|
 Mastering
Your Music
Why
You Need it, Where to Get it,
and How to Make the Most of
it.
by The
G-Man
-
NARIP.com and Immedia Wire Service, Posted
Jan. 2004
Back to The
Academy
Mastering
is widely misunderstood, often
mangled, and sometimes mistaken
for mixing. So, what is mastering?
It's the audio step that comes
just before manufacturing a
CD. Some people would even say
it's a crucial step.
Once
you have finished recording
and mixing your songs, the tracks
are shaped, sculpted, scooped,
equalized, compressed, and finessed
into sonic splendor (well, you
hope) through the audio process
known as mastering. Mastering
is what gives depth, punch,
clarity and volume to your tracks.
It is part science, part craft,
and part alchemy. . . just like
songwriting, singing, performing
and recording.
"Loud
vs. Proud."
Contrary
to popular belief, mastering
is only a little about making
a hotter sound. While it's true
that the gain, or volume level,
is boosted during mastering,
it may be that raw decibels
are the least critical aspect
of the process. What's important
is the way mastering makes songs
sound. Because in the end, mastering
is less about "loud"
and more about "proud."
Mastering
Engineers Speak Out.
"Mastering
is the crucial, critical, and
final creative step in the process
of making an audio recording,"
states Art Sayecki of Burbank,
California's Art Mastering.
"When your work is in the
hands of a mastering engineer,
that is when all the ultimate
sonic judgments are made, all
necessary aural enhancements
are applied, and the definitive
content of your project becomes
a coherent and sophisticated
artistic creation. When a mastering
engineer does the job properly,
it can literally separate the
hits from the rest of the market."
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Art Sayecki of Art Mastering, with some of his
custom-designed
gear.
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Nancy
Matter of Moonlight Mastering,
agrees. Mastering helps "to
balance everything out to have
a listening experience of continuity
from beginning to end for the
consumer. This is true of all
audio, no matter what the playback
system."
Matter,
whose recent projects include
the Peter Gabriel Live Concert
Series "Up" Tour,
the Duran Duran Live Concert
Reunion Tour, and the "Once
Upon a Time in Mexico"
soundtrack, points out that
"Loud is good as long as
dynamic range is not destroyed.
Mastering too loud (usually
through over compressing) can
sonically hurt a project rather
than help it and knowing the
difference establishes the difference
between someone who 'does mastering'
and someone who is an accomplished
mastering engineer."
View
From The Lodge.
Emily
Lazar, of The Lodge in NYC,
is both a musician and a mastering
engineer. Her credits include
David Bowie, Jeff Buckley, Sonic
Youth, and the "Goldmember"
soundtrack, to name just a few.
"I approach mastering with
the idea that music, like any
other art form, attempts to
touch people," Lazar says.
"It tells a story far beyond
that of its lyrics, if there
are indeed lyrics. There are
similarities between people
and music -- both are often
seeking a meaningful connection.
That means my job as the mastering
engineer is very much about
making certain that the music
tells a story that will resonate
deep in the heart of the listener,"
Lazar adds.
The
Artist's View.
Carl
Verheyen is a session guitarist
whose work you hear every week
on hit recordings, movie/TV
soundtracks, and commercials.
As lead guitarist for Supertramp,
and as leader of the Carl Verheyen
Trio, he plays in front of tens
of thousands of people each
year, but at least half of his
professional life takes place
in studios, and he has strong
opinions about the mastering
process.
"Mastering
is the fine-tuning and final
equalization of the music for
broadcast quality status,"
Verheyen says. "It puts
all the frequencies in the correct
ranges so that the bass isn't
too loud, the highs don't hurt
and the levels are constant
with other CDs on the market."
With his most recent release,
SIX, Verheyen turned to Eddy
Schreyer at Oasis Mastering,
calling him "a very caring
and talented artist."
There
can be tremendous loyalty toward
mastering engineers on the part
of artists and producers. Michel
Sembello, composer/performer
of songs from hit albums and
the huge film "Flashdance,"
told Art Sayecki "After
hearing what you did with 'Maniac,'
you are the only person I will
let master my stuff."
From
The Booth.
