free mastering

[Bourbaki]

first of all are the ones that offer free mastering any good or is it free because the quality isn't up to scratch?

can anybody offer a free 1 track service or recommend any good ones I can try?

thankyou.

Bourbaki

[Sonicologico]

Hi, if you want contact me

[Never1]

Many ME's will offer a free one track demo.

I do it with potential clients all the time. I do insert a 1khz tone in a few random spots to watermark it. After all, it's my time and they're supposed to be checking out my work, not getting a free lunch.

[Bourbaki]

Originally Posted by Never1

Many ME's will offer a free one track demo.

I do it with potential clients all the time. I do insert a 1khz tone in a few random spots to watermark it. After all, it's my time and they're supposed to be checking out my work, not getting a free lunch.

I understand. Its a business. No free lunch. But there are others who do offer a free no obligation service.

I'll be honest about my intentions. I am not looking to have a whole album mastered nor am I after a free lunch. I just want to see what can be done with an unmastered track I have and how it would vary from one mastering engineer to another.

[Never1]

Originally Posted by Bourbaki

I understand. Its a business. No free lunch. But there are others who do offer a free no obligation service.

I'll be honest about my intentions. I am not looking to have a whole album mastered nor am I after a free lunch. I just want to see what can be done with an unmastered track I have and how it would vary from one mastering engineer to another.

Some guys will do it, depending on how busy they are. If you're booked weeks in advance, are you really going to waste time entertaining someone who just wants to check your work out?

On the other hand there's guys like me.

I only master a bit, atm. A few clients a month but I'm working on getting more turnover in clientele, as I'm stepping away from tracking and focusing more on mixing and mastering.

I'd gladly do a demo for you to check out for your own education, but It wouldn't be until next week sometimes, that I could deliver it.

PM me and I'll send you my drop box link.

[Franco]

Originally Posted by Bourbaki

first of all are the ones that offer free mastering any good or is it free because the quality isn't up to scratch?

Well, you would hope that you're doing free masters because the quality is top notch and you want to prove it to people who may be skeptical of your service.

I haven't been able to do free masters for a few months now; I'm currently offering to deduct the cost of the paid song's rate if the client comes back to give me a full project to work on. For a few years I was doing free masters and some people wouldn't even say thanks, but the majority would end up being jobs, so I think it's very worth doing that, if you have the time. Thankfully I've been too busy with work lately, but when things slow down for me, I will open the free master thing up again.

[Bourbaki]

Originally Posted by Never1

Some guys will do it, depending on how busy they are. If you're booked weeks in advance, are you really going to waste time entertaining someone who just wants to check your work out?

On the other hand there's guys like me.

I only master a bit, atm. A few clients a month but I'm working on getting more turnover in clientele, as I'm stepping away from tracking and focusing more on mixing and mastering.

I'd gladly do a demo for you to check out for your own education, but It wouldn't be until next week sometimes, that I could deliver it.

ok I will take up your offer. How will you decide what to do with it though?
Thats what interests me.

[Never1]

Originally Posted by Bourbaki

ok I will take up your offer. How will you decide what to do with it though?
Thats what interests me.

I'll decide based on a number of things.

I've spent some time around some really great ME's in the past, mostly because I would fly out to wherever they were, to get my work mastered and be there for the process.

In doing so, 99% of them all do pretty much the same thing. They listen to it, decide where it's at, decide where it could go and pull out every tool necessary to get the job done.... And this is all usually taking into consideration what the client wants, in the end.

Recently one of my mixes came back untouched, pretty much. It was louder, but the ME decided it was great and that was cool.

Sometimes, the mixes come back totally different but a heck of a lot better. Sometimes they comeback different but not better at all, and that's a problem that has to be sorted out.

I'll check it out and see what's up with your mix. The better the mix, the better the master. The more problems a mix has, the more work is involved and soetimes it's nothing more than a salvage operation as opposed to a mastering session.

[Table Of Tone]

Originally Posted by Bourbaki

first of all are the ones that offer free mastering any good or is it free because the quality isn't up to scratch?

can anybody offer a free 1 track service or recommend any good ones I can try?

thankyou.

Bourbaki

You must be from London right?

