Defining MASTERING for the lay man...

[KyleDiSanto]

So here's something that came up after I met up with some of my banking buddies last night that I would like to seek some council about...


How do you guys/gals define mastering for the non-musician/producer/engineer/etc...type?

I have no problem explaining it to clients, bands, artists, other people who work in the industry, but it seems that MASTERING is this really hard concept to grasp for them. Obviously I blame my own communication and so I'm wondering what you say to others, maybe freinds/family and etc... when asked to define what it is you do.

Its funny, because the normal things I would say to a band like "make the album flow as a whole, be balanced, sound great on all systems, bring it up to commercial level"...ya ya ya ya ya...stuff doesn't seem to satisfy them in definition...

So before I drive my self nuts over this one...what do you all think?

[Virtalahde]

I always say I make music sound better.

[KyleDiSanto]

Yeah I use that one too...and then the "How?" question comes hahaha lol...gotta love over analytical friends man

[It'sJoeAgain]

how about, "mastering is the last step for quality control and if i fail millions of copies will be ruined"...How does that rub u??

[SurveillanceP]

You: You know how a band records an album, and then its mixed to get all the levels and effects and stuff right?

Them: Erm, yeah.

You: Yeah well before they send it off to make it into a CD, there is one final step in there. Thats where I come in.

Them: Right so what does that involve?

You: You wouldn't understand.

(beat)

Them: Ok.

(beat)

You: So how about that crazy thing in the news this week that we all saw?



ALTERNATIVE ENDING
------

Them: So what does that involve exactly?

You: (Straightfaced) Well I compress, surgically EQ, maybe fix a few clicks and pops, establish an overall volume flow and polish. Actually I use a Cranesong with Klaxon Virtual Upsizers for the most part then round it all off by nipping some of the Bass out of the frequency ethernet space to tighten things up. Sometimes I even bake the premaster in our special microwave condenser for 10-20 seconds to add that sugareyness that all your favourite bands have.

(beat)

Them: So how about that crazy thing in the news this week that we all saw?

[KyleDiSanto]

LOL ha ha ha That's a good one...

[IIIrd]

we make it sound like a record....
thats what one producer said to me...."just make it sound like a record"

[Bob Olhsson]

To me mastering is all about making sure the presentation of the mix makes the best possible first impression on taste makers while not degrading the repeated listening experience for fans. I never forget that people's music careers are riding on everything I do.

[lucey]

I make a framing analogy ...

"mixers give me individual songs and i give them a whole record that's ready for production. each song is like a little painting and i take all those paintings, and make each one better while at the same time framing them into the most beautiful collage possible"


... and that 'seems' to work.

[Cellotron]

I tell them it's like a kitchen at a restaurant - the prep chef is the tracking engineer, the sous chef is the mix engineer, and I'm the guy who puts everything in the right portions on the plate and makes the presentation look pretty.

Other than that I tell a summary of the definition I have at What Is Mastering?

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[chironomidae]

I think the simplest, if slightly inaccurate, way to describe it would be thus:

"While a mixing engineer is responsible for each individual instrument in a track, the mastering engineer is responsible for the track as a whole. The mastering engineer works with the forest, the mixer works with the trees."

Of course that is oversimplified, but I think for most laymen it is sufficient to at least give them an idea of what an ME does.

[domokunrox]

Mastering is your qualified 2nd opinion, quality control, and the preparation of the music for its final medium.

[inlinenl]

for the real blanks on this subject :

"I photoshop audio" ..... it always works ...

you know tight and big ....... and I make a nice Pirelli Calender

[joeaudio]

They mix it. We fix it.

[finetuner]

Originally Posted by joeaudio

They mix it. We fix it.

good one


Dotting i's and crossing t's

[thethrillfactor]

Originally Posted by joeaudio

They mix it. We fix it.

Or...

They mix it and we crush it & distort it.

(Ok i kid, i kid!!!).

[jdg]

my family never understood what i do...
i tell them "i make s**t loud"

[aleatoric]

Originally Posted by joeaudio

They mix it. We fix it.

I also like the photoshop analogy and have thought of this myself. If you have ever worked with photoshop simply to enhance a picture you will see the similarities. Manipulating contrast, adjusting color balance, shadowing, minor cropping, etc. The final outcome is still the original photo but the tastefully enhanced image is much more pleasing to the eye and often simply balances the imperfections of your camera equipment, lighting and image placement, very similar to what happens to audio in mastering.

[mastertone]

Originally Posted by jdg

my family never understood what i do...
i tell them "i make s**t loud"

Hey John!

OT (sry) but hows new the room coming along?

[jdg]

Originally Posted by mastertone

Hey John!

OT (sry) but hows new the room coming along?

hey jonas! its still messy, but it sounds great

wires are everywhere. and fabric is draping over the treatment for now. but i can work

/back on topic!

[formlabs]

Great interview with Greg Calbi from Sterling Sound - scroll down to the part on describing the mastering process - he uses photography as an analogy too.

