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[aivoryuk]

Hi there
although I've had a interest in mastering for about 7 years its only in the last month that i've started mastering other peoples work,
I'm currently doing it for free just to get experience ( i've got to start somewhere)  but seem to be doing okay (i don't claim to be pro or anything) as the first group i mastered for recommended me to other bands so im hoping if all goes well, i'd love to making a living out of it as i really do enjoy it.

as you probably can imagine the mixes i have received vary in quality but i'm still remaining professional and doing my best to master them.

but at what point would you say stop this needs a remix???
for example this one group had one track which wasn't mixed too bad, (the drums had been recorded using one microphone) the next track the bass drum was barely audible. so for me to get the track to sit well against the prev track i had to add about 6db of about 86hz. This seems a lot to me ( i could be wrong but thats why I'm asking) I did say to the group that the tracks could do with remixing but they didn't seem that interested

sorry if this a bit long but im new to this site (normally post to sound on sound site)
I'm interested to hear peoples theories on what a mastering engineer should actually do

cheers
Alex

[Ronny]

aivoryuk wrote on Sun, 01 May 2005 17:45

Hi there although I've had a interest in mastering for about 7 years its only in the last month that i've started mastering other peoples work, I'm currently doing it for free just to get experience ( i've got to start somewhere)  but seem to be doing okay (i don't claim to be pro or anything) as the first group i mastered for recommended me to other bands so im hoping if all goes well, i'd love to making a living out of it as i really do enjoy it. as you probably can imagine the mixes i have received vary in quality but i'm still remaining professional and doing my best to master them. but at what point would you say stop this needs a remix??? for example this one group had one track which wasn't mixed too bad, (the drums had been recorded using one microphone) the next track the bass drum was barely audible. so for me to get the track to sit well against the prev track i had to add about 6db of about 86hz. This seems a lot to me ( i could be wrong but thats why I'm asking) I did say to the group that the tracks could do with remixing but they didn't seem that interested sorry if this a bit long but im new to this site (normally post to sound on sound site) I'm interested to hear peoples theories on what a mastering engineer should actually do cheers Alex

The ME's job is to improve the music, get it market acceptable and increase the sonic compatibility on a wider range of playback systems and listening environments.

Be aware that when you are dealing with amateurs a remix won't always be better than the original. They may follow your suggestions and screw something else up. I've had some that came back worse sounding.

When to suggest a remix, depends entirely on the project and the cabability of the mix engineer to rectify problems that you perceive and that he didn't perceive, when he mixed it the first time.

If adding 6dB at 86Hz is what it takes to make it sound better than by all means do it. Use your ears and don't worry so much about the numbers, or what may be considered standard procedure for other folks, because no guideline is going to work on all material.

[Bob Olhsson]

A remix is often a gamble. It's real easy for people to go past "it" and overmix.

[Jerry Tubb]

I agree with Bob O, that a remix can be risky.

"over-mixed" is an interesting term, somewhat akin to "over-produced", where most of the life if gone... too slick and predictable.

Sometimes that rough mix has just the right amount of raw energy, mistakes and all, to make it stand out.

On a remix, the engineer has to get it at least as good as the original mix, which is not always that easy, unless of course they're mixing entirely "inside the DAW box".

I generally would not request a remix, unless, the instrument and/or vocal balance is totally way out of proportion, or has major phase problems, or audible distortion, or other major screw-ups.

There are a lot of problems that can be fixed in mastering, or at least made more tolerable.

[aivoryuk]

Hi guys thanks for the replies
generally i would agree that a mastering engineer can fix problems like phase etc

but I don't believe that a mastering engineer should fix basic fundamental errors that have occured at the mixing process.
the example that i gave was the first track bass drum was audible, the 2nd track the bass drum was not audible.

yes i managed to get the tracks tonally the same but if the client is expecting the kick drum to be the same as the first then they will be disapointed.
The job of mastering is to bring out the best in a recording by evaluating and adjusting its perspective, tonal-balance and dynamics during the creation of the master from the source tapes.
in my opinion the job of the mastering engineer is not to mix the track