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R/E/P => R/E/P Archives => Brad Blackwood => Topic started by: MASSIVE Mastering on May 23, 2008, 09:46:38 AM

Title: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: MASSIVE Mastering on May 23, 2008, 09:46:38 AM
It comes up from time to time - So much so, that I'm sure if I actually answered them all, I wouldn't have enough time to do much else.  

Received an e-mail today addressed to several (14?) ME's, many of which hang out here and at other forums.  

While I'm flattered to be included in a "CC:" with some really great engineers, the mass "cattle call" type auditions seem to be getting more and more frequent (at least several per week) and although I used to respond to most (and get a reasonable amount of work from them), I'm starting to feel as if it's -- I dunno...  It's an awful lot of time to invest when you know it's going to be a toss-up between 2 or 3 "finalists."  

I don't really mind getting a letter that says "Hey John -- We're sending this off to you and one other place and we want to hear which one we like the most."

On one hand, the customer is always right and when you're looking for services, shopping around makes sense.  But these seem like "Mastering Idol" or something...  

When I decided who to hire to remodel my kitchen, I had to decide between several different services based on word-of-mouth and photos.  I wasn't able to have them each come in and redo part of my kitchen.  

Discuss...?  
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: turtletone on May 23, 2008, 09:59:50 AM
Yeah, i don't do those, well at least not knowingly. I also find that clients that do that kind of thing aren't the ones I want.They are about as loyal as a Thai hooker.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: carlsaff on May 23, 2008, 10:39:54 AM
I do free samples, but with the understanding that they're done in my "free time." I don't often have free time, tho, and so sometimes they don't get done at all. No harm, no foul... if I'm too busy to do the samples, I'm probably not in need of the work, anyway. In such cases, I assume that someone who does need work got the job, which is as it should be.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: bblackwood on May 23, 2008, 10:43:16 AM
Having received yet another one of these this AM, I'm with you, John. I don't even respond to these - if you don't care enough to personalize an email to me, I don't want your business. I do shoot-outs all the time, but refuse to be a part of these 'cattle-calls'.

And yes, the one from this AM went into the trash with no reply.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: cass anawaty on May 23, 2008, 11:37:05 AM
Most of you are much more established than I am, but I'm not doing those at all anymore.  I believe 99% of the time it's a loudness race, and frankly, don't want to deal w/ those types of clients on the "indie" level.  I also think it's demeaning to the industry.  Working a small sample for a referral is different.

My solution?  I have a "mastering demo" available on request that's a 30mb download (320kbps mp3) covering several styles of mastered material--with at least a minute and a half of each tune included.  

If someone won't take the time to sit and listen to my work for 15 minutes, are they going to be a good client?

When I'm starving, I'll reconsider.   Laughing  
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: Gold on May 23, 2008, 11:43:45 AM
bblackwood wrote on Fri, 23 May 2008 10:43

 if you don't care enough to personalize an email to me, I don't want your business.


Same here.  
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: djwaudio on May 23, 2008, 12:13:24 PM
I'll add to the show of solidarity. No casting couch for me either.

If everyone did a sample for this guy, there would be five to ten free hours of service rendered... How is that win-win?

No thanks.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: duckhunter on May 23, 2008, 02:26:03 PM
Hey guys, go ahead and accept the challenge and let me or someone else master it and if you like what we've done, submit it under your name with the proviso that I or someone else do the rest of the work, subject to your final approval, with an agreed upon split of the fees. Its a no loose situation for you established ME's.  If you don't like what we've done or can't tweak it to your satisfaction with minimal effort, just don't submit it.  You might find a whole group of so called ME's you can later work with to increase your volume of business without degrading quality.

Then again, this might be an all messed up idea if you can't stand the thought of letting someone inferior to your skill level do the work for you.  I would understand that mindset, too.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: bblackwood on May 23, 2008, 02:38:33 PM
dguidry wrote on Fri, 23 May 2008 13:26

Hey guys, go ahead and accept the challenge and let me or someone else master it and if you like what we've done, submit it under your name with the proviso that I or someone else do the rest of the work, subject to your final approval, with an agreed upon split of the fees. Its a no loose situation for you established ME's.  If you don't like what we've done or can't tweak it to your satisfaction with minimal effort, just don't submit it.  You might find a whole group of so called ME's you can later work with to increase your volume of business without degrading quality.