[Waltz Mastering]

Originally Posted by Bourbaki

first of all are the ones that offer free mastering any good or is it free because the quality isn't up to scratch?

can anybody offer a free 1 track service or recommend any good ones I can try?

thankyou.

Bourbaki

Didn't you have a track mastered at Sony and Oasis and couldn't tell the difference?

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/mastering-forum/433783-comparing-two-different-masters.html

[Bourbaki]

Originally Posted by Table Of Tone

You must be from London right?

why must I be?

[Bourbaki]

Originally Posted by Waltz Mastering

Didn't you have a track mastered at Sony and Oasis and couldn't tell the difference?

comparing two different masters

No.

[Bourbaki]

Originally Posted by Never1

I'll decide based on a number of things.

I've spent some time around some really great ME's in the past, mostly because I would fly out to wherever they were, to get my work mastered and be there for the process.

In doing so, 99% of them all do pretty much the same thing. They listen to it, decide where it's at, decide where it could go and pull out every tool necessary to get the job done.... And this is all usually taking into consideration what the client wants, in the end.

Recently one of my mixes came back untouched, pretty much. It was louder, but the ME decided it was great and that was cool.

Sometimes, the mixes come back totally different but a heck of a lot better. Sometimes they comeback different but not better at all, and that's a problem that has to be sorted out.

I'll check it out and see what's up with your mix. The better the mix, the better the master. The more problems a mix has, the more work is involved and soetimes it's nothing more than a salvage operation as opposed to a mastering session.

What happens if its already been semi mastered? can the same mix be mastered again?

[Never1]

Originally Posted by Bourbaki

No.

lol! Sure looks like your name on the first post of that thread.

Ok, I'm going to revoke my offer.

This is just screwy/suspicious and I don't want to get involved.

[Cellotron]

For potential clients that have never used my service I offer a "free sample" of one tune under 5 minutes. This sample is not crippled with things like inserted beeps or early fades - to me since I've bothered doing the work on spec I might as well give the client something they can actually use. Since I'm not really a "name" ME yet I think it makes folks a lot more comfortable to be able to hear what I can actually do for their own tracks before sending a larger order in. I've gotten a good number of long term clients this way so for me it's worth it do. It does involve a bit of wait on the part of the artist (usually around 2 to 3 weeks - sometimes less, sometimes more) as my paying work always takes priority before doing free samples.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[beanface]

Originally Posted by Table Of Tone

You must be from London right?

Has to be...

[beanface]

Originally Posted by Bourbaki

No.

Why lie? The link went straight to your thread. Do you go around to different engineers getting free dribs and drabs done or something?

[Bourbaki]

Originally Posted by beanface

Why lie? The link went straight to your thread. Do you go around to different engineers getting free dribs and drabs done or something?

Those tracks are not mine, and I didn't 'have them mastered' they are commercial tracks. I have two copies from two different albums and I couldn't tell the difference so I asked for somebody with better ears and better equipment to take a listen.

[Jesse Graffam]

While it is possible the two masters came out exactly the same, it's hardly probable. Have you considered that your own listening equipment might not be good enough to begin to judge any masters you may get? I mean, unless the master is patently bad, of course.

[Bourbaki]

Originally Posted by uncajesse

While it is possible the two masters came out exactly the same, it's hardly probable. Have you considered that your own listening equipment might not be good enough to begin to judge any masters you may get? I mean, unless the master is patently bad, of course.

Thats why I'm asking for help so I know what to look out for.

[Table Of Tone]

Originally Posted by uncajesse

While it is possible the two masters came out exactly the same, it's hardly probable. Have you considered that your own listening equipment might not be good enough to begin to judge any masters you may get? I mean, unless the master is patently bad, of course.

[aleatoric]

I do a 90 second segment of a song as a free sample for new clients. I do not do a whole track for free simply because it is unfair to people who pay me to master a single.

[cemski]

No free mastering here. All clients i get, come from recommendation. And imho i think this is the best way, to get what you are looking for. What else does an artist want than a certain sound and quality? I think an artist better gets a recommendation from other artists with good sounding releases than shop mastering studios for free samples.
if somebody wants to know "how mastering itself sounds" he is friendly invited to a guided tour

[Babaluma]

i offer 1 track for free, second project for a donation and third project on for a flat rate per track, but then it's not my day job and i am just starting out professionally (although i have been mastering for nearly 10 years).