Online Mastering?

[Dog_Chao_Chao]

Hi all. This month´s SOS has a nice article about online mastering. They state that the costs are much lower and that the uploading runs without any major problems. Also they question the consequences of a mastering session without the presence of the client or the recording engineer. It can lead to a final result that doesn´t correspond to the client taste or objectives. Another thing that is discussed is the fact that some of the facilities providing this service returned a master without any major differences from the original mix with a "home mastering " treatment . Some, they say, you couldn´t tell apart. Other were too limited and compressed sounding too harsh.
Well, i guess that i´m just curious about your opinion on this. Can it be a good way for people with smaller budjets to send their work to a Mastering house? Or is it still far from a good option?
I would like also to thank Bob for his help and availability to answer all our questions.
Thanks

[Jose Mrochek]

In my limited experience I found online mastering to work perfectly. I honestly think it has to do with who you choose as ME. Myself as a client don´t see the need of being at the session, except for maybe learning something new and nice chit chat. Actually, you know what.. I believe it´s counterproductive.

[neilwight]

i find from my end that online mastering works aswell as attended, often better as the space involved allows a more considered approach from both sides.

i get to think/listen in peace and the client can think about the results in their own time without feeling pressured or getting sucked into the vibe with big monitors.

as long as the facility involved is prepared to invest extra time in dialogue and swapping of files back and forth i find that it can yeild much more long term satisfying results from the clients side both in understanding and product.

i know of many artists/labels who have had to go back a week or two later from an attended session at some big places to get some or all of it redone so this way isnt fool proof in the least as some may expect.

its all about interpretation and getting the product the best for the client and as such it can work as well as any other way.

cost can be kept down simply due to the fact that jobs can be jiggled around and the time involved is generally less on unattended sessions.

[Dog_Chao_Chao]

I can understand that. Lately i´ve been mixing my clients music without their presence. I can work faster and more objectively. When i think i´m getting somewhere i send them a cd so they can listen at home, car, etc., and note down what they still don´t like or what they would like to see altered. Then send them in for the final thouch. I guess it can be the same with mastering.
One thing that made me think though was the fact that, in that SOS test review, they clame that some of the mastered songs didn´t sound much better. Flaws weren´t correct, improvement was very slight. Other were too squeezed. Is there a relation between online mastering and quality? How come it´s one third of the price or less?

[pingu]

Originally Posted by Jose Mrochek

In my limited experience I found online mastering to work perfectly. I honestly think it has to do with who you choose as ME. Myself as a client don´t see the need of being at the session, except for maybe learning something new and nice chit chat. Actually, you know what.. I believe it´s counterproductive.

Yes it depends who you choose.

Most times YGWYPF.

[Dyer Maker]

There are good mastering engineers and bad ones. A good one will do a good job no matter how he/she gets the material, a bad one.......

I like to sit in on mastering sessions. It makes things go a lot faster.

[Mike Caffrey]

What' the difference betweein online mastering and an unattended session?

[Cellotron]

Originally Posted by Mike Caffrey

What' the difference betweein online mastering and an unattended session?

Nothing except the use of FTP to upload the mixes to the mastering house - and possibly the providing of references via linked wav or mp3 files to download. I'd imagine that there are some also that provide the final master as a DDP image that can be ftp'd to the replicator also. I'd imagine payment can also be made online via credit card or Paypal.

To me unattended sessions can go very well as long as long as the ME is experienced and communication between the ME & client is good - and as long as a single round of basic revisions if the client desires them are included in the package price.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[Jose Mrochek]

Originally Posted by Mike Caffrey

What' the difference betweein online mastering and an unattended session?

umm you can communicate via email ?? haha

[neilwight]

difference between online and unattended.
here.... pretty much nothing at all. either has access to FTP if they prefer, can have physical masters etc etc and most like to deal with emails anyways though i guess jose's joke was pretty well spot on ref email contact being most prevelant.

other places, some facilities allow you to book, upload, receive and pay for your session and files entirely from the website. how this works with respect to getting a feel for what a client wants i dont know. for a large number i know theres no interaction at all and it just runs like an assembly line. others offer it in tandem with their established business so i assume there must be some discourse to and fro though ive never used any

the SOS tests seems somehow to have operated without a continual feedback loop that i would have expected to have been put into place by most facilities with a new or newish client. i know i would have had a heavy one going here. whether this was down to the SOS end or the mastering end i have no idea though given this appears to have been the situation its hardly surprising the results werent so pronounced or satisfying to whoever produced the mixes.

there was a nice little webcast i listened to recently wiith shelly yakus, a mix engineer (john lennon, jim morrisson, the band,alice cooper (he did schools out), U2 etc ) on his views on mastering and his experiences. he stated that he very much likes to give files to the ME and let them do their thing. get them back, comment on, get new versions and only at this stage then maybe go in to see them.
he said that way you get the benefit of their experience without interfering.

he also said that after a first pass he'd expect 4 of 10 tracks to be right, maybe another 3-4 the second time which just proves that its both about interpretation and communication is crucial to getting it just right.

ref costs, beyond the reasons listed before theres glaringly large differences in some places pricing, often because some are just some kid, living at home with cracked waves diamond working on headphones or m-audio monitors.
while they may or may not do a good job their overheads are going to be vastly less than than someone with a heavy investment in quality gear.
other times its just pure economics. i certainly cant charge as much as sterling at this moment

[bob katz]

Originally Posted by neilwight

difference between online and unattended.

snip

there was a nice little webcast i listened to recently wiith shelly yakus, a mix engineer (john lennon, jim morrisson, the band,alice cooper (he did schools out), U2 etc ) on his views on mastering and his experiences. he stated that he very much likes to give files to the ME and let them do their thing. get them back, comment on, get new versions and only at this stage then maybe go in to see them.
he said that way you get the benefit of their experience without interfering.

Unattended also will cost you less in the long run. Unlike some houses, we don't charge extra for attended sessions, but by the time you've done all the "communicating", it takes more time. It's the pretty rare session where the client and the mastering engineer aren't "verbally communicating" a bit and that does take time. Of course that can be a good thing if there are very specific things about the mix that require attention... But usually, as Shelly said, let the mastering engineer do his thing, feel the sound and then "ask questions later."

BK