Then again, this might be an all messed up idea if you can't stand the thought of letting someone inferior to your skill level do the work for you.  I would understand that mindset, too.

Does the word 'unethical' mean much to you?
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: duckhunter on May 23, 2008, 03:25:14 PM
bblackwood wrote on Fri, 23 May 2008 13:38

dguidry wrote on Fri, 23 May 2008 13:26

Hey guys, go ahead and accept the challenge and let me or someone else master it and if you like what we've done, submit it under your name with the proviso that I or someone else do the rest of the work, subject to your final approval, with an agreed upon split of the fees. Its a no loose situation for you established ME's.  If you don't like what we've done or can't tweak it to your satisfaction with minimal effort, just don't submit it.  You might find a whole group of so called ME's you can later work with to increase your volume of business without degrading quality.

Then again, this might be an all messed up idea if you can't stand the thought of letting someone inferior to your skill level do the work for you.  I would understand that mindset, too.

Does the word 'unethical' mean much to you?

There is nothing unethical about a referral.  Its done all the time in my profession.  In this case all you would be doing is letting someone else do the work...like a hired hand.  Nothing wrong or unethical about that at all.  As long as the work meets your standards, you simply adopt it, give credit where its due, and take a cut of the fees once the project is approved by you and submitted for payment.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: bblackwood on May 23, 2008, 04:57:51 PM
dguidry wrote on Fri, 23 May 2008 14:25

bblackwood wrote on Fri, 23 May 2008 13:38

dguidry wrote on Fri, 23 May 2008 13:26

Hey guys, go ahead and accept the challenge and let me or someone else master it and if you like what we've done, submit it under your name with the proviso that I or someone else do the rest of the work, subject to your final approval, with an agreed upon split of the fees. Its a no loose situation for you established ME's.  If you don't like what we've done or can't tweak it to your satisfaction with minimal effort, just don't submit it.  You might find a whole group of so called ME's you can later work with to increase your volume of business without degrading quality.

Then again, this might be an all messed up idea if you can't stand the thought of letting someone inferior to your skill level do the work for you.  I would understand that mindset, too.

Does the word 'unethical' mean much to you?

There is nothing unethical about a referral.  

That's not a referral, that's passing off someone else's work as your own, and would get you black-listed quick in this industry.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: Greg Reierson on May 23, 2008, 06:15:52 PM
bblackwood wrote on Fri, 23 May 2008 15:57


That's not a referral, that's passing off someone else's work as your own, and would get you black-listed quick in this industry.


Alan Smithie


GR
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: jdg on May 23, 2008, 06:33:24 PM
my real name is alan smithie, and had to change it.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: mworks on May 23, 2008, 06:52:00 PM
I am happy to charge to do one song....but gotta charge.  You can't drink a bottle of wine before you decide to buy a case.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: jfrigo on May 23, 2008, 09:24:10 PM
The fishing expedition chain letters with a dozen receipients are non-starters for me, just like the rest of you. If you can't narrow it down to two, or possibly three possibilities based on your research and previous work, and then make personal contact, it really does not reflect well, and foreshadows a potentially unpleasant working experience.

Experienced professionals who are worth having do the job just are not desperate enough for work to jump through such insulting hoops, spending valuable time for so little chance of return. I have existing clients I need to service first and foremost. If this is the value they place upon our work, is it reasonable for them to expect to have any higher value placed on theirs?

Honestly, the more experienced and professional the client, the easier it is to get the job, and easier they are to work with. The most demanding jobs are often the lowest budget. I'd like to offer the benefit of the doubt and hope that the most recent mastering chain letter initiator just didn't think before he acted. I wish him success in completing his project.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: Ed Littman on May 23, 2008, 10:10:34 PM
I think there's some naivety going on here not just some one who is rude.I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt too. To email this caliber of ME(not me included)& expect positive results is some one who most likely has never had anything mastered before.

