Really good mastering

[sad iron]

Emily's got my EP down there @ the Lodge right now and I am supposed to be getting it back real soon. I can hardly wait. And yeah, they are pricey, but the are also super cool and willing to work with you to getyour stuff done. I have never had a better experience w/ a mastering house. I'll let you know how the final product turns out.

[aurelialuz]

I'd automatically make Fishbach the best guy you can afford. If you're happy with his work, there's no reason to change and it's good to develop a relationship like that. Like I said, there are some jerk-asses even further up in the price realm. The aforementioned clients basically wasted $1500 on a pair of plastic coasters.

yeah, i thought about that after i posted, you're completely right.

but it leads me to another question, are certain mastering guys better for different types of music? i would imagine they would be.

but yeah, he's definitely getting more buisness from me. nice guy too.

alex

[the-cruel]

Emily mastered my buddy's record - The Grassy Knoll "Short Stories". I think it sounds great.

[joel hamilton]

"are there better mastering people for different types of music???"

Of course!

That is why, and how I would choose someone to do a record.

I would work with people who understand the end result that is required. Some ppeople have a broader range of understanding, some seem to "specialize" or at least get pigeon holed by circumstance...

[Bear]

Can anyone reccomend some names and rates (because I already see a number of names here, but no rates--cheap is a very relative term ) for mastering? Most of my stuff is folkier, built around acoustic guitars, pianos and field recordings. The album is close to an hour, though, which I'm sure will effect things, but again, any reccomendations?

Any advice is appreciated. I'm new to the mastering end of things.

[@?,*???&?]

Can anyone reccomend some names and rates (because I already see a number of names here, but no rates--cheap is a very relative term ) for mastering? Most of my stuff is folkier, built around acoustic guitars, pianos and field recordings. The album is close to an hour, though, which I'm sure will effect things, but again, any reccomendations?

Any advice is appreciated. I'm new to the mastering end of things.

Gavin Lurssen at the Mastering Lab in Hollywood would be recommended for folk/acoustic- he did win a Grammy for the 'O brother where art thou' soundtrack.

http://www.themasteringlab.com/

[joel hamilton]

Doug henderson at Micro moose just did 2 albums for me and they both sound great. He has amazing ears and great gear!

He is around (dont hold me to this) 350-500 dollars for a full album.

The place I was talking about above was 5000 dollars for the day (attended).

PM me for doug's email address.

-Joel

[aurelialuz]

fishbach cut us a "deal", i think it was ~$300 for around forty minutes of music.

alex

[Bear]

Thanks for the direction, folks. And I'll Pm you, Joel.

[cgarges]

but it leads me to another question, are certain mastering guys better for different types of music? i would imagine they would be.
alex

Sure. Everybody's got their own tastes and asthetics, just like anything else.

Hoyt Dooley, III at Open Door Productions in Nashville is fantastic. He typically charges $300 for good-sounding, simple, no fixing or other BS-type projects that aren't like 70 minutes of music. I've had a few projects go slightly over that and a couple that went up towards $600. Worth every penny. And almost everything I've sent him has returned to me inside of a week. Hoyt is really good at sort of clearing things up a bit and making the depth and dimension apparent.

Dave Harris at Studio B here in Charlotte advertises in Tape Op and does a terrific job as well. He charges by the hour instead of having a flat starting fee, but most of the things I've sent to him have come in at around $300-$400. He's real aware of poeple's budget and does a good job within the client's restrictions. He did just have Russ Berger design him a beautiful new space, so I think at the beginning of the year his rates are going up a bit, but I can't wait to take a project over there to hear it in his new space on his new Dunlevys. Dave is really good at transparent mastering and making subtle tweaks to really retain the character of the original mixes. He also has high-speed duplicators and can do small run duplication at a reasonable price.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[jc]

We were only listening to track 1 I believe. Emily doesnt "crush the shit out of" anything.

comfort woman is absolutely the jam of the week. 4 weeks running.
i realize you all waited with baited breath for that one...

any mixing with aim to sound the same... well... i think the CD sounds like overprocessed overloud stuffy no headroom CRAP . maybe it left the mixing studio that way, maybe not... but i Do hope that yr mix gets to radiate the same kinds of + energy.

despite the 3.5db dynamic range i will be jammin the new meshell for the next 4 wks guaranteed. it will be turned waay the hell Down.

otherwise:
john Golden? anyone?

[TapeOpAndy]

...as the thing I mixed (a group called "beetroot") is an amazing R&B/deep groove/dub type thing.

Oh sh*t... Joel, if I'd known that was you at the Lodge, I'da said howdy with double-fives. That was me working w/ Drew and SK on our plan to dominate the world (WMFDM)... I exchanged quick hellos with two of your crew at the end of the day when I was leaving w/ Em and Drew (and both Fiona and I were geeking on our WiFi PDAs.)

Were you the one wearing the black polypro ziptee w/ thumbhole sleeves?


And while we're talking mastering engineers...

My fave is Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering:

http://www.peerlessmastering.com/

Jeff uses some pretty unique thinking to get results that are way beyond my (high) expectations. He's got the most accurate control room I've ever heard. And he's affordable.

[Madness]

I've used a few mastering engineers over the years- Doug Sax, Hank Williams, Ken Love. Buddy Miller mastered a record for me a few years back when I needed a favor- even though he's not a true mastering guy, he did a great job and made me look good.

The 'go to guy' for my work has become Jim DeMain @ Yes Master in Nashville. He uses 2 rates- a major label rate and an indie rate. I've brought most of my work to him in the last few years and have never been disappointed.

Jim is a gracious person and never 'above' the music I bring him. I can't recommend him highly enough.
Peace
Phil

[joel hamilton]

Andy:

I only came in for a couple of hours. Jason and Fiona are in the band, and were there all day. Me, and my partner tony maimone, and our assistant steve stopped by for a while.

I ate lots of snacks, then felt sick in the cab back to brooklyn...

When were you there???

Fiona and Jason are awesome.

-Joel

[TapeOpAndy]

From 9am til 11pm, with two quick trips out for meetings elsewhere. When you first walked in, I was inside the lounge (where the diner booth is) w/ Drew and Scott, and then Scott walked out to talk to you guys in the reception area.