Greg Calbi - ArtistshouseMusic

[Adam Dempsey]

Originally Posted by aleatoric

I also like the photoshop analogy and have thought of this myself. If you have ever worked with photoshop simply to enhance a picture you will see the similarities. Manipulating contrast, adjusting color balance, shadowing, minor cropping, etc. The final outcome is still the original photo but the tastefully enhanced image is much more pleasing to the eye and often simply balances the imperfections of your camera equipment, lighting and image placement, very similar to what happens to audio in mastering.

Helps to have a calibrated (screen & colour temp lighting) environment to make accurate judgement calls though. (plus working from a high res TIFF or RAW, not a low res jpg, which is how I often explain the need & benefits of submitting high res mixes).

[dualflip]

Originally Posted by joeaudio

They mix it. We fix it.

I have one from the mixers point of view: "We mix it, they give us back a brick"

[Trell Blaze]

Originally Posted by SurveillanceP

You: You know how a band records an album, and then its mixed to get all the levels and effects and stuff right?

Them: Erm, yeah.

You: Yeah well before they send it off to make it into a CD, there is one final step in there. Thats where I come in.

Them: Right so what does that involve?

You: You wouldn't understand.

(beat)

Them: Ok.

(beat)

You: So how about that crazy thing in the news this week that we all saw?



ALTERNATIVE ENDING
------

Them: So what does that involve exactly?

You: (Straightfaced) Well I compress, surgically EQ, maybe fix a few clicks and pops, establish an overall volume flow and polish. Actually I use a Cranesong with Klaxon Virtual Upsizers for the most part then round it all off by nipping some of the Bass out of the frequency ethernet space to tighten things up. Sometimes I even bake the premaster in our special microwave condenser for 10-20 seconds to add that sugareyness that all your favourite bands have.

(beat)

Them: So how about that crazy thing in the news this week that we all saw?

In my experience it usually goes...

Me:You know how, when I mix your stuff, I balance each sound and vocal using EQ, and all that good stuff?

Them: Huh?

Me: Nevermind. I can make you a super loud version of this song if you want...

[Susceptor]

Originally Posted by Adam Dempsey

Helps to have a calibrated (screen & colour temp lighting) environment to make accurate judgement calls though. (plus working from a high res TIFF or RAW, not a low res jpg, which is how I often explain the need & benefits of submitting high res mixes).

Sorry for being OT, but...
Ken Rockwell would disagree on the RAW part of your statement... Also, he probably would insist that you either use medium or large format film, or high quality jpeg; in each case, you should use great lenses (if possible), but the most important part is the vibe of the photo.

[asaboogie]

Originally Posted by SurveillanceP

You: You know how a band records an album, and then its mixed to get all the levels and effects and stuff right?

Them: Erm, yeah.

You: Yeah well before they send it off to make it into a CD, there is one final step in there. Thats where I come in.

Them: Right so what does that involve?

You: You wouldn't understand.

(beat)

Them: Ok.

(beat)

You: So how about that crazy thing in the news this week that we all saw?



ALTERNATIVE ENDING
------

Them: So what does that involve exactly?

You: (Straightfaced) Well I compress, surgically EQ, maybe fix a few clicks and pops, establish an overall volume flow and polish. Actually I use a Cranesong with Klaxon Virtual Upsizers for the most part then round it all off by nipping some of the Bass out of the frequency ethernet space to tighten things up. Sometimes I even bake the premaster in our special microwave condenser for 10-20 seconds to add that sugareyness that all your favourite bands have.

(beat)

Them: So how about that crazy thing in the news this week that we all saw?

hilarious! this thread is great. There's some great analogies in here.

[Adam Dempsey]

Originally Posted by Susceptor

Sorry for being OT, but...
Ken Rockwell would disagree on the RAW part of your statement... Also, he probably would insist that you either use medium or large format film, or high quality jpeg; in each case, you should use great lenses (if possible), but the most important part is the vibe of the photo.

Definitely, as I would, too (film & lenses). Vibe/the moment/lighting, even more so. Photography is a hobby of mine. True, RAW is really a working format, not really a standard interchange format.

[Darwin James]

I get asked at least twice a week when my album is coming out and I say it's being mastered, maybe 1% of the people understand it. No point in trying to explain.

[Mr.HOLMES]

Sometimes Mastering is even producing AUDIO-TRASH---->
Listen to DEATH MAGNETIC by Metallica...


But anyway for me as a small business guy I see the mastering engineer as my "partner". In first he makes for me sure that my mix is translating equal on other systems as well.... even if the mix is good...and is well translating maybe he can make it better.

Sometimes I wish he would be true to me.... I have not found a mastering egninner yet who was true and said e.g.:

The mix is not bad but you should do some things different, may you start from scratch ... etc....


This would be nice to find a mastering engineer who is not shy to tell the truth because he wants to get the next job as well.... this is a dream for me to find a real partner in mastering ....

[5down1up]

Originally Posted by Mr.HOLMES

who is not shy to tell the truth because he wants to get the next job as well

mainly thats not what people want to hear. would be like the guy behind the desk asking you at McDonalds " your sure you want to order all that stuff ? man your fat already "

greetz to berlin