Lady Gaga "Poker Face" who mastered.

[mappee]

Wondering who mastered the track "Poker Face" for Lady Gaga?
I'm intriqued by the way the beat swings so evenly. A very nice job that I'm sure was keenly intentional. Kudos
I would guess Sterling cause she's from New York but you never know.

Anyone with the right info?

[Delta Heavy]

the 7" vinyl run was done at Finyl Tweek (formerly Heathmans)

Finyl Tweek - Lady Gaga - Pokerface Still @ Number 1

[Ditherman]

Gene Grimaldi

[jdg]

i think you're hearing the production, not the mastering.

[Rappinghood]

Originally Posted by Delta Heavy

the 7" vinyl run was done at Finyl Tweek (formerly Heathmans)

Probably just the UK release, they wouldn't have mastered the A side. I bet whoever mastered the album & single tracks is annoyed they haven't got a mention anywhere...not one I can find with a quick discogs search anyway!

[Jesse Graffam]

I wouldn't have an opinion on the mastering at all, in a creative sense, until I had heard the unmastered version too. Any opinion before that is pure speculation.

[orangeoctane]

Originally Posted by mappee

Yes that can be a fine line between the two. What I'm hearing, (and seeing), is a very controlled wave in the lows/lomids. I feel Gene Grimaldi caught the groove and accented it in a very musical way.
OK it had to be there in the production obviously, but the master engineer found the magic and played it out to a smooth perfection. And ain't that the part of mastering that almost never gets talked about...that real musical sense

Sometimes it's the mastering engineer's job to hear that and know to leave it alone!

[Darius van H]

Originally Posted by mappee

What I'm hearing, (and seeing),

Seeing?

???

[mappee]

Originally Posted by orangeoctane

Sometimes it's the mastering engineer's job to hear that and know to leave it alone!

Yes yes yes....Conversely:

[aivoryuk]

Originally Posted by Rappinghood

I bet whoever mastered the album & single tracks is annoyed they haven't got a mention anywhere...not one I can find with a quick discogs search anyway!

try the CD booklet

[macc]

Originally Posted by aivoryuk

try the CD booklet

Those are still around? How quaint.

[C Heat]

Originally Posted by macc

Those are still around? How quaint.

Thank God.

I'd be lost without the booklets...

[Rappinghood]

Originally Posted by aivoryuk

try the CD booklet

Yes, that would involve me buying it which is something I would never do as I can't stand the bl**dy song! I couldn't see Gene Grimaldi's name on any online listings but that doesn't mean it wasn't there. FWIW I sincerely doubt he had anything to do with the 'swing of the beat' as the OP mentions

[aleatoric]

Just thought I would point out:

allmusic

For those who do not know.

You can get credits for practically any album. A simple search of "Lady Gaga" led me to the credits for the album the song Poker Face is on, you can than bring up all the credits for the album (Matering Engineer, Mixing, Producer, Arranger, Engineer, Artwork, Bass Player, etc).

Its a great resource!

[24-96 Mastering]

Originally Posted by aleatoric

Just thought I would point out:

allmusic

For those who do not know.

You can get credits for practically any album.

It's a great resource all in all, but don't count on entries to be correct.

An example: Allmusic lists some of the things I've worked on (emphasis on some... non-US releases are largely ignored) split between two different people, none of which is me. One of them even has a nickname attached (Robin "El Skid" Schmidt ... does that mean anything?)
Unfortunately, they don't bother correcting their entries (I've asked them twice using their provided submission forms). Other sites like MSN, Answers.com, Barnes & Noble, etc. are using the allmusic database information on their web site too. I guess "El Skid" will be my name from now on then.

Another site for info on credits is Discogs - Database and Marketplace for Music on Vinyl, CD, Cassette, MP3 and More . The Downside is that it's newer than Allmusic and thus not as complete. The upside is it's an open to corrections.

[Reptil]

Originally Posted by mappee

Thanks Ditherman

Oh yeah...so it's total West Coast and very interesting. Fusari is a Jersey guy and Steph is NYC so how did that happen?

The beat in Poker Face swings so smooth it caught my attention. The bass/snare has what appears to be a rolling motion that I've not noticed before. Very hypnotic to the listener.

If Gene could address this I'd be interested to know more about this technique and how it was achieved at Oasis.


