Making a CD soon, need some pointers.

[Vajragio]

Hello Hypnos, I might be making a CD soon for commercial release but i need some pointers from the vets out there. Should i send my tracks out to be mastered and if so, who do you recommend for ambient music mastering? Here are my tracks i have out so far.
[cloudset]http://soundcloud.com/giovanniangelambient/sets/ambient-music[/cloudset]

[jkn]

There might be a thread in the forum somewhere for this...   only you can decide if you want to pay for mastering.   In general - having someone else's ears take a crack at it are better than your own - but many people prefer to do their own.

Here are a few people I know are for hire for mastering - no order...

Robert Rich - http://robertrich.com/about/studio/
Chad Kettering - http://www.soniclayersmastering.com/
Taylor Deupree - http://www.12kmastering.com
The Sound-O-Mat - http://sound-o-mat.com/
Bobby Jones / I've Lost -   puddlesound  [at] aol  [dot]   com

Mike here at Hypnos does a lot of mastering - I'm not sure if he does it for hire outside of Hypnos though.


[ edit:   I've personally had the Sound-O-Mat and Bobby Jones work on mastering projects with me or for my label - and both are excellent.  They've got the ears.    I hear nothing but good things about the other three which I why I listed them.   All work in ambient and non-ambient. ]

[Julio Di Benedetto]

Definitely follow John's advice.....there is mastering out there to fit all budgets. You just have to make it part of your production costs.  Im hardcore when it comes to this an feel that no person should master there own music especially in the same room they recorded it in.   Heres the link on the discussion  http://www.hypnos.com/smf/index.php?topic=1585.0

[mgriffin]

Mike here at Hypnos does a lot of mastering - I'm not sure if he does it for hire outside of Hypnos though.

I don't do non-Hypnos mastering jobs, at least not at this point. Maybe if I'm ever not so busy...

[jkn]

Julio - nice job finding the mastering thread.

You may also want to read this really long thread over on rM about mastering originally kicked off by Matt Hillier (Ishq, Elve, etc...) - and I think it may still have the lengthiest discussion of any post in the community ... even after a year.

http://relaxedmachinery.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-idiocy-of-mastering-pt-1

John

[jkn]

p.s.   I added an edit to my original response that I've actually worked with The Sound-O-Mat and Bobby Jones.

[Julio Di Benedetto]

John, the Matt Hillier post going over the various historic mastering levels paints the picture of the problem of compression & limiting in music for at least the last 10 yrs, not just ambient.  That post should be a "Sticky" or what ever one calls it.  It should be posted somewhere here for those that "want to try this at home"  It could serve as a reference, so people hopefully wont slam their music into oblivion.  All the software for mastering will do this.....the presets are design as such and really are best left to experienced mastering engineers to use.  Its too easy to fall into the trap.

Not sure if any of this is helping the OP

 

[mgriffin]

I agree overcompression and too much reliance on limiting is a huge detriment to today's music, not only ambient. I disagree, though, that mastering engineers are the ones driving that style of sound. It's a style demanded by artists, producers and labels, rather than just lazy mastering.

[Julio Di Benedetto]

Thats true Mike....its not the mastering engineers fault, they supply a service to their clients. This is such a huge and thorny topic it scares me to talk about it so openly

Not sure I have ever come across a lazy mastering engineer. Bad mastering, yes and usually homespun.

[Vajragio]

Thanks guys for your great responses. On top of my Ambient stuff, i also played in a death metal band for eight years and i now record metal bands in my home studio. I do have experience in the audio engineering field but i know that mastering is something that pros should do and i am aware that noobs will tend to "overmaster" or overlimit their stuff.

Not sure if any of this is helping the OP

Julio don't worry this is helpful. I try to approach everything with an empty cup and see what i learn versus what i already know, you are a great artist and helpful dude  .

I just really feel that if i get a professional mastering job on my tracks it could open up future business with my ambient career. Thanks again for the links, i trust in who you guys go to!

[jkn]

It's too bad Matt / Ishq never wrote a part 2... although part 1 certainly touches a lot of major bases!   Matt's been super busy.

There are (or were) a couple of mastering peeps here on the Hypnos forum but I don't think I've seen them in a while.

[Chad Kettering]

Vajragio,

John clued me in to this forum topic and just wanted to give you some info about my mastering services.

I am sure you are learning what mastering services can provide you in terms of value for your project. The two fundamental areas that stand out are the following:

Quality control - Mastering will provide a last step for quality control before the project is released as a commercial product. Checking for digital errors, disc errors, pops, clicks ect.

Final Sound Check - A second opinion with an engineer that has a well treated room and full range monitoring environment will greatly improve the quality of your release. Many artist mix with smaller near-field monitors and or studio headphones. Mastering on a full range speaker will reveal problem areas missed, particularly in the low end range. Checks are made to track levels, track timbre balance, stereo imaging, and dynamics.


At Soniclayers Mastering I offer a free evaluation master of one of your tracks. This gives you a chance to hear the possibilities of what my mastering services can provide you.

I master all styles of music and am not limited to just ambient music. So bring on the metal!

Let me know if you have any questions by contacting me directly through my website.

Chad Kettering
www.soniclayersmastering.com
 

[Vajragio]

Hello Chad, I like your gear and work once i prep my stuff for mastering i will contact you soon! Thank you!
Gio

[hhh]

Vajragio,
Chad just completed the mastering on my latest release, The Farthest Fringes, and I am
more than pleased with the work he did. Chad went above and beyond, sparing no detail
and eliminating even the most minute glitches and issues. His rates are competitive in
the industry and he is very easy to work with. You can hear his work on the samples of
my CD, The Farthest Fringes, at www.hollanholmesmusic.com

Hope that helps,

hhh