Larry
Crane owns Jackpot! Recording
and is the publisher of Tape
Op magazine. He gets right to
the bottom line about mastering:
"It's the final stage of
preparing mixes for production/replication.
. . the last step in the process
of making a release." Crane's
advice about the decision to
go to mastering: "Don't
skimp!"
A
Reviewer and A&R Pro Speaks
Out.
Bernard
Baur is a Review Editor and
Feature Writer for Music Connection
magazine, and in addition, serves
as an independent A&R consultant.
In all these capacities, he
hears a lot of CDs every month.
Does mastering matter to reviewers
and A&R executives? "It
can matter very much,"
Baur states. "When you
get something that obviously
isn't mastered, you wonder how
aware the artist is of everything
they should be doing. Those
artists who are 'in the game'
know that they almost always
need to take their recordings
to the next level, and that
includes mastering."
While
acknowledging that the song
is still of primary importance,
Baur notes that, all things
being equal, it's the mastered
track that will tend to get
the most attention. "People
at magazines as well as people
at record labels have gotten
used to hearing a polished and
fully finished recording,"
Baur says. "Comparisons
with tracks that aren't mastered
can be alarming." And mastering
is being used in more situations
than ever before. "Even
so-called demos are being mastered
these days," Baur points
out.
Demo
Mastering.
"Mastering
demo CDs is becoming a standard
practice in the hyper-competitive
music market," notes Sayecki.
It's easy to see why: record
label A&R departments are
deluged by demos from aspiring
artists. Sayecki continues:
"Mastering of demos can
be an important step in giving
an artist an extra edge over
the competition."
Different
Kinds of Mastering.
Be
certain the mastering house
you select has expertise in
the area of mastering you seek.
Klay Shroedel is Chairmen and
CEO of West Coast Film Partners
Inc., an LA-based Entertainment
company developing and producing
film, TV, music and musical
theater projects. While working
with recording artists such
as Celine Dion, Frank Sinatra
and Sting, he also has impressive
film and TV credits, including
"Permanent Midnight",
"Survivor," "Under
Suspicion," "Jurassic
park 2 & 3," "Titanic,"
and "Terminator 3."
"There
is a basic distinction between
mastering for film vs. CD,"
Shroedel states. "It's
the dynamic range. In CD mastering,
you try to achieve maximum volume
without losing the dynamics,
but the overall compression
and db range from quietest to
loudest is usually narrower
than when mastering a soundtrack
or a film score. The same concept
of preserving the dynamic range
applies when mastering CD classical
releases." Shroedel will
bring his experience to yet
another type of mastering when
launching his upcoming theatrical
multimedia project.
Sounds
Great.
"Mastering
is all about finesse,"
says Matt Forger, whose name
is on 200 million albums as
recording engineer, mixer, and
producer. After working with
Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney,
and countless indie artists,
Forger has a unique perspective
on all things audio. Having
seen him in the studio inserting
one drum sound on one of his
Pro Tools tracks, I can attest
to both his dedication and his
joy at working with music.
"You
are sometimes dealing with tiny
increments of equalization or
compression," Forger states.
"And it's interesting how
a small change in one part of
the mix can have a big affect
on the total mix. But whatever
you do with the mixing, mastering
can take something that sounds
good and make it sound great."
Sayecki agrees, and points out
that the taste level of the
engineer can be a major factor
in the outcome. "Sometimes
Baroque embellishments are needed
and sometimes modesty is called
for."
As
production budgets get smaller,
more album projects are being
completed at least partly on
home systems. Eddy Schreyer
of Oasis Mastering points out
that this "can result in
lesser quality sounds. Using
a major mastering facility can
very often dramatically improve
the final product. The mastering
process increases the level
and size of your recordings."
Chris
Gehringer of New York's Sterling
Sound has mastered upcoming
albums for Jewel and Roy Hargrove,
as well as dozens of highly-regarded
hip hop and Latin albums. Gehringer
is noticing that mastering engineers
are being called on to perform
audio changes to tracks that
"are almost like mixing
assignments. Ideally, tracks
are already mixed and your sonic
decisions are already made when
you come in for mastering. But
with the advent of so much digital
recording, we're getting tracks
with numerous alternate mixes,
lots of stems, and even various
additional takes of voices and
instruments. We're frequently
acting as a mixer even while
sonically paying attention to
mastering." Gehringer notes
that today's modern gear allows
a lot of flexibility, which
is both blessing and curse.
