bit.

3). What does dynamics mean to you?

Temporal variations in value, eg force, intensity, temperature, mood, stock prices . . . .

4). Is mastering compromising dynamics in music?

Well, depends on which dynamic you're talking about. A colleague of mine masters a good bit of dance music. She claims that she is uniquely capable and equipped to pull out the sexual dynamic in a piece. She calls it "improving the vaginal resonance coefficient". I'm thinking she could use a new chair too.

[Lagerfeldt]

What ever it is you're smoking I want some..

Answered the survey too.

[fader8]

Originally Posted by Lagerfeldt

What ever it is you're smoking I want some..

Good grief, Holger. Have you gone through the last batch I sent already?!


Hey, what can I say. It's saturday.

[faun2500]

Q:
1). What are your feelings towards the way music is currently being mastered?
2). Has your listening habits towards music changed?
3). What does dynamics mean to you?
4). Is mastering compromising dynamics in music?


A:
1). It's mastered WAY too loud and dont sound great. Too pay so much money for this is a pure con!
2). Only the fact that im more critical of my own and others music now than even before. (always analysing, always learning)
3). Variation, depth, enjoyment, suprise, IMPACT!!!
4). Errr yeah.

[Bob Olhsson]

This all comes back to the basic question of "what is mastering?"

The way I currently like to define it is the optimization of the presentation of a mix for a specific purpose. That specific purpose must be defined before there is anything to discuss.

In the case of major label releases, it is to make the best possible first impression on record reviewers, radio programmers, record promoters, record sales people, and retail managers. Each of these folks has the power to decide which new CDs will get exposed this week and which ones won't. Now we also have a responsibility to the artist's fans. Here long term listen-ability becomes more important than the impression a CD is going to make in a sales meeting.

Mastering today has become largely about balancing these two opposing requirements in a manner appropriate to the artist's goals.

[Carotte]

Originally Posted by faun2500

Q:
1). It's mastered WAY too loud and dont sound great. Too pay so much money for this is a pure con!

To hire an engineer that will mash up the sound just so it sounds loud, then I agree with you it is a con. But thankfully, most REAL mastering engineers will ask you what kind of sound you want, and give it to you... That's not a con... That's enhancing signal...

The big mistake in mastering is not mastering itself, it's artists or producers that ask the mastering engineer to ''make it sound loud''... Unfortunately, there's a lot of that! And mastering is not only about making songs sound better, dynamically enhanced (which does not mean mashed), fit with one another AND (too bad!) -like in any other business-
making the client happy... Which is most often a very bad artistic and most importantly sonic choice! But that's my opinion...
Cheers!

[mercurydime]

i participated in your survey...thanks for asking!

and a note from the grammar police :-)

in regards to diction, it's too, not 'to' when attempting to describe that approaching or exceeding the excessive...

makes for a more professional presentation to be sure...

regards,

[KyleDiSanto]

1). What are your feelings towards the way music is currently being mastered?

2). Has your listening habits towards music changed?

3). What does dynamics mean to you?

4). Is mastering compromising dynamics in music?

1. Mastering Music seems to be a commercial, business orientated task. One where the Mastering Engineer manipulates the songs to make them competitive in today's market.

Alot of guys, especially indie artists, are shying away from killer volume in exchange for a dynamic, yet still competitive level.

2. Listening habits are the same. I listen to as much of a variety of music as possible on as many systems as possible.

3. Dynamics are the balance in music. What goes up, must come down. If you want something to punch you in the face (sonically) you need a quieter passage before it to really get the full effect.

4. No, Labels, shitty streaming websites, un-educated listeners, and engineers who care more about $$ than quality are ruining dynamics.

[cooker]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

In the case of major label releases, it is to make the best possible first impression on record reviewers, radio programmers, record promoters, record sales people, and retail managers. Each of these folks has the power to decide which new CDs will get exposed this week and which ones won't. Now we also have a responsibility to the artist's fans. Here long term listen-ability becomes more important than the impression a CD is going to make in a sales meeting.

Interesting how my personal experience doesn't match what you said (and sure this doesn't mean I disagree with you in any way).

When listening radio, I notice people get attention when a dynamic impact happens in music (specially when driving).

At home or other in-door environments, sterile sounding tracks catch the attention as probably its a human nature thing.

At concerts, quality and balance catches attention as the listener feels more home cause the sound reminds the album of his favorite band thats actually right infront of him/her (this means +1 on good sounding cd's).

My guess is this loudness thing is going on for so long that the young audience is more surprised when they experience a new song similar to their parents hearing experience when they were young. Would be cool if one day I'd see a teenager go WTF when he listenes a distorted track

[Bob Olhsson]

Originally Posted by cooker

When listening radio, I notice people get attention when a dynamic impact happens in music (specially when driving).

The folks I'm talking about are sitting in meetings comparing CDs they are considering for review or air play. They are not listening to the radio or in any other recreational manner. I totally agree with you about what has the most impact under those circumstances.

[Superdisc]

I did the survey, but the last question was a killer:

"9. Would you support legislation to control the way music mastered in regards to dynamic range & overall level? "

I really can't believe someone was suggesting this.

Bob

[dcollins]

Originally Posted by Superdisc

I did the survey, but the last question was a killer:

"9. Would you support legislation to control the way music mastered in regards to dynamic range & overall level? "

I really can't believe someone was suggesting this.

And I make fun of it every time the idea is presented.

Reminds me of the "oath" come to think of it........


DC

[alex_333]

I’m conducting some research on audio mastering and I would appreciate a response to the questions below:

1). What are your feelings towards the way music is currently being mastered?

2). Has your listening habits towards music changed?

3). What does dynamics mean to you?

4). Is mastering compromising dynamics in music?

A
1). It's hard to answer because you don't know, what was made during mastering process or how it was before mastering. But I will try to answer. Pop, Hip-Hop, and expecially Rock (Metall) are getting worser. Most of jazz things (fusion) that I hear are getting better.
2). Yes. I try to listen, how it sounds on a cheap equipment. It's a very good way to proove a quality of music.
3). In a musical context it's a kind of musical expression. To make a contrast -> emotions between loud and quiet. It makes listener feeling this. I think it must be seen as a part of a music and not just as a tool to achieve "loudness level" of a recording. You can smash down your dynamics during mastering process, but if there is no dynamics in the mix (like in modern pop and so on music), you can't do nothing as a mastering engineer to make it sound dynamicly :D. I think a real problem are musicaly bad made mixes. It can sound very clean, but just all instruments with one level, distance from the listener during the whole song or album are the reason there is no dynamic in music. And often it don't matches style and emotions of a musical content.
4). Sometimes. For FM radio, expecially for classical music with different dynamics levels in one peace of music. Or just if your customer wants to make it loud as possible :D. As for CD-Audio you don't need to do something like that, as it has 96db of dyn. range. You just must utilise your 16bit, I mean to make it as loud as possible without destroying dynamics

Sorry for my bad English :D