Hey Everyone,
I posted a thread called "Unhappy with a mastering job" a few weeks ago. I received a tremendous response, and I left off that we had a schedule another session to revise the record. I thought you would be interested to know how the story ends.
We are now very happy customers. Communication was much better, and it was mastered for maximum quality and without concern for overall volumn. The ME had remastered 2 tracks for us to hear when rearrived, and from the first listen, we knew things were going to go well. For most of record, the only compression was 2 db of tape saturation. Of 14 tracks, perhaps 4 have a touch light compression and 1 squished a little bit because it was really needed to bring the track together. At one point in the session, I heard the ME say to himself, "it's so cool to work without compression."
The result is an interesting and dynamic album. For certain, it's quiet compared to 2005 CD's, but the ME was able to give the mixes a sparkle without sapping the personality out of vocal or the mood from the arrangement. Mastering helped bring together a very diverse group of songs and turn them into a album. It's very different (in a good way, I think), than most things that coming out right now. We learned a ton, and next time around, the whole recording and mastering process should be easier because we understand things better.
Everyone likes a happy ending.