What
You Get.
In
almost every mastering session,
the following actions are performed:
- Optimizing
average and peak volume
levels for proper relative
loudness
- Signal
processing - compression
& EQ
- Arranging
tracks in final sequence
- Timing
of the space between tracks
- Establish
a sonic "field"
for all tracks
- Place
track markers at head of
all tracks
- Remove
unwanted noise like clicks,
pops, hiss
- Clean-up
start and ending of each
track (including fades)
- Insert
Master Track Log – the PQ
codes required for replication
Hear
The Gear.
Everybody
agrees that achieving sonic
perfection is an excellent goal
of mastering. "When a mastering
engineer and a recording artist
work together, sonic perfection
is exactly what can occur,"
states Sayecki, "but it
is a complex process. Of course
it requires a skilled professional
with experience, technical knowledge,
artistic ability, and dedication.
It also takes great equipment."
In
the mastering facilities that
artists praise, there is never
a total reliance on off-the-shelf
equipment. "For the most
part, regular store-bought components
cannot perform the processing
required by a world class mastering
studio. All top mastering facilities
use custom or highly-customized
signal processing equipment,"
Sayecki notes.
Revealing
a meticulous approach to the
equipment utilized at Art Mastering,
Sayecki states, "We design
our own proprietary circuits
to perform advanced signal processing
tasks such as equalization,
expansion, compression, noise
reduction, stereo field enhancement
and amplification. By utilizing
discrete, class A electronics
as well as vacuum tube circuitry,
our gear rivals or exceeds top
audiophile equipment in terms
of sonic purity and integrity."
Art Mastering also houses a
custom Telefunken-Neumann mastering
console, the only one of its
kind in the USA.
Nancy
Matter's Moonlight Mastering
has a ton of superb modern gear,
yet she also states "Any
time an artist can afford to
mix down to analog tape, either
1/4-inch, 1/2-inch or 1-inch,
I highly recommend it. There
is a warmth and flavor that
begins within that media that
translates wonderfully over
to the mastering that digital
does not have."
A
CD is a CD is a CD.
The
CD format is actually fairly
complex, and there is tremendous
versatility offered by various
CD configurations. There are
2 main modes and 10 different
CD sub-formats: CD-Audio, CD-ROM,
CD-ROM XA, CD-I, CD-G&CD-Text,
CD-Extra, Photo-CD, Video-CD,
CD-i Bridge, PC-Games/Data.
Mastering engineers may know
a little or a lot about any
or all of these configurations.
How
Long Does it Take?
Although
there is no limit to the time
or money that can be spent on
mastering, many people in the
business state that a good rule
of thumb would be an average
of 8-12 hours for most albums,
or in the neighborhood of an
hour for each song. This assumes
that the CD was well recorded
and no additional processing
requirements are specified.
Additional time will be allocated
depending on the condition of
the original recording, a client's
specifications and any unusual
or custom needs.
The
Costs.
You
can find "bargains"
in mastering, but "buyer
beware" is a good adage
to follow. Larry Crane relates
this mastering horror story.
"A band received a $25
mastering job from a 'live sound'
engineer who had just hooked
up Pro Tools and didn't know
what he was doing. The mixes
were distorted, peaked with
digital overs the whole time,
and sounded far worse than the
original mixes."
Prices
from respected mastering houses
vary, but you can get excellent
work for $120/hour in Los Angeles.
Of course, you can spend more,
sometimes a lot more, but for
the majority of artists, you
can budget around "two
dollars a minute" multiplied
by "an hour per song"
and be in the ballpark.
A
Little History
Bobby
Hart is the co-writer of hit
songs for everyone from Little
Anthony, Chubby Checker, Paul
Revere & The Raiders, and
The Leaves to an Oscar-nominated
song for the film Tender Mercies.
A top ten recording artist himself
(Boyce & Hart) and producer
of The Monkees, he has watched
the art of mastering change
over the years.
