View Full Version : how severe of a problem can a mastering engineer fix within a track?
PONTUS.2
03-22-2012, 08:09 PM
say i make some quick beats and i end up liking them. but when i play them on other speakers besides my monitors things dont sound the same.
can a mastering engineer make it sound good on all sound systems even without access to the individual stems of a track? (i.e by only manipulating the master output?)
now im not saying that i dont care about how i mix down a track but i figure if a mastering engineer can fix it later, then why bother trying to make it sound good on as many systems as possible? (aside from of course just making sound good on your personal speaker systems)
drop1
03-22-2012, 09:22 PM
A good engineer can do quite a bit but it will never be as good as if you get it right to start. Don't short change yourself. I know it can be frustrating but its just part of the process. In the long run your just hurting yourself.
Also I don't know if your using monitors but if your not i'd invest in some because they tend to translate to other systems a lot better than hifi speakers.
Giran
03-23-2012, 01:44 PM
A mastering engineer shouldn't have to fix a poorly mixed track. Mastering should ONLY be done when the track is well-mixed and needs that final polish/commercial loudness + punch.
Reset every single fader, bring each element up into the mix starting with whatever you feel holds the track together. Do an EQ sweep to find any problematic areas and then tweak which channel is causing the problem.
genuine sound engineering terms:
http://tryingtofail.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/turd-polish.jpg
Get the mix right in the first place. Joke aside, you should define "problem". As an example, I can remove click and pops from a poorly sounding record to a certain extent. The absolute trick to mix and master a track right is to EQ, compress, FX, limit, etc and make it all sound flat, clean, nice, loud and dynamic on flat speakers. Then there are some good, average and completely dumb/ deaf sound engineers.
Scrap McNapps
03-23-2012, 07:27 PM
A mastering engineer can fix subtle problems in a mix. In your face problems they might end up making worse because of the tools they have available and the limitations that come with a fully rendered track.
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mostapha
03-23-2012, 07:36 PM
A guitarist is in a studio and having problems getting a complicated part down. The recording engineer, fed up with countless takes no better than the first, comes over the talkback, "It's okay. We'll fix it in the mix."
Hours of editing, comping, effecting later, the mix engineer gets fed up with the lousy guitar recording. It's better than it was, but still not good…obvious edits all over the place, weird phrasing, wrong notes that melodyne can't quite fix……"screw it," he says," they can worry about it in mastering.
The mastering engineer hears all of this…knows what the problem is (that the guitarist wasn't good enough for the part he wanted on his record) and knows there's not much he can do. He tries to smooth over transitions between obvious edits and EQs it so it sounds okay on his $100,000 monitoring setup. Then, hours later, he realizes that there's nothing more he can do and the track still sounds like utter shit to his well-trained ears. "Screw it," he says, throwing L3 on the master bus and calling up one of his stock presets, "they can fix it in marketing."
PONTUS.2
03-23-2012, 08:22 PM
^^
:uhoh:
this disturbs me
Skeyelab
03-24-2012, 02:18 AM
i figure if a mastering engineer can fix it later, then why bother trying to make it sound good on as many systems as possible?
why bother dude. I think you made your own point.
A mastering engineer's job is not to fix anything. His job is to make sure the track is evenly balanced EQ and compression wise. If it doesn’t sound good when its mixed, it won't sound better when mastered. Just more detailed.
markos
03-24-2012, 12:13 PM
I have to agree. If your not going to take the time to fine polish your mix, why should a mastering engineer go through the time to fine polish something that is rubbish? I am assuming you don't work for a major record label so your probably going to pay someone to do it for you. Mastering engineers charge anywhere from 100 - 1000 per track. If you plan on spending any money on making things sound right start with a mixing engineer.
Skeyelab
05-04-2012, 02:02 PM
I charge $50/track...
Celestial
05-04-2012, 03:16 PM
I charge $50/track...
weren't you at like 25 before bro?
mostapha
05-04-2012, 05:09 PM
Mastering engineers charge anywhere from 100 - 1000 per track.
That sounds a bit high to me. Normal for guys working in home studios seems to be $20 to $100. The one pro studio I've talked to about it seems to charge $15 per recorded minute (meaning a 3 minute song costs $45…a 7-minute dance song would cost $105) to labels with discounts for indie artists. A full CD would be like a grand…but not for a song.
It also wasn't a dedicated mastering studio. I'm sure there are guys out there charging that much…but it doesn't seem that representative.
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