As a novice "audio engineer" about to take on his frist "real" recording project...

[Nut]

What should I be thinking about from the very beginning in order to be able to hand over the best product to the mastering engineer ? I guess i'm talking mostly from a technical perspective..

We're yet to select a mastering engineer/studio yet, but once that is done i'll be talking to them about this futher.

Until then though I am most keen on being advised on what will make the Mastering engineers life easier, and give them the best "clay" to mould the record out of.

Cheers !

[bob katz]

Originally Posted by Nut

What should I be thinking about from the very beginning in order to be able to hand over the best product to the mastering engineer ? I guess i'm talking mostly from a technical perspective..

We're yet to select a mastering engineer/studio yet, but once that is done i'll be talking to them about this futher.

Until then though I am most keen on being advised on what will make the Mastering engineers life easier, and give them the best "clay" to mould the record out of.

Cheers !

Hello, nut. Well, first of all, make it sing and swing and leave plenty of good dynamics and impact. Don't try to make it "loud", your job is to make it sound good. And since you are a relative novice, before you pronounce your mix finished, check out your mix on a large number of systems. Don't try to make the highs stand out in the car, it will sound shrill everywhere else. Just make it translate, so that each system sounds as good (or bad) as you know it to sound. If it sound like there's too much bass on EVERY system, then there's probably too much bass. But if the system that always has a thumpy kick sounds thumpy, then it's probably all right. Mix a vocal up and down (1/2 db) for safety, and if possible capture the gang of four (visit digido.com for a description). And if possible, consult with a mastering engineer, let him or her listen to one of your mixes to tell you if they are mastering ready and have good potential before you commit. Many mastering engineers (as will I) will give you a free consultation on one of your mixes if you are considering mastering with them.

Hope this helps!

Bob

[Nut]

Ahh, cool. Thanks for that Bob !

One thing that i've been thinking about... when it comes to bass energy, is it something that I should err ont he side of have a little "too much", rather than not enough ? I don't really like asking that as it sounds lazy and enforces the "fix it in mastering" idea.

Hypathetically though, if you were to be in a position where you had to add bass energy to a mix because it needed it, or you had to take it away because there was too much, which would you prefer ?

After reading a little of that link i'm still not sure what the gang of four is... Are you talking about stems ? Either way, I shall be continuing to read as it is most relevent and informative!

[bob katz]

Originally Posted by Nut

Ahh, cool. Thanks for that Bob !

One thing that i've been thinking about... when it comes to bass energy, is it something that I should err ont he side of have a little "too much", rather than not enough ? I don't really like asking that as it sounds lazy and enforces the "fix it in mastering" idea.

Right... regardless of whether it is bass, treble, midrange, bass drum, everything, you should not "err on any side". The more right your decision, the better your master will be. The less the mastering engineer has to do, chances are the better the master will be!

Yep, in gang of four I'm talking about suggested stems. These are strictly for safety. But what a safety net, and it serves you well for a capella, TV version, as well. Here's a direct link

http://www.digido.com/portal/pmodule...ng%20of%20Four

BK