# Mastering... the final frontier!



## Starquasi (Feb 11, 2009)

I had a great experience yesterday. I had my EP remastered. 

The brief backstory: I had my EP mastered last spring by a local engineer. He had previously worked with many indie-rock and jazz artists (which I heard samples of and was impressed). My EP is in the instrumental rock (ala Pete Thorn/Justin Derrico) category. I worked with him on recommendation of some other engineers I know.

I don't know what happened technically, but basically I went in with a great mix on my tunes and came out with a record that sounded like it was being played through an AM radio. (Ok, technically is sounded over-compressed with an extremely limited EQ range). Maybe he didn't hear the reference tracks I provided the same way I did. I don't know.

Disappointed, I put the record in the closet, frustrated at my lack of funds to go to another engineer to have another go at it.

8 months later, I finally saved up my peso's and had my little EP remastered yesterday. 

Suffice it to say, I should have done this 7.5 months ago. 

A good mastering engineer will take a good mix, open up the stereo field, enhance what needs to be enhanced and really allow the subtleties of a mix shine through. Finding my new engineer, Andy Krehm at Silverbirch Productions, was simple, as Andy had mastered another EP for an old band of mine 10 years ago. While the first engineer took 4 hours to make the record a lifeless mess, it took Andy 2.5 hours to turn it into a fire-breathing monster! I'm getting a short-run of CD's made for Christmas presents for friends and family. I'm really proud to be able to give them a great sounding record.

I just wanted to share my experience and recommend taking your projects to a good mastering engineer. Anyone can buy the Waves or Slate "Mastering" plugins, but a good engineer will have the external gear, the tuned room, the EARS to hear the potential of your project, and the knowledge to help turn your project into a reality.

Consider me stoked.


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

I'd be interested in hearing a before and after of one of your tunes to hear the difference. Can I ask how much this cost you? I might be interested in this type of service.


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## Starquasi (Feb 11, 2009)

Once I get the final master I'd be happy to do do an Youtube comparison video of the difference. It was really inexpensive at the end of the day. $85/hour (Silverbirch's Indie Rate) for 2.5 hours. I know there are other mastering studios in the city that do just as good a job. Joao Carvahlo and Peter Moore are two other mastering engineers that I know others have had good success with. Research is the key!


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

ne1roc said:


> *I'd be interested in hearing a before and after* of one of your tunes to hear the difference. Can I ask how much this cost you? I might be interested in this type of service.


Ditto! Though I'd prefer something other than Youtube, since it adds compression anyway. Maybe if you could host the .wavs somewhere?


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Starquasi said:


> Once I get the final master I'd be happy to do do an Youtube comparison video of the difference. It was really inexpensive at the end of the day. $85/hour (Silverbirch's Indie Rate) for 2.5 hours. I know there are other mastering studios in the city that do just as good a job. Joao Carvahlo and Peter Moore are two other mastering engineers that I know others have had good success with. Research is the key!


Youtube compresses things so much we may well not hear the difference. I would suggest Soundclick or other similar service would give a better basis for comparing  EDIT OOPs, as hollowbody has pointed out, apologies for beating you over the head with the redundant stick.

Congrats on getting your EP done and getting a result you like.


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## hardasmum (Apr 23, 2008)

+1 on Joao. Great ears, great studio and a super nice guy on top of that.

Who messed up the first mastering session? Was it at Lacquer Channel?


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## Starquasi (Feb 11, 2009)

hardasmum said:


> +1 on Joao. Great ears, great studio and a super nice guy on top of that.
> 
> Who messed up the first mastering session? Was it at Lacquer Channel?


I don't think it would be appropriate to name names. Suffice it to say, it was not one of the better known engineers in the city. And, with some reflection on my part, I probably didn't communicate as clearly as I should have as to the sound I was looking for. Let's leave it at that.

In other news, the holidays were busy and I haven't had a chance to edit together a comparison track yet, but for those of you that are interested, you can hear the final version of the EP here: This Is Not The End

Happy New Year and a successful 2013 of music making to all of you!


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Sounds really good! Glad you found someone that could get it sounding the way you wanted!


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## Intrepid (Oct 9, 2008)

I had a listen to "This is not the End". Great tune, great recording.


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## hardasmum (Apr 23, 2008)

Starquasi said:


> I don't think it would be appropriate to name names. Suffice it to say, it was not one of the better known engineers in the city. And, with some reflection on my part, I probably didn't communicate as clearly as I should have as to the sound I was looking for. Let's leave it at that.


Fair enough.  

I had a bad experience with one of the "more familiar" names at Lacquer Channel and think people should know before they get ripped off.

In my mind the Mastering Engineer should have golden ears and fix mistakes I couldn't or didn't hear while recording / mixing. Someone like Joao for example.

This was not my experience at Lacquer where I was catching the Mastering Engineer's mistakes.


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## Starquasi (Feb 11, 2009)

For those of you that are interested, here is:

Original Mix:
[SOUNDCLOUD]https://soundcloud.com/starquasi/the-view-from-here-unmastered[/SOUNDCLOUD]

The first mastering job:
[SOUNDCLOUD]https://soundcloud.com/starquasi/the-view-from-here-first-master[/SOUNDCLOUD] 

The final mastering job:
[SOUNDCLOUD]https://soundcloud.com/starquasi/the-view-from-here-final-master[/SOUNDCLOUD]


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