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Post by robo on Jan 31, 2023 19:03:57 GMT -6
About 75% of the projects I work on are low budget, self-financed affairs. WAY too often I end up mastering my own mixes because the dough just isn't there for $1000+ professional job.
I had a local guy who would do a good job and charged $50 per song, but he's frequently too busy mixing (his regular gig) to take on work.
I'm curious if folks have any recommendations for quality mastering on the cheap. Links would be appreciated. Thanks!
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Post by Tbone81 on Jan 31, 2023 19:13:02 GMT -6
Hey Robo, I noticed that you're in Portland also. I use Dana White for all my mastering, he's local. For a full album he can most likely work with that budget. He's a great guy and very talented. If you reach out to him tell him Tommy sent ya. Here's his web: www.specializedmastering.com/dana-white |
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Post by EmRR on Jan 31, 2023 20:56:21 GMT -6
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Post by mcirish on Feb 1, 2023 21:32:57 GMT -6
I've had great results with Tom @ waltz mastering. Nice guy, works quick and I am always impressed with his results.
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Post by robo on Feb 4, 2023 11:06:49 GMT -6
Thanks for the tips, ya’ll!
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Post by sean on Feb 5, 2023 7:20:35 GMT -6
Carl Saff at Saff Mastering and Justin Perkins at Mystery Room Mastering have become my regulars. Here in Nashville there are some great local options I like but they are all quiet expensive in comparison
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Post by antbar on Feb 7, 2023 10:22:39 GMT -6
Myles B at Headless Buddha has done fine work for me and others, always for a fair price. He's in Oakland, CA. mylesboisen.com/ |
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Post by antbar on Mar 22, 2023 18:02:08 GMT -6
Wanted to add another name to the mastering hat. Oz Fritz just mastered my double album - and for a fair price. Lovely, fascinating fellow. He's a Grammy-winner for his work with Tom Waits, with all sorts of stories to tell. (It was an attended session!) Nice thing for me is that he's friends with Myles Boisen, whom I mentioned in my previous reply here. I wanted to work with somebody new for this particular record, despite having built up a loyalty to Myles by now. That Oz and Myles are pals made it feel like I was just spreading the love amongst members of the family. Oh, and Oz did excellent work with the mastering!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2023 18:36:09 GMT -6
I've mastered on and off for over 20 years, my current chain is an SSL Bus Comp > Gainlabs Audio Empress > Neve 33609 > Bettermaker Mastering limiter and a splash of Ozone if required (I have other options as well like an IGS Tubecore). I've spent a fortune on treatment and I have a very decent set of monitors (Dynaudio Core 59's). Now I'm not here to run off with other mastering engineers work and to be completely honest $50.00 a track is never worth my time. However, when I got out of this industry I have, on occasion helped friends or trusted acquaintances if they needed me. I work on a trust based system so if you're happy with the master and you want to release it then consider throwing me some beer money, that's about it  .. |
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Post by linas on Apr 4, 2023 5:53:50 GMT -6
Quick question: can you do PRO mastering in a small space? Like 3.5 m x 5 m, with perfect treatment and shit?
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Post by notneeson on Apr 6, 2023 19:41:00 GMT -6
About 75% of the projects I work on are low budget, self-financed affairs. WAY too often I end up mastering my own mixes because the dough just isn't there for $1000+ professional job.
I had a local guy who would do a good job and charged $50 per song, but he's frequently too busy mixing (his regular gig) to take on work.
I'm curious if folks have any recommendations for quality mastering on the cheap. Links would be appreciated. Thanks!
RGO regular trakworxmastering does a great job for very reasonable rates. www.trakworx.com/ |
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Post by svart on Apr 7, 2023 7:43:27 GMT -6
Not a direct suggestion, but an interesting investigation nonetheless.
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Post by trakworxmastering on Apr 7, 2023 11:59:33 GMT -6
Not a direct suggestion, but an interesting investigation nonetheless. That is interesting. I'm not so sure I agree with his ranking of them, but he's the client, so... I can't help but note that, predictably, he chose the loudest master as his favorite. Had he level-matched them then he may have chosen differently, and that's more important than ever in the age of streaming loudness normalization. 'Happy for the $20/song guy though! |
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Post by svart on Apr 7, 2023 12:06:23 GMT -6
Not a direct suggestion, but an interesting investigation nonetheless. That is interesting. I'm not so sure I agree with his ranking of them, but he's the client, so... I can't help but note that, predictably, he chose the loudest master as his favorite. Had he level-matched them then he may have chosen differently, and that's more important than ever in the age of streaming loudness normalization. 'Happy for the $20/song guy though! I personally liked the balance of that mix as well. Now, one thing I noticed was that the "worst" and "best" weren't actually that far apart in overall tonality. I did find the "bright" mix a bit strangely out of balance, but I would have probably been fine with pretty much all the rest of them on their own. Only when played A/B style were the differences actually significantly obvious. It would have been a bit more interesting to know how the signal chains compared. Surely the 20$ one wasn't going through 100K of gear and speakers, yet it didn't sound all that different from the 130$ Abbey Road which you know most likely went through 100K+ of gear and speakers.. |
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Post by robo on Apr 9, 2023 22:45:05 GMT -6
Not a direct suggestion, but an interesting investigation nonetheless. It’s an interesting idea, but I feel like the most important task in mastering is finding the treatment (or lack thereof) to enhance the overall work, sometimes making little compromises in individual tracks for the sake of the flow. It’s not something this single mastering can address. I don’t mind self-mastering on a single release for that reason. I assume the mix is good, and get the level up a little with as little change as possible. By the way, I’ve reached out to a couple folks mentioned here, and I appreciate having more options moving forward! |
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