"When
we started out in the sixties,
the main function of mastering
was to take your studio mix
and compress it so your top
end and your bottom end were
all squished into the middle
for radio. That was the main
concern, just make it work for
radio, meaning a mono mix for
AM radio. Every studio in town
had those little Auratones.
In mastering, they would hardly
be concerned with EQ, just with
compression. Then it changed
in the 70s, and from that point
on, the goal was making your
track sound better overall."
Hart
has seen his tracks engineered
and mastered by pros such as
David Hassinger, Val Garay,
and Bernie Grundman. "I
don't know the technical side
of it," Hart says, "I
just know it makes the sound
bigger and better."
Creative
Solutions
"In
mastering, exceptional hearing
and technical expertise are
supported by creativity and
artistic intuition," says
Sayecki. "In order to achieve
the maximum impact on the listener,
certain creative elements of
psycho-acoustics, psychology,
use of proprietary techniques,
and knowledge of the music market
have to be applied in the context
of the intended audience - all
while recognizing the goals
set by the producer and the
record label."
Emily
Lazar also acknowledges the
intangible: "As critical
as it is to maintain respect
for the integrity of the music,
it's just as vital to bring
something new and unique to
the project," she says.
"Obviously, it's a balance,
but finding that ideal path
is one of the things that separates
the work of an ordinary mastering
engineer from a great one."
Fix
Your Mix.
What
can you do to make your mixes
work best for the mastering
engineer? If you're in doubt,
many mastering houses offer
a free or low-cost assessment
of your CD-R or DAT. This is
an excellent method to find
out if your mix is in the proper
condition for mastering, as
well as one good way to see
if you like the personal and/or
business style of the mastering
facility. But there are some
guidelines to follow in preparing
your mix for mastering...
"First
of all," states Forger,
with a smile, "a good mix
is a good mix. If everything
is in proper perspective with
good balance, then you're probably
ready to go. This is assuming
you haven't squashed everything
with compression, of course.
The same 'trick' for testing
your mix that we've all used
for years can work well to test
a mix that's being finished
for mastering: burn a CD and
go play it in the car. Drive
around and see if you can hear
everything at a fairly low volume
level. The road and wind noise
acts as a filter that's ideal
for testing a mix," he
says.
"Don't
compress your whole mix (left
and right) if you don't know
what you are doing," states
Larry Crane. "This bus
compression cannot be undone,
and is one of the biggest complaints
I hear from mastering engineers."
Matter seconds that point: "I
agree with using little to no
compression on the final mix."
Matter
notes, "I find that in
mastering, when you have a great
mix, you end up with a great
master. However, the real challenge
is when you receive lower budget
projects and can make them sound
like a big budget record, Now
that's mastering! At that point,
the gear is important, your
room is important, but most
of all, how you use that gear
and that room is crucial."
Forger
recommends that you "Take
along a CD that sounds good
to you, one that has the type
of frequency balance that you
would like your CD to have.
It will give the mastering engineer
an idea of what you want your
finished CD to sound like, given
that it's a similar style of
music, and you will have a better
idea of the sound character
of the speakers at the mastering
studio. Mastering studio speakers
always seem to sound different
from what you're used to, but
the mastering engineer knows
them intimately."
Gehringer
and Schreyer agree with Forger's
idea of finding a CD with the
sounds you're seeking. Schreyer
also reiterates the oft-stated
rule of not putting too much
compression on your mixes. And
he recommends you try to pay
attention to the overall sound
and arrangement in order to
get your mix as close as you
can to what you want to hear.
"Train wrecks don’t master
well," Schreyer notes wryly.
Many
mastering engineers echo this
advice: if you're in doubt about
compression in your mix, do
two versions, one with and one
without the compression and
send both to the mastering facility.
Verheyen
points out: "Remember this
important fact and you'll be
safe: The mastering engineer
can NOT mix your record. They
do not deal with individual
track levels, only frequencies.
But if you come in with great
sounding tracks, he or she will
only make them sound better!"
Expert
Advice.
Some
mastering engineers will try
to make time to assess your
tracks and advise you on potential
mixing decisions you might want
to make. Art Sayecki does this
quite often. Nancy Matter does,
as well: "I listen to tracks
all the time and give advice.