The band will get their cd mastered & some one will get paid. I just hope the email-er realizes that this method does not attract the level of service that he seeks.
This also shows how lazy people are getting with the net. hanging on gearslutz & just collecting names, as opposed to calling & discussing the project.
I'm sure any one of us has & will do a free sample under the right conditions. this is just not one of them.
Ed
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: bigaudioblowhard on May 23, 2008, 11:56:22 PM

I'm falling on Ed's side here. I've got more international work coming in now than ever.
Ireland and Switzerland in the last week alone.

How else are these people going to find you?

A polite reply "thank you, I'm too busy this week". Keep your eyes on the prize.

bab
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: Matt_G on May 24, 2008, 02:13:42 AM
I got this same email as well & was really surprised to see how poorly the sender had constructed it. Then I thought that perhaps he may be just young & naive & hasn't had anything mastered before.

I replied to him with this response...

Quote:

Hi,

It might be best to narrow your list down to the people whose work you respect the most in the style of music that you do. Who are your favourite bands & who appears most on the mastering credits of those bands? By all means get quotes first, but you'd get a better response if you made the email more exclusive or personal, at very least it's best to use the 'Bcc' function on your email, as no one likes to get the cattle call for a free mastering demo... Wink



Anyway he replied & said that he realised shortly after sending the email that it wasn't the right way to go about it & thanked me for letting him know.

I also had another guy do the same thing but more discretely & as a consequence I did master a sample for him when I had time available. There was some other ME's that I knew who had also participated & after I uploaded my sample I was able to download theirs for comparison. Surprisingly mine was the loudest (this was a rock track) & my first reply back was that the band really liked what I'd done but that compared to some of their fav bands it wasn't quite loud enough... go figure! I was then asked if I could make it any louder while keeping the same quality sound to which I replied that I had already got the mix as loud as I could & that beyond that it would take the quality quickly downhill, but that with some slight mix changes it may be possible to squeeze it a bit more.

As a result I didn't get a reply or the job to master the album. When I emailed a couple of weeks ago asking who had got the job I was told who it was & was given a download link to the finished album & asked to comment. When I compared the track that was the same as the demo I'd done I was surprised to discover that it was considerably quieter than mine yet not as open or punchy... go figure. Rolling Eyes

Conclusion... no matter what the approach I find these demos to be pointless & a waste of time to a large degree... As someone mentioned if people can't pay a small fee to get one song mastered as a trial then they're wasting your time or looking for the closest thing to the 'best sounding master' with the lowest price tag.

Matt




Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: Thomas W. Bethel on May 24, 2008, 08:18:25 AM
I like the artist that calls up or emails you and wants you to do a trial mastering of one of their songs so they can chose who will get the whole job and as they are talking/corresponding they want to know your rates and then try and get you to low ball your rates so now you are not only competing on the quality of mastering you are now competing on price as well.

I try not to get involved with "cattle calls" since it is a lose lose proposition.

One local artist had 12 songs to be mastered. He sent out 12 different songs to 12 mastering engineers as trial masterings figuring that he would get his whole album mastered for free. He was very surprised to find that many of the engineers only did part of the song. He finally came here and we did the whole album and when he told me what he had done I was somewhat shocked. I guess my mind does not work the way his does but I get more and more emails asking for "trial" masterings so maybe more and more artist are thinking this way.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: rankus on May 26, 2008, 01:58:42 PM
Well, as somebody who is currently shopping for a new mastering engineer I would like to mention some things that frustrate me.

1.  Websites without any examples of work posted...

2.  Websites that do not state the rates clearly...


This forces me to contact the ME just to ask "what are your rates, can you send me an example"...  Also if I AM asking for a "package rate"  for an indie album and you won't tell me up front what you regular rates are, I may just be offering you more than your usual rate when you ask "whats your budget"

As you can tell I am dealing with this situation right now and it is frustrating as hell...

I am trying to determine if your going to be my new "go to" guy,... why treat me like your doing ME a favor when I ask to master a song (at your normal single rate) in order to determine if we mesh?

Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: bblackwood on May 26, 2008, 03:05:55 PM
I'll address why I don't have these posted on my site.
rankus wrote on Mon, 26 May 2008 12:58

1.  Websites without any examples of work posted...

While I have some artists and titles on my site, I do NOT have audio examples as I don't want to ask artists to allow me free widespread distribution of their art for my own commercial benefit. That being said, if someone wants to hear my work, I can send them files, a disc, or a list of artists they can check out.

