Bernie Grundman or Masterdisk Mastering?

[Checkmate Muzik]

I think Masterdisk has a better overall rates. Quality wise, i think they both up there.

[Soniclabsaudio]

Neither, do some research i would suggest either www.massivemastering.com or bluebearaudio depending on the budget. I dont like either of those ME or there quality of work. Mr. Toads mastering house has won tons of awards as well. We do mastering but it depends on your budget and what your looking for as well.

[Musiclab]

Originally Posted by Soniclabsaudio

Neither, do some research i would suggest either www.massivemastering.com or bluebearaudio depending on the budget. I dont like either of those ME or there quality of work. Mr. Toads mastering house has won tons of awards as well. We do mastering but it depends on your budget and what your looking for as well.

You've got to be kidding.

[Flymax]

You might also want to check Chris Athens at Sterling.

[TonyBelmont]

Originally Posted by Soniclabsaudio

Neither, do some research i would suggest either www.massivemastering.com or bluebearaudio depending on the budget. I dont like either of those ME or there quality of work. Mr. Toads mastering house has won tons of awards as well. We do mastering but it depends on your budget and what your looking for as well.

This is a joke, right? You don't like Bernie Grundman or Masterdisk for hip hop? And, yet between those two and Sterling, they're responsible for all of the major releases over the last 10 years.

I've used Masterdisk in the past and they have done a great job. And Brian at Bernie Grundman has done a ton of hits.

[Ace'Lo]

What about Future Disk Systems? They did alot of No Limit shit and Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince also.

[e-cue]

My answer would depend on who you are using at each of these places. Bernie's is local to me, so I prefer attending the sessions. Big Bass does what he does- expect added distortion. Bernie himself has a better scorecard with me. Masterdisk just did a great job on a couple tracks I mixed (2 radio singles one album cut), so I'm sortah waving their flag at the moment. Sterling usually does a good job but might be out of your budget unless you do the after hours thing. I'd use Brad Blackwood @ Euphonic before the 'after hours' program easily. I'd feel comfortable using him on any major label releases as he has proven himself on past projects he's done for me. I'm still a huge fan of Oasis Mastering in Burbank. Gene for indie, Eddy for major label. Eddy remastered an indie record I did recently that Bad Bass did about half a year back and when I got the CD proof back, there was no question in my mind that Eddy did a better job. Gene is usually about 15% cheaper IME. In a nutshell, indie = Gene or Brad for me (although both can handle major label stuff).

A couple of these places will do one song for you at reduced or no charge as a demonstration. I suggest researching that if you havea lot riding on this project.

[Checkmate Muzik]

^ thanks for the info. ill most def look into oasis.

[PhonoquO]

This is the type of thing i like to read about on this forum.

[the russian]

I must say that Big Bass @ Grundman's DESTROYS the competition. Nice facility, too.

[TonyBelmont]

Originally Posted by PhonoquO

This is the type of thing i like to read about on this forum.

Same here..

[t.dizzle]

Bernie's is a good place to go, but like e-cue mentioned earlier you have to be mindful of who you want to work on your stuff. Other than Bernie and BBBG, there are some young cats in there who work off of Pro Tools and Sonic Solutions and they will often get the project unless you specify otherwise. I've had mostly good luck with Bernie's, but did have to send a couple of things back for distortion (slight) and too much high end. Sometimes, I felt like BBBG would just do a normal formulaic routine on everything without truly putting his ear to it. I don't look for mastering to make my mixes sound better, but I definitely listen to see if it makes them sound worse. More often than not, Bernie's does a great job of keeping everything intact.

Masterdisk is my personal fav. I don't think any of my mixes have been mastered at Sterling, but I have heard nothing but great things about all of their engineers.

I don't like to attend mastering sessions. I said all that I had to say with the mix.

[soultrane]

Originally Posted by Ace'Lo

What about Future Disk Systems? They did alot of No Limit shit and Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince also.

i think they are closed for relocation... moving from hollywood up to the northwest somewhere...

[con?one]

Originally Posted by Soniclabsaudio

Neither, do some research i would suggest either www.massivemastering.com or bluebearaudio depending on the budget. I dont like either of those ME or there quality of work. Mr. Toads mastering house has won tons of awards as well. We do mastering but it depends on your budget and what your looking for as well.

even better: a pair of ipod earbuds and a finalizer.. it's a wrap!

[e-cue]

Originally Posted by t.dizzle

I don't like to attend mastering sessions. I said all that I had to say with the mix.

???

I like attending mastering sessions for several reasons (learning experience, different listening environment, networking in the hallway, half a day vacation, free soda, etc) , but the main one is to ensue they won't pancake my mix into a distortion blob of white noise. This is especially true when multiple engineers worked on the same record because if the ME does a song waving the loudness wars flag and then gets to your song, they'll have to make it as loud or your mix will seem wimpy in context. This happened to me a couple weeks ago at Bernie's on a rather big major label release. They ended up remastering, but the song I mixed was considered a "bonus track" on the record. I truly believe the mastering was partly responsible.

When I do attend, I sit in the back of the room, STFU the whole time until the ME asks me what I think or finishes. Majority of the time, they get it right. But sometimes there's something lost or brought out too much that the ME didn't catch because they didn't listen to the track as much as I did when I mixed it.

