Scott Andrew - lo-fi acoustic pop superhero!

Join the Demo Club to unlock new music, get discounts, tour dates and other neato stuff:

October 17, 2007

New album update: mastering dilemma

I’m struggling to decide how to master the new album. (”Mastering” is sort of the final sonic polish put on a collection of songs — there’s a decent description here which is better than I can do.)

On one hand, I have an opportunity to work with a local mastering guru who’s done work for plenty of hometown heroes (including Pearl Jam and several Sub Pop and Barsuk artists). It’s likely I’d be able to sit in on the session so I’d get to see a master master-er at work. The downside is that it’d cost me about $300 more than I’ve budgeted.

On the other hand, the CD manufacturing company I’ve chosen also offers mastering. It’s considerably cheaper and the artists I’ve spoken to have been happy with it. I’d save some money, but I’d have to do everything by mail, and I wouldn’t get to see how they work.

Another option is to try mastering it myself. I’ve done relatively well mastering my own material on my past CDs and it’s something I enjoy doing. However, don’t have a tricked-out mastering facility in my basement, and it’s likely to take much longer as I endlessly tinker.

Being a DIY guy I’ve been skeptical of the usefulness of mastering in an increasingly MP3 world, but now that I’m putting out a Big Professional CD I want to make sure that it sounds at least as good as any CD you’d buy from a big label. It’s turning out to be one of those classic Good vs. Fast vs. Cheap dilemmas, where I can only have two of the three. Regardless, I have to make the decision pretty soon if I want to get this done before the holidays.

10 Comments

Add a comment | Share This | Trackback

And Mike did speak thusly:

Scott, if you’ve never been to a mastering session before, then you should absolutely go for Door #1. You’ll learn more about mastering (and mixing, and maybe even arrangement and songwriting too) from 3 hours in the mastering guy’s room than you would from years of either reading about mastering or tweaking with Ozone or T-Racks at your place.

I’m not one of those people who believes that self-mastering is utter blasphemy - I master some of my own stuff myself, but I wouldn’t be doing that if I hadn’t sat in on a few mastering sessions first. Go without lattes for a month and spend the $300 on mastering. hth
And Michael did speak thusly:

There are so many reasons why you should get it mastered professionally.

1) Experience. Do it at least once, see how pros do it, get to have a say in the matter using experienced pros as your tools.

2) Support local musicians (and musicians’ friends), etc… You’re getting plenty of support on this album - and its not even released yet. Come on, spread the love.

3) Yet another credit to shove on the record.

4) If the mastering sucks, you can blame it on somebody else ;)
And Ralph Leonen did speak thusly:

I agree with Michael. The three hundred bucks more you spend will be more than made up for by the experience you’ll get watching a professional at work. It’s something you have to try at least once.
And Sam did speak thusly:

Scott, you should try the guy I’ve been using, Mark at http://www.seattlediscmastering.com. I don’t know if you’ve checked him out but he does plenty of big names and goes for between $400 and $600, great guy too…
And scottandrew did speak thusly:

Hey Sam, I got a recommendation for Mark Guenther just today, I’ll definitely give him a call.
And spinhead did speak thusly:

Don’t do it yourself; not because it’s bad, but you’re already obsessing about every little detail; the mastering session would kill you. Or the album. Or both. This is bad.

But unless you feel the need to be an all-in-one shop in the future, you don’t have to know how to master a track. It’s always nice to have knowledge of the stream from source to end, but you don’t have to *know* the whole stream.

Unless mastering is part of your desired core competency, save your money. Unless, of course, you actually believe you’ll get what you want by spending the extra cash. (Decisions based purely on money are *always* wrong. Always.)

Short version, now that it’s too late: before you spend the $300, know *why* you’re spending it; what you want back. But don’t think that just because another option exists, you have to consider it.
And SonicBlade did speak thusly:

Heck, do both and (yerself and local) do it yerself first and then spring for the extra dollars. It will be a life long lesson in either the value of DIY or of using pros.

I won’t spoil the ending either as the answer is totally not predictable. Then post both results!

Bottom line is it’s still art. And art is in the ear of the beholder. Some artists are real craftsmen and make us humans look sick!

But the cash should never get in the way of art. Use a charge card if you have to. You will have your songs a lot longer than you will have the money (the debt you might have forever though….)
And garagespin did speak thusly:

Yeah, I agree with all the above. This is a big album for you, and you wouldn’t ever want to think somewhere down the line, “If only I had..etc etc”. Give it your best shot, especially since it’s your first time around. You’ll learn a ton.
And FSL did speak thusly:

As you stated, it is the “final sonic polish put on a collection of songs”. Final is final…why gamble? Go for the experience and the “polish”.
And Scott Andrew - lo-fi acoustic pop superhero! > wordpress > archives > 2007 > 10 > cd mastering update did speak thusly:

[...] for your thoughts on my mastering dilemma. You’re totally right: the opportunity to watch and learn from a [...]