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***MASTERING***

Poltergeistr...	Date: November 14, 2005 @ 1:00 PM Ok techheads.... show me your worth! Explain to me WHY/(or why not) I should book a mastering engineer for 2 hours instead of 1..... Explain please exactly ( preferably according to experience) the difference that mastering makes to say, a 4 tracked ep of about 15 mins worth of music.... the guy I'm thinking of booking wants two hours....... he's highly recommended by alot of ppl in the country ( not just Dublin) but I am not fully convinced of a two hour session... It's not that I'm being scabby with the finances or that I don't value what mastering engineers do, I understand it (by listening to a selection of unmastered then mastered music) even though some would say the process is merely "raising the volume" of the whole recording.... Anyone want to comment?? ( I have 3 hours.... )
Poltergeistr...	Date: November 14, 2005 @ 1:01 PM by the way I'm from Ireland ( hence the Dublin.. sorry!)
GeneHilbert	Date: November 14, 2005 @ 1:51 PM Mastering is not only about volume. It is about the cohesive blend of all the material on a recording. Volume, EQ, Presence, and flow (song order). It might be that since this guy does not know you - he booked the 2hr session to make sure he could get the job done in case the songs require a lot of touch up attention. I have heard some awful mixing – which requires a lot of attention, and some of it was beyond perfecting. Occasionally if less time is required you won't be charged - but I bet the engineer has a 2hr minimum for studio time, which is not unusual. I know this because I do the same thing. Depending on his fee it my not be worth his time to book only an hr. If you don’t mind – what is he charging you to master 4 tunes? Probably the best answer to your query is that you should have asked him that very question when you booked the session.
Poltergeistr...	Date: November 15, 2005 @ 6:17 AM Thanks Gene Hilbert. Well the rate is €85 per hour. I actually did ask how long it would take to master this e.p (four short tracks in total) and he was suggested and booked through a producer friend who I've also hired for this project. Initially is was supposed to be a 1 hour session but two hours was suggested yesterday... I take what you are saying into consideration. It's just that I honestly don't quite understand the process of Mastering as I've never done it or paid for it before... just looking for opinions.
Bhairava	Date: November 15, 2005 @ 5:52 PM Masterings very important. There is often a lot of expensive high end equipment needed and it takes years of experience to get it right. I'd go with the two hour session. I'm suprised that someone would actually be able to master well in just an hour anyway unless the mix is pretty good already. There are some things which take ages to sort out.
marcosalvarez	Date: November 16, 2005 @ 11:11 AM i think the subject is ..well you maybe hire 1 hour and the result may be ok..or you maybe hire 2 hours but doing so you will be sure that everything is gonna be fixed...it is your EP..your creation..i wouldn´t hesitate in giving it the best i could afford
MickeyBreezy	Date: November 19, 2005 @ 1:39 AM another way 2 look at it, is if u hire him for 1 hour, n he needs more time, u'll be pissed, because u only planned to pay however much the cost is, but if u hire him for 2 hours, n he can do it in less time, since u planned on paying the 2 hour price, but now only have 2 pay part of it as it didnt take the whole 2 hours, you'll feel you got a deal out of it. ...if that helps at all
sanabriamusic	Date: November 19, 2005 @ 11:37 AM One very convincing test of what Gene and Bhairava said,which i very much agree with, is to download the free mastering software and give it a try..you will see how cumbersome mastering can be. the software is free and its named: Leons simple audio mastering. if u do a search you will easily find it.
sanabriamusic	Date: November 19, 2005 @ 11:39 AM by the way my music is in no way a sample of the result of the mastering software since i havent spent enough time with it.
DeadraveN	Date: November 19, 2005 @ 1:49 PM hey thanks for that sanabria! always like finding new audio stuffs, and you can't beat free!
sanabriamusic	Date: November 20, 2005 @ 1:05 AM you are very welcome. let me know if you found it and how you made out with it. its seems like a very good tool.
hueseph	Date: November 20, 2005 @ 4:09 AM Well, I hardly think that, that particular software gives a good representation of what mastering entails but the point is understood. A mastering studio will generally have many different high end compressors, eq's(parametric and graphic), RTA's, De Essers, Exciters. Being that one tool may not work for all applications. Many machines have their specific characteristics. Some colour the sound. Others don't. Depending on what the track needs, you use the right tool. But that takes years of ear training. To sit in a mastering room while the engineer is working, you might see him fiddling around and hear no noticeable difference when he makes changes. Only when you compare the "raw" and mastered tracks will you be able to notice the change.
LiQuidMetamo...	Date: January 20, 2006 @ 8:00 PM I am in no way a mastering engineer, but I have recently been experimenting with Wavelab and it is a steep learning curve (I have done many hours of research before hand reading tutorials from pro mastering engineers). I have used levelling/limiters, eq's, multiband compressors etc and must say the results were MUCH better than the mixed wave file without mastering (probably far less impressive than a pro mastering engineer, but hey, I was impressed and noticed how "dead" the unmastered mix was), but it currently takes me more than an hour to apply "mastering" to one track (admittedly, if I was an expert in the software this would be quicker), so I think 2 hours is a viable option for 4 tracks considering the engineer doesn't know you. I would pay up and hopefully your investment will have been worth it. I spent the best part of a day getting one track to sound better with mastering.
Distilled1	Date: January 20, 2006 @ 8:25 PM I cant recall the time it took to master our first tapes, I wasen't there But I belive it was about an hour a song 4-5 min ea. These were recorded in a pro studio adat and masterd to the gold master CD. I know it was well worth it

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