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Mastering is still an afterthought for many musicians. It’s a critical part to the recording process yet most musicians think they can do it themselves or worse, skip it altogether. Inside Audio Mastering you’ll find lots of information about this mysterious process.

121 Mastering Tips By Scott Hawksworth

My good friend Scott Hawksworth over at AudioSkills.com just published an amazing post about Mastering Engineers and how they perform their artistic skills.

The Title of the article is, 121 Mastering Tips from the Experts.

It’s worth the few minutes it takes to read.

Heck, keep an open tab and skim it in between takes, breaks or sessions.

It in you’ll find topics like:

  • Mastering philosophies, theories and strategies.
  • How to prep your mix for mastering (geared toward techie artists and mix engineers).
  • Mastering chains from the Experts.
  • A few comments about the loudness wars.
  • And my favorite section, Sage Advice.

This is a handy reference for beginners and experienced alike.
- Michael Ramos, Renowned Broadcast Engineer for the Legendary Rick Dees.

It includes tips from industry experts like Bob Katz, Dave McNair and Ian Stewart (Top 3, of course).

As well as engineers I admire like Chris Blaney, Maor Appelbaum and Katie Tavini.

Yours truly is also represented; take a peek at #34. :)

Scott’s site includes a ton of other educational posts and tools.

In short, if you’re in the mood to upgrade your sonic abilities then head over to AudioSkills.com and check out his post.

It’s a great way to kickstart or continue your Mastering education.

Until next time!
Dave

The relationships between notes and frequencies.

An engineer told me many years ago that if you can recognize the note of a certain frequency then you'll be able to EQ your mixes much faster and with more ease. So if you are mixing a track and hear that there's a hump in the low end brought on by the bass playing a C and you know that this particular C is around 13oHZ (it's actually 131HZ) then you can reach for the low band EQ and cut that frequency. Most engineers will boost the low band at any frequency and start to sweep the band until they find the offending tone then they'll cut it. Don't you think it would be much more efficient to know the note and frequency through ear training so all you have to do is reach for the frequency and cut it? No more sweeping needed. Just know the note, relate that note to the frequency and make your adjustment. This was eye opening to me! Ear opening actually, but you get my point.

Below is a chart that shows the note to frequency relationships as well as the frequency range for the most popular wester musical instrument. [Click the chart to see a larger version]

Note to frequency relationships.

Studio Basics From The Universal Audio Web Site

Great Production Tips from the Universal Audio web site. Having a boatload of UA plugins myself I should review this page more often.

Thunderbolt Explained — What Does it Mean For Your Studio?

Posted by Craig Anderton on October 18, 2012 3:20:58 PM PDT
Intel’s new high-speed serial protocol provides ultra-fast data transfers for audio and video data streams. Read on to learn more about this groundbreaking technology and the potential it holds for studio workflow improvements, data transfer, and more.

Ready, Set, Mix! Tips for Prepping Your Mixing Session

Posted by Bobby Owsinski on July 10, 2012 11:45:30 AM PDT

It’s time to mix, so let’s start to move some faders! Well, maybe not right away. If we really want a mix to go quickly and smoothly, there’