In a perfect world this wouldn't be an issue. This is why it's important to find the right ME for you. This is why I like Oasis- I never have to worry if I'm attending or not. Plus, I really like their new place.

[t.dizzle]

Basically, I just mean that the mix should sound nearly identical pre and post mastering. If they screw it up, then I'll petition the powers that be to send it back. I'm sort of a control freak (aren't we all in this business?), and I know that if I attend mastering sessions I'll influence the ME and prolly hose everything.

[Checkmate Muzik]

Tony Dawsey Masterdisk doing the mastering Dec 27, Cant wait!!

[illynoise]

Originally Posted by e-cue

???

I like attending mastering sessions for several reasons (learning experience, different listening environment, networking in the hallway, half a day vacation, free soda, etc) , but the main one is to ensue they won't pancake my mix into a distortion blob of white noise. This is especially true when multiple engineers worked on the same record because if the ME does a song waving the loudness wars flag and then gets to your song, they'll have to make it as loud or your mix will seem wimpy in context. This happened to me a couple weeks ago at Bernie's on a rather big major label release. They ended up remastering, but the song I mixed was considered a "bonus track" on the record. I truly believe the mastering was partly responsible.

When I do attend, I sit in the back of the room, STFU the whole time until the ME asks me what I think or finishes. Majority of the time, they get it right. But sometimes there's something lost or brought out too much that the ME didn't catch because they didn't listen to the track as much as I did when I mixed it.

In a perfect world this wouldn't be an issue. This is why it's important to find the right ME for you. This is why I like Oasis- I never have to worry if I'm attending or not. Plus, I really like their new place.

Which brings me to the question of how do you like it when someone in the back questions what your doing when your mixing down?

Don't take this as a hostile, but a true question? By that statement it seems like your not letting the ME do what he doooos. But personally, and I'm not a pro ME, but in a mix setting I love to hear what people think. Has a big ME taken that personally?

[Bob Olhsson]

I prefer attended sessions!

[NesNeedsGear]

Originally Posted by Checkmate Muzik

Tony Dawsey Masterdisk doing the mastering Dec 27, Cant wait!!

awesome news. Dawsey rocks.

[Checkmate Muzik]

Originally Posted by NesNeedsGear

awesome news. Dawsey rocks.

yea i did a lot of comparin records and i was happy with what i was hearing. ill put it up once i get back, before and after mastering.

[BOO BLADES]

Originally Posted by Checkmate Muzik

Tony Dawsey Masterdisk doing the mastering Dec 27, Cant wait!!

I used Tony on a project last year and it was a cool experience..dont get thrown off by the mixing board tho...its nothing like the recording studio's board...its small with a couple of knobs and faders...he really likes to vibe to the music...thats what makes him hook the shit up and he can get creative with the sequencing as well...if u want i will send u a sample of the tracks...oh yeah...he's a master at cutting wax too

www.booblades.com

[BOO BLADES]

Im bugging...why would i need to send u a sample of his work...just pick up any major hip hop/r&b release and 8 out of 10 times he mastered it...the wall of plaques leading to his studio is nothing short of amazing...he did people u prolly never even thought of.

peace

www.booblades.com

[joshelevator]

frankford wayne does tons of hip-hop records also. all of there ME have cut nice vinyl for me and i know they do cd's i but haven't done that.

[BOO BLADES]

Originally Posted by Checkmate Muzik

its a small board as in it looks different from the mixing boards?

thats exactly what im saying...i forgot the name of the owner of the studio but he custom designed the boards and monitors for the individual engineers...Tony been doing his 1-2 for 20 plus years...when u get there tell him Boo Blades said what up and i didnt forget my hard drive...also...i've heard about yall a long time ago when yall had that hot ass web site with the equalizer on the radio (i jacked that idea for my site)...im glad to see yall still doing the 1-2 after all this time...since then i've started my own movement but its kinda hard to keep momentum cuz the money from the units dont always cover marketing costs...hit me up if u get a chance so we can polly...u obviously have a few more angles figured out than i did...we moved about 20k units in the street, off the internet and thru indie retailers...i had radio play and all that other stuff but it didnt pop off the way i wanted so im concentrating on this next project.


www.booblades.com

[Ace'Lo]

Boo! Man that damn "Hands up" video had me rolling! Ya'll took it far with that one!! You kept it gangsta homie!

[joshelevator]

Originally Posted by Checkmate Muzik

they did our singles in 2002. really good customer service and the lady that works there.

yeah, thats tracy. she's cool as hell. i believe she runs frankford wayne.

[stevens119]

I say BBBG. Easy question. If you're on a tight budget....http://www.wolfmastering.com

[Ace'Lo]

Originally Posted by stevens119

I say BBBG. Easy question. If you're on a tight budget....http://www.wolfmastering.com

How is Erik Wolf's mastering? How is it compared to others like Bernie, and Masterdisk as far as warmth and overall clarity? I'm interested in hearing your answer on this one!

[stevens119]

Well to be honest it's clear as a beautiful bright day sky. As far as warmth goes....It's not as warm as the sound coming out of Bernie's place...but you get what you pay for. A few years ago we got the BBBG mastering for probably around 3 grand, and the wolf for probably 2 less than that. I will say that Wolf is one of the best for independent projects that cant afford major prices.