What's the nerdiest thing in a Mastering Session you like?

[Joe_caithness]

What's that thing which puts a smile on your face and makes you question your sanity for a second, then you realise it's all going to be ok?

I REALLY like checking fades and making ridiculously custom fade shapes with ultra sensitive zoom and automation.

[donsolo]

M-S processing.

[ONDRAY]

macrodymic automation.

[Cellotron]

Listening for sonic qualities really really attentively.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[alcopop]

Originally Posted by Joe_caithness

What's that thing which puts a smile on your face and makes you question your sanity for a second, then you realise it's all going to be ok?

I REALLY like checking fades and making ridiculously custom fade shapes with ultra sensitive zoom and automation.

Pushing the limiter so that there is 3 db of dynamic movement and then slowly reducing the input gain till it sounds just right

[aleatoric]

Reading this forum as a break in between songs

[macc]

Closing the eyes and working the eq without looking. Almost a zen state on a good day.

Firing up all the gear, click, click, click - I saw someone on GS sayng about loving it in a 'firing up the Millenium Falcon' kind of way - that


New one: Turning up the two gain knobs on the DCL-200 with one hand at once and still keeping the image centered (harder than you might think)

[It'sJoeAgain]

using my *pleasurizer*..............

[Darius van H]

Retaining that poised and in control look as blind panic starts to set in.

[macc]

^ LOL

[finetuner]

Rather fun than nerdy: Try a crossfade between songs which turns out harmonically correct and exciting.

Rather nerdy: Tip-toeing 'cross the room to prevent any possible vibrations when burning a master (since i thought i needed a wooden floor ).

[turtlerock]

i like it when a client is describing the "incredibly complicated "edit that a song needs
And I spin the dials and do the edit before he can pull the chair up to show me what he means .
I press play and the edit is done and playing out the speakers , the look on their face is always priceless.
They think I am a magical

but how many songs have we all done where some one wants to cut the intro in half ..?
.. err... dont answer that its rhetorical

[bob katz]

Originally Posted by Joe_caithness

What's that thing which puts a smile on your face and makes you question your sanity for a second, then you realise it's all going to be ok?

I REALLY like checking fades and making ridiculously custom fade shapes with ultra sensitive zoom and automation.

Any knob that can be turned, has to be turned. Usually happens just before lunch...

BK

[Jerry Tubb]

1. printing a dynamic master that's 6dB lower in rms level than the hot CD version, volume matching the results, playing it for the client, and watching the wow factor at the increased dynamic detail.

2. removing a click/pop with NoNoise and observing same client wow factor.

3. comparing the 1/2" 30ips analog mix to the hi-res digital mix, and watching the client smile as they choose the analog version.

JT

[dcollins]

Originally Posted by Joe_caithness

What's that thing which puts a smile on your face and makes you question your sanity for a second, then you realise it's all going to be ok?

Thinking the EQ is in, but it isn't?


DC

[bcgood]

Originally Posted by dcollins

Thinking the EQ is in, but it isn't?


DC

lol, so true this has happened 2 me several times. The mind is powerful!

[MASSIVE Master]

Originally Posted by aleatoric

Reading this forum as a break in between songs

Word. The nerdiest thing here is making sure the coffee is fresh and plentiful.

Originally Posted by It'sJoeAgain

using my *pleasurizer*..............

T.M.I.

Originally Posted by Darius van H

Retaining that poised and in control look as blind panic starts to set in.

WINNER!!!

[Lagerfeldt]

Originally Posted by turtlerock

i like it when a client is describing the "incredibly complicated "edit that a song needs
And I spin the dials and do the edit before he can pull the chair up to show me what he means .
I press play and the edit is done and playing out the speakers , the look on their face is always priceless.

LOL

The nerdiest thing for me right now is simultaneous parallel level independent de-expansion and low level compression to fatten up a track.

Try explaining that to the guy on the street.. In fact I'll be hard pressed to explain it to anybody since it's in beta testing right now. Heh

[bcgood]

Originally Posted by Lagerfeldt

LOL

The nerdiest thing for me right now is simultaneous parallel level independent de-expansion and low level compression to fatten up a track.

Try explaining that to the guy on the street.. In fact I'll be hard pressed to explain it to anybody since it's in beta testing right now. Heh

Better be careful, it sounds like you could get the bends.

[IIIrd]

i like the eq one, done that a few times...."its subtle, but i like it, it is in isnt it?"
for me, cedar retouch is great with clients, as is using tape.
top of my list is showing clients the evils of making stuff silly loud and them asking for a quieter, more dynamic CD. its that realisation that (the loudness) war is stupid

[Virtalahde]

How about the moment I print out the C1/C2/CU report and sign it?

[It'sJoeAgain]

Originally Posted by MASSIVE Master

T.M.I.

we all know what ur mind is thinkin John .......i was just talkin about this.. (caiste)

[dave-G]

Originally Posted by bob katz

Any knob that can be turned, has to be turned. Usually happens just before lunch...

I was gonna use the "TMI" bit on this one ^ .

*sigh*

My nerdlike thing is tilting my head diagonally when something sounds wrong ... Like a dog indoors when someone says "squirrel".

-dave

[finetuner]

referring to u-matic tapes and scsi disks as the 'good' 'ol days

[Jerry Tubb]

other audio antics...

Years ago (at a "special" clients' behest), actually exploring the technique of laying the monitor on it's back, putting a dime (or bb) on the woofer, seeing how high the dime would jump. Then inverting the polarity and seeing if the dime would jump any higher. I forget if we called heads or tails : - )

I think we also got two DAT machines to play in "exact" sync by brushing the shuttle/jog wheels.

Layering two different mixes, one where the client liked the low end, the other the high end, finding a "suitable" crossover point & filter slope, and liking the result!

Renting & demoing four different compressors, the client deciding to go sans compression.

Didin't solve anything, but fun diversions nonetheless.

... ah yes, more relaxed times in Austin back in the early '90s, (before iT*nes, DIY "mastering" and the escalation of the volume wars).

JT

[Waltz Mastering]

Sometimes I'll turn the computer monitor off when tweaking analog, Sort of like the "good ol days", when we weren't so programmed to "look" at sound.

Sometimes it strange to me that people/clients are so intent at watching wave forms when what's really goin on is coming out of the speakers.

[ONDRAY]

Originally Posted by Waltz Mastering

Sometimes I'll turn the computer monitor off when tweaking analog, Sort of like the "good ol days", when we weren't so programmed to "look" at sound.

Sometimes it strange to me that people/clients are so intent at watching wave forms when what's really goin on is coming out of the speakers.

Similar thing, I close my eyes when dragging the mouse around a plugin Eq, then try to guess what Freq. is being affected before opening my eyes to see. I love closing my eyes when doing anything with audio.

[KyleDiSanto]

EQ'ing out that Pesky Freq!

[wado1942]

Sometimes it strange to me that people/clients are so intent at watching wave forms when what's really goin on is coming out of the speakers.

One reason I like unsupervised mastering jobs.



This is more of a recording side of things but I like to play with the talk back system. If people are in the live room talking about nothing, I might start to screw with them. I made a recording of one of my friend's wife belching in a 7 mile long cement tube I keep on HDD. Sometimes when they're wearing headphones, it might be a cat purring into a microphone.

Probably the nerdiest thing I do when mastering is work on editing my own videos & films while waiting for off line sample rate conversions & such.

[Joe_caithness]

I did a session yesterday which really needed to be loud.

I found a combination of compressors, one upward one downward and almost did a little dance when I turned them off and worked out how loud I got it