Delta Heavy I'll have to check that Finyl 7"

"borrowing"?

[Reptil]

Originally Posted by mappee

...snip...
No she's not earth shaking original in anything but it's a cool package for today's market.
....snip....

agree. a very successful package anyway.

cheers thumbsup

[newtonbach]

Am I incorrect that you wish to know who programmed the drums and/or produced the track? Call me old school but mastering has nothing to do with the "swing" of a performance, unless it is done incorrectly.

[aleatoric]

Ok maybe it is not 100% correct all the time but my point was I could find who mastered Lady Gaga "Poker Face" in under a minute with allmusic.com (and millions of other albums). Its a great resource.

[Jesse Graffam]

Originally Posted by mappee

Does anyone know what happened to the S on the word "spades" in the 1st verse? Sounds a bit overloaded right there. Ah but who knew it would be a hit.

Sure. It was clipped and whatever clipped it didn't have proper filtering, so you get splatter downwards which causes esses to sound like effs.

A great test of this is "Natalie Cole - As Time Goes By" which should not sound like "A kiff if juft a kiff" . Good to compare clipping methods with, seeing which method/device/code/whatever can win for clarity at various amounts of clipping. The acoustic bass on that track also gets brutalized by most clippers.

[Waltz Mastering]

Originally Posted by uncajesse

It was clipped and whatever clipped it didn't have proper filtering, so you get splatter downwards which causes esses to sound like effs.

A great test of this is "Natalie Cole - As Time Goes By" which should not sound like "A kiff if juft a kiff"

To much gain reduction or abuse from frequency dependent compression (DeEsser) on a vocal track gives you the same effect. Lisp.

[Jesse Graffam]

It can, if the voice has some eff component of the sibilant. Or if the de-esser is "sub par"... that in and of itself could be causing a clipping-esc dynamics change, and the filtering would come into play just as much there too. But even if it's not generating more eff component, it can make it sound like it is just from the reduction in actual clean sibilant. indeed.

[TacosWhenTwisted]

That swing is at the production level, not mastering. Its caused by the relationship between the kick and the snare, the decays and release primarily. Also the placement of the snare/clap in relation to the kick, usually slid a few ms's off beat, with a bit of a longer release on the snare/clap through compression. It is common in Deep House and House music.

[Waltz Mastering]

Originally Posted by mappee

Explanation sounds reasonable Taco. I do wish mr Grimaldi would address this issue so we can know if he played this groove up on the mastering end or if he left well enough alone. Most posters point to the production but I'm supicious of treatment in the mastering process.

The only way I can think of, how mastering could affect the rhythm of a tracks groove would be dependent on how the attack and release times of the mastering compressor would be set to maybe compliment any syncopation that already exist.

This and how you would globally eq the B & D riddem, but in most if not all instances, these are already considerations.

[sesshin]

Originally Posted by mappee

The beat in Poker Face swings so smooth it caught my attention. The bass/snare has what appears to be a rolling motion that I've not noticed before. Very hypnotic to the listener.

Try as I might, just can't hear this at all.

[Big Knob]

Poker Face was pretty straight forward the usual... added some lows, mids, and highs that's about it. I had nothing to do with the swing of the track. I hope this helps.

I've been meaning to join gearslutz, it's great site for anyone interested in music engineering and production.

[E.rOk.stA]

I believe the producer for the song was "Red One" who is one of the founders of Ram Raiders, a drum 'n bass production team from the UK. And yes, this album was intended to be a dance hit album.

[C Heat]

Originally Posted by g.g.

Poker Face was pretty straight forward the usual... added some lows, mids, and highs that's about it. I had nothing to do with the swing of the track. I hope this helps.

I've been meaning to join gearslutz, it's great site for anyone interested in music engineering and production.

Welcome! Thanks for joining

[4damind]

I found only this credits:

Credits: Artwork By [Design] - Irene Silva
Executive Producer - Vincent Herbert
Mixed By - Robert Orton
Other [A & R] - Martin Kierszenbaum , Vincent Herbert
Photography - Meeno
Producer - RedOne
Written-By - Lady Gaga , RedOne

[alkor]

Originally Posted by the Set Surgeon

I believe the producer for the song was "Red One" who is one of the founders of Ram Raiders, a drum 'n bass production team from the UK. And yes, this album was intended to be a dance hit album.

interesting