Quote:

2.  Websites that do not state the rates clearly...

I don do this as, while I have one set rate for both independent and label artists, I tend to be more flexible with the rates for indie artists. I'd much rather talk to an artist or their management regarding their budget constraints, potentially being flexible with them, rather than losing the gig right out of the gate simply because the 'retail price' is beyond their budget.

Frankly, a website is essentially an interactive business card. I certainly don't expect someone's business card to have their rates (or audio examples), I expect it to have the information needed to help determine if it is worth pursuing business with them or not.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: rankus on May 26, 2008, 08:51:10 PM
Brad can you PM me with some indie pricing: singles vrs. album rates,

Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: djwaudio on May 26, 2008, 10:35:25 PM
We've got all the info you are looking for posted on our web site.
www.specializedmastering.com

Best regards,
Dana
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: Ben F on May 26, 2008, 11:20:32 PM
I love the "it sounds great but can you make it a bit louder". Yeah sure, I'll just turn up the volume, forgot about that.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: bruno putzeys on May 27, 2008, 05:23:28 AM
The problem runs deeper than just mastering. These days it's common for people with some (real or imaginary) disease to decide for themselves what ails them and which treatment to use. They then visit doctor after doctor until they find one who agrees with them. Well, yeah, if you are ready to check out a hundred doctors you're sure to find someone sufficiently stupid or unethical to agree to just about any diagnosis and treatment. This is why one speaks of "getting a second opinion", not "getting a hundredth opinion".

So here what people end up getting is a "master" that is precisely what they would've ended up with had they done it themselves. Just like patients seeing a hundred doctors thereby insure themselves of substandard medical care, people who cattle call ME's will get a substandard master (unless they just happen to be experts lacking a studio). ME's responding to cattle calls are not competing with the folks on the CC: list, they're competing with the person on the From: line.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: Thomas W. Bethel on May 27, 2008, 07:31:16 AM
Our NORMAL rates ARE on OUR website but we also have slightly lower rates for non profits and indie artist that are not posted.

We don't post musical examples for the same reason that Brad stated.

Most of our business comes from referrals and/or word of mouth advertising and we invite people to stop in a bring their project for a FREE listen and problem solving session and to get to know us and what we can do for them. We also play them some before and after selections of recent projects and answer any questions they may have. Even if they decide to go somewhere else there is no charge for the initial listening session.

Like most businesses today we not only want your business today but in the future as well so we go to extraordinary lengths to assist you in fulfilling your dreams.

About 95% of our clients are repeat clients.

Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: aivoryuk on May 28, 2008, 06:40:42 AM
I haven't been involved in any cattle calls as describe here, but I must admit I am starting to become vary wary of doing samples for clients as I am never sure of the intention of the person requesting the sample.

I actually had one person admit to me that all he was trying to do was to hear what was going on and then try to emulate it himself (he later admitted that he didn't so I got the job)

I have thought about maybe posting samples on my website as faster download times mean higher quality files can be put up. But I have been suspicious of other facilities (none of you lot on here thankfully) that have done this and the before and after mix doesn't even sound like the same track
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: masterhse on May 28, 2008, 07:43:32 AM
It requires a bit of filtering, but I provide demos all of the time. If it's a "cattle call" I may require that they mail me a CD or DVD of the material. If they are either too lazy or don't want to go through the expense of mailing, then I don't feel that the effort and time/money lost from my end is warranted either.

I've gotten quite a few good clients going the demo route and usually make it part of my normal operating procedure even with returning clients. Once they are satisfied with the demo, payment is expected before going forward. I feel that it helps build trust, and starts the communication process for the project.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: Jerry Tubb on May 28, 2008, 10:26:43 AM
I did both last month.

1. freebie - did a one song test mastering from a regular client from the east coast. the artist wanted to compare two different mastering engineers styles... no problem.

2. refusal - an email from someone we didn't know on the west coast to test master one song, no referral. replied to said e-mail, "be happy to master the song at our regular rate". trying to avoid doing someone's single for free!

JT
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: masterhse on May 28, 2008, 11:58:29 AM
Jerry -

When I create a demo it either alternates between the unmastered/mastered versions, or is edited down. Neither of which would serve as a free mastered track.

