Mastering for classical music

[Nikolas]

Hi,

I have 6 (lengthy up to 11 minutes long) tracks, all recorded live (not under the best circumstances or gear, but they do sound rather good to my ears), and all "classical music" (as in contemporary classical music, classical orchestral instruments, strings and piano, performed, no studio involved (almost)).

I'm looking for recommendations on where to send the tracks. I do want to put a CD out. And want to do the best job I possibly can.

I'm NOT looking to do it myself, I don't have the gear, probably my home studio is not up to the job, and certainly my ears are not THAT trained.

Hopefully I'll get some ideas. I can find any mastering studio, google helps, but asking the same question again and again, when I see them advertising their amazing skills in dance music (which is brilliant I don't mind, just not sure you need the same 'set of skills' or 'pair of ears' to do classical music as you need in dance music), is becoming tiresome...

Again, thanks for all your help.

Nikolas

[jpupo74]

Hi there,

Usually mastering of Classical Music ends up being nothing different from the mix in terms of colour, balance and dynamic range (which is usually done with volume automation).

If the repertoire was recorded in different venues then you'll have a bit of trouble putting it up together. People sometimes use a tiny bit of the same reverb on every track to try to make them sound as if they were tracked in the same venue.

Maybe if you post more details of the repertoire and procedures you can receive more help.

Cheers,
Pupo

[24-96 Mastering]

Originally Posted by jpupo74

Hi there,

Usually mastering of Classical Music ends up being nothing different from the mix in terms of colour, balance and dynamic range (which is usually done with volume automation).

Agreed, mastering for classical usually is very much a QC job only. And while that, with classical, usually means avoiding influence on the signal, it can also mean fixing edits, filtering rumble, taming low end (think omnis), notching resonances, taking out coughs & other noises, etc. Depends entirely on the production at hand, how controlled the recording was executed and how much has or hasn't been done in editing.

[Nikolas]

Thanks Pupo,

Some details on the 6 tracks:

They are all recorded in different venues, different microphones, different everything.

1 track (solo piano) was recorded this year in Cleveland in a studio, and I think that it sounds very good
2 other tracks (solo piano and some electronics) were recorded 8 years ago in Athens, Greece, in 2 studios (!!) and sadly the recordings sounds very bad (at least to my ears and compaired to the above).
1 string orchestra piece was recorded with multiple mic setup, by an engineer in a concert hall (too dry, but I think that the engineer put additional reverb, which I can't take off, at least I don't think I can).
1 violin duet was recorded in a studio, excellent mics (no idea what were they! :D), by me and I added reverb and a tiny bit of EQ
Finally a string quartet was recorded by a minidisk and I actually think it sounds quite good! Again I added reverb and EQ.

For all tracks except the string orchestra I have the dry material. Mixing is fine, I think, at least these were my intentions, but making the tracks 'shine' is a different issue.

Thanks

And thanks 24-96 for your post as well!

[jpupo74]

Cool...

Have you considered not placing the bad sounding tracks on the same CD?

You know...if you think they're not so good...

Cheers,
Pupo

[Nikolas]

Actually, no... I hadn't consider it!

Thing is that I'm trying to see if they are salvagable and what a different pair of ears think, before I go ditch them and try to get them recorded again (which would mean more $ to spend).

Again thanks Pupo.

[jpupo74]

Hmmm...
You could post them and receive some feedback. The thing about feedback on Gearslutz is that unfortunately, most of the time, becomes very rough.
Maybe you want to consider this...but it's up to you.

Cheers,
Pupo

[Nikolas]

Sorry for asking, but since I'm quite new here.

Where would I post a few mp3s (not wavs, too large), for people to have a listen and post some comments on the production, mastering etc? Circumstances were further than ideal than ever while recording, already mentioned that, but either way it's not bad to have more people listening...

[anacleton]

For uploading try rapidshare.com and then paste here the link.

[jpupo74]

Nikolas,

I've done QC for a while and have also mastered some classical works so I'll add something to 24 - 96 Mastering's post, which I find is very good help.

Something very important for me in Classical Music CD's is the timing between songs. Listen to the last 30 to 50 seconds of every movement and title before adding the marker were you want the music to start. I usually do this 2 or 3 times and then I take a look to my markers. They usually end up around the same area so I then choose the middle point.

Besides timing, something important for me as well is how tonalities mix with each other; what comes next? does it sound strange to your ears? harsh?

For me this is important on every genre of music, helping the listener feel comfortable from beginning to end.

Last but not the least...
Leveling every single track with each other.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Pupo

[Odeon-Mastering]

Nikola Geia sou.

Sou esteila ena PM me oles tis plirofories gia tis upiresies pou prosferw. Tha itan megali mou xara na sizitisoume kai giati oxi na sunergastoume.

Apostolos Siopis

[Thor]

Hi Nikolas,

have you called Chris at Athens Mastering? He's the guy to go to, very experienced, great ears and great gear. If anyone can make your tracks work together, he can.

Athens Mastering

Cheers,
Thor

Originally Posted by Nikolas

Hi,

I have 6 (lengthy up to 11 minutes long) tracks, all recorded live (not under the best circumstances or gear, but they do sound rather good to my ears), and all "classical music" (as in contemporary classical music, classical orchestral instruments, strings and piano, performed, no studio involved (almost)).

I'm looking for recommendations on where to send the tracks. I do want to put a CD out. And want to do the best job I possibly can.

I'm NOT looking to do it myself, I don't have the gear, probably my home studio is not up to the job, and certainly my ears are not THAT trained.

Hopefully I'll get some ideas. I can find any mastering studio, google helps, but asking the same question again and again, when I see them advertising their amazing skills in dance music (which is brilliant I don't mind, just not sure you need the same 'set of skills' or 'pair of ears' to do classical music as you need in dance music), is becoming tiresome...

Again, thanks for all your help.

Nikolas

[lowland]

...or you could try Eric James at URM Audio, a classical specialist and all-round good guy - he edited the Bob Katz mastering book among other things.

Audio Recording Services in Suffolk, UK - URM Audio Ltd