I do this as a courtesy for
people who need a sonically
correct room to hear their music
and get a different perspective
which helps them in mixing for
their final project."
"When
it comes time to present your
recordings to the world,"
says indie artist Olivia Duke,
"you just have to find
a mastering engineer you respect
and trust." Duke already
has had some of her songs utilized
on television soundtracks. Did
she follow all the advice in
this article? Absolutely. And
did she master her tracks even
though they are not yet part
of an album? You bet. Why? "Sometimes,"
Duke points out, "mastering
can be everything."
MASTERING
STUDIOS
The
following is by no means a comprehensive
list. These are simply the mastering
houses that came up most often
when talking to artists and
others in the industry about
quality mastering engineers
and great sonics.
Art
Mastering
Art Sayecki
3200
N. San Fernando Blvd.
Burbank,
CA 91504
818-843-1618 Ext.
801
Capitol
Mastering
Robert Vosgien;
Ron McMaster; Mark Chalecki;
Bob Norberg
1750 North Vine
Street
Hollywood, CA 90028
323-871-5003
Cups
'n Strings
Bruce Maddocks
1542
15th St.
Santa Monica, CA
90404
310-656-9358
Gateway
Mastering & DVD
Bob
Ludwig
428 Cumberland Avenue
Portland,
Maine 04101
207-828-9400
Bernie
Grundman Mastering
Bernie
Grundman; Brian "Big Bass"
Gardner
1640 N. Gower St.
Los
Angeles, CA 90028
323-465-6264
The
Lodge
Emily Lazar
740
Broadway, Suite 605
New York,
NY 10003
212-353-3895
M
Works Mastering
Jonathan
Wyner
432 Columbia St., Suite
17B
Cambridge, MA 02141
617-577-0089
Marcussen
Mastering
Stephen Marcussen;
Louie Teran
1545 North Wilcox
Avenue
Hollywood, California
90028
323-463-5300
The
Mastering Lab
Doug Sax;
Robert Hadley; Gavin Lurssen
6033
Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood,
CA 90028
323-466-8589
Moonlight
Mastering
Nancy Matter
2219
W. Olive Ave. PMB 152
Burbank,
CA 91506
818-841-2987
Oasis
Mastering
Eddy Schreyer;
Gene Grimaldi
11335 Ventura
Blvd.
Studio City, CA 91604
818-980-0411
Paramount
Recording Studios
Bill
Dooley
6245 Santa Monica
Boulevard
Hollywood, CA.
90038
323-465-4000; 818-760-8733
Peerless
Mastering
Jeff Lipton
studio:
161 North Street, Newton, MA
mail:
1085 Commonwealth Ave.
Box
322
Boston, MA 02215
617-527-2200
SAE
Mastering
Roger Seibel;
Matt Murman
6832 N. 24th
Dr., Suite 1
Phoenix, AZ,
85015
602-242-0022
Specialized
Mastering
Dana White
47
Mellen Street
Framingham,
MA 01702
508-872-9478
Sterling
Sound
Greg Calbi, Tom
Coyne, Ted Jensen, George Marino,
Chris Gehringer,
Chris Athens
88
Tenth Avenue
6th Floor West
New
York, NY 10011
212-604-9433
Studio
B Mastering
Dave Harris
1018-B
Central Ave.
Charlotte NC
28204
704-372-9661
Universal
Mastering Studios, West
Steve
Holroyd
5161 Lankershim
Blvd., Suite 201
North Hollywood,
CA 91601
818-777-9200
Universal
Mastering Studios, East
Kevin Reeves
10 Distribution
Blvd.
Edison, NJ 08817
732-287-1222
Additional
Sources of Information:
Artist
Pro
Magazine and Online
Resource
Circle
of Songs
This organization
is dedicated to helping the
careers of songwriters, bands,
and musicians.
"Preparing
Tapes and Files for Mastering,"
and other articles by Bob Katz,
President, Digital Domain, Inc.
"What
Happened To Dynamic Range?,"
by Bob Speer.
Book:
Mastering Audio: The Art and
The Science by Bob Katz
Digital
Domain
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The G-Man creates songs and commercials in Los Angeles. Read/hear
what he's up to at: www.gmanmusic.com.
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