Demos are a double-edged sword. They can get you some great new clients, or waste your time. With a couple of questions you can usually filter out the two reasonably.

Demos also allow one to audition the material before taking on the job. I'm curious as to how many potential paying gigs people may refuse?

I recently had someone send me some material and as politely as I could told the person that it would be a waste of money to master the tracks, that the amount of distortion was beyond any reasonable method of repair (these were poorly recorded acoustic tracks with severe clipping) and that I would have to refuse the gig. He told me that there were other mastering engineers that he sent the material to that would take on the job and to go f*ck myself. Glad that I listened and sorted it out pre-demo before dealing with him.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: cass anawaty on May 28, 2008, 12:56:54 PM
masterhse wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 16:58

Jerry -

When I create a demo it either alternates between the unmastered/mastered versions, or is edited down. Neither of which would serve as a free mastered track.

Demos are a double-edged sword. They can get you some great new clients, or waste your time. With a couple of questions you can usually filter out the two reasonably.

Demos also allow one to audition the material before taking on the job. I'm curious as to how many potential paying gigs people may refuse?

I recently had someone send me some material and as politely as I could told the person that it would be a waste of money to master the tracks, that the amount of distortion was beyond any reasonable method of repair (these were poorly recorded acoustic tracks with severe clipping) and that I would have to refuse the gig. He told me that there were other mastering engineers that he sent the material to that would take on the job and to go f*ck myself. Glad that I listened and sorted it out pre-demo before dealing with him.


Oh yeah--had a couple submit .wma files, then tell me they found someone that "could" master for them.  Obviously more talented than me.   Razz
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: aivoryuk on May 28, 2008, 01:13:41 PM
Cass Anawaty wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 17:56

masterhse wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 16:58

Jerry -

When I create a demo it either alternates between the unmastered/mastered versions, or is edited down. Neither of which would serve as a free mastered track.

Demos are a double-edged sword. They can get you some great new clients, or waste your time. With a couple of questions you can usually filter out the two reasonably.

Demos also allow one to audition the material before taking on the job. I'm curious as to how many potential paying gigs people may refuse?

I recently had someone send me some material and as politely as I could told the person that it would be a waste of money to master the tracks, that the amount of distortion was beyond any reasonable method of repair (these were poorly recorded acoustic tracks with severe clipping) and that I would have to refuse the gig. He told me that there were other mastering engineers that he sent the material to that would take on the job and to go f*ck myself. Glad that I listened and sorted it out pre-demo before dealing with him.


Oh yeah--had a couple submit .wma files, then tell me they found someone that "could" master for them.  Obviously more talented than me.   Razz


I had one where the client wanted me to do a sort of stems with a backing track and a stereo vocal track. the backing was in mp3 format and smashed to hell.

Later turns out when questioned it was a pre bought backing track and he just record vocals to it.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: masterhse on May 28, 2008, 02:07:12 PM
Cass Anawaty wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 12:56

Oh yeah--had a couple submit .wma files, then tell me they found someone that "could" master for them.  Obviously more talented than me.   Razz


LOL, step away from the trainwreck, nothing to see here.

aivoryuk wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 13:13

I had one where the client wanted me to do a sort of stems with a backing track and a stereo vocal track. the backing was in mp3 format and smashed to hell.

Later turns out when questioned it was a pre bought backing track and he just record vocals to it.



Yikes! Almost like using a vocal remover, adding a new vocal, and asking for it to be mastered.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: crna59 on May 28, 2008, 04:16:13 PM
Jerry Tubb wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 09:26

trying to avoid doing someone's single for free!
JT


That's why I only process about a minute or so of the track. If they like it, they can pay for the other 3 or 4 minutes of the track. If they don't like it, I didn't waste my time processing the rest of the track!

Regards,
Bruce
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: Andy Krehm on May 28, 2008, 05:05:04 PM
crna59 wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 16:16

Jerry Tubb wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 09:26

trying to avoid doing someone's single for free!
JT


That's why I only process about a minute or so of the track. If they like it, they can pay for the other 3 or 4 minutes of the track. If they don't like it, I didn't waste my time processing the rest of the track!

Regards,
Bruce

But it takes me 30 to 45 minutes to get a single/first song of an album done to my satisfaction. Mastering a demo is EXACTLY the same as mastering a single and if it is to be representative of my work, I want it to be really good which is why I don't do this very often.

Label "shootouts", yes and people who are recommended here and can't come in, I will sometimes do a demo for.

If someone can come in for a demo, I'm happy to have them come in but again, I don't usually give out any audio unless I think its at the same level as my paid work.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: jdg on May 28, 2008, 05:26:31 PM
i have local ppl come in for "Demos"
that takes more time then anything. and is a pain to schedule.
but, if they come in, it converts into a booking 99% of the time.

demos from "the internet" turn a 60% conversion, roughly.

Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: MASSIVE Mastering on May 28, 2008, 05:57:33 PM
aivoryuk wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 12:13


I had one where the client wanted me to do a sort of stems with a backing track and a stereo vocal track. the backing was in mp3 format and smashed to hell.

Had a client bring mixes in a few weeks ago - On an iPod.  
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: cass anawaty on May 28, 2008, 05:59:56 PM
MASSIVE Mastering wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 22:57

aivoryuk wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 12:13


I had one where the client wanted me to do a sort of stems with a backing track and a stereo vocal track. the backing was in mp3 format and smashed to hell.

Had a client bring mixes in a few weeks ago - On an iPod.  


I hope you mastered them on a docking station.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: Greg Reierson on May 28, 2008, 06:00:36 PM
Cass Anawaty wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 16:59

MASSIVE Mastering wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 22:57

aivoryuk wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 12:13


I had one where the client wanted me to do a sort of stems with a backing track and a stereo vocal track. the backing was in mp3 format and smashed to hell.

Had a client bring mixes in a few weeks ago - On an iPod.  


I hope you mastered them on a docking station.


No, no.... in iTunes!


GR
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: masterhse on May 28, 2008, 08:08:05 PM
jdg wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 17:26

i have local ppl come in for "Demos"
that takes more time then anything. and is a pain to schedule.
but, if they come in, it converts into a booking 99% of the time.

demos from "the internet" turn a 60% conversion, roughly.




It actually takes less time for me if they come in since it's instant feedback. Yeah you may have to do a bit of entertaining and explanation, but I agree that the conversion is that high.

I tend to demo over the 'Net more since I can schedule when I'm less busy. I have a bit better conversion over the 'Net than 60%, I would guess more like 80%. I treat these like any other session, the only issue is that it can take up to a week for me to get to them when I'm booked heavily. I usually try to turn them around in 3 days though. Demos are a lower priority than paid work, and most potential clients understand this.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: masterhse on May 28, 2008, 08:11:40 PM
MASSIVE Mastering wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 17:57

Had a client bring mixes in a few weeks ago - On an iPod.  


You can use an Ipod as a disk storage device in which case the audio can be any format. See:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1478
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: MASSIVE Mastering on May 28, 2008, 11:30:18 PM
Yeah, but that's not what he did...  
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: masterhse on May 29, 2008, 08:39:44 AM
MASSIVE Mastering wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 23:30

Yeah, but that's not what he did...  


Understood. I thought that I would mention it as I have a client who brings mixes on his video Ipod as 48K/24 files on a regular basis. Nothing wrong with an Ipod for xfering mixes if done this way.
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: aivoryuk on May 29, 2008, 03:05:37 PM
masterhse wrote on Thu, 29 May 2008 13:39

MASSIVE Mastering wrote on Wed, 28 May 2008 23:30

Yeah, but that's not what he did...  


Understood. I thought that I would mention it as I have a client who brings mixes on his video Ipod as 48K/24 files on a regular basis. Nothing wrong with an Ipod for xfering mixes if done this way.


I am still amazed about the amout of intial mixes I receive that are in mp3/wma format. I find that half the battle is getting it in the right format.

What I find even more amazing is I have witnessed a few mastering places that state that they actually accept mp3/wma as a mix format
Title: Re: 'Cattle Call' mastering sample / demo requests
Post by: cass anawaty on May 29, 2008, 03:33:53 PM
aivoryuk wrote on Thu, 29 May 2008 20:05


What I find even more amazing is I have witnessed a few mastering places that state that they actually accept mp3/wma as a mix format


Everytime one of us rejects one, the market grows.   Razz