History of Mastering?

[televator]

How did the concept of Mastering recordings come about? Who, and when was it determined that recording and mixing wasn't good enough, but further adjustments were required?

While i'm here, just why is it that mastering is needed? I understand what mastering does and how important it is. But why is it that the same effects are not achieved through the mixdown process? Is there science that I clearly don't understand that explains it?

word.

[soundguy]

master was the process of getting your tape material onto a LP and because of the limitations physically present in the LP, things had to be done to the master in order to say, keep the needle from jumping out of the groove. It was the transfer process.

Today, if you record on tape, the process is similar, however its just getting the tape into a computer for CD replication.

If you record on a computer, you can bring your files to a mastering engineer for optimization.

in the later scenario, do you NEED it? No. You dont have to hire a painter to paint your house. you might make a mess of it if you paint yourself though, if you arent a painter.

dave

[roy]

You dont have to hire a painter to paint your house. you might make a mess of it if you paint yourself though, if you arent a painter.

dave

Great analogy!!

[trashy]

You dont have to hire a painter to paint your house. you might make a mess of it if you paint yourself though, if you arent a painter.

dave

Great analogy!!

yeah, it is. I painted my house myself - I did my research, took my time, got the best materials I could afford, and was as careful as possible. My house looks great and I saved a bunch of money.

[nacho459]

Then again painters don't usually make over $100 an hour.

I think what we know today as CD mastering as far as the limiting and the eq, etc. just evolved over time as people wanted more "in your face" recordings. Everyone wanted their CD louder, brighter, deeper, all around bigger. So what happens is that you scoop out all the mids till you just have harmonics and bass, and then compress that into one block of sound.

I have stopped trying to out loud or out do other CD's and to keep the fundamentals of the music. Try this, go into your control room and listen to non remastered classic rock CD's for about 3 hours then pop in a new CD and it will hurt your ears how much the top end has been hyped.

[bobbydj]

You dont have to hire a painter to paint your house. you might make a mess of it if you paint yourself though, if you arent a painter.

dave

Great analogy!!

yeah, it is. I painted my house myself - I did my research, took my time, got the best materials I could afford, and was as careful as possible. My house looks great and I saved a bunch of money.

And apparently you're booked in to paint my house.

[trashy]

You dont have to hire a painter to paint your house. you might make a mess of it if you paint yourself though, if you arent a painter.

dave

Great analogy!!

yeah, it is. I painted my house myself - I did my research, took my time, got the best materials I could afford, and was as careful as possible. My house looks great and I saved a bunch of money.

And apparently you're booked in to paint my house.

I'm just gonna put up aluminum siding.

[bobbydj]

Yeah I was thinking shocking pink with beige woodwork. But whatever.

[trashy]

Yeah I was thinking shocking pink with beige woodwork. But whatever.

I am adding v-drums.

[bobbydj]

Like you even *have* an option.

You know how much I less than three V drums.

[trashy]

Like you even *have* an option.

You know how much I less than three V drums.

is it more than or less than you less than three the microverb? because I can throw some of that on there, too. Actually I can throw a lot of it on there.

[joeysimms]

That's it trashy, you're painting my house, too.

[wedge]

To the question at hand: the history of mastering. As I understand it, mastering as we know it developed from the step of transfering music from tape to LP. In the day, it was simply a technical process, with compressors and eq involved, in order to control overzelous bass response that would otherwise send a needle bouncing outside its groove. Each record company had their own in-house mastering engineer, and his sole purpose was to transfer music from format to format as transparently as possible.

In the seventies, I believe, mastering engineers began to conclude that, not only could they control unruly transients, but they could actually *improve* the quality of the recorded material. These guys set up shop as freelancers, and proved to the industry that the mastering step is quite important in its own right.

The rest, as they say, is history...

[Derrick]

So, for indie or college radio recordings... couldn't one use a decent limiter/compressor and decent EQ to do their own mastering if they have very good ear? Couldn't you get reasonably close or am I missing something here?

[trashy]

So, for indie or college radio recordings... couldn't one use a decent limiter/compressor and decent EQ to do their own mastering if they have very good ear? Couldn't you get reasonably close or am I missing something here?

before anyone tells you no, I'm gonna tell you yes. Recording is a difficult, time-consuming process which takes knowledge, skill, and artistry. You did it yourself; congratulations! Mastering is a difficult, time-consuming process which takes knowledge, skill, and artistry. For some reason, people are going to tell you not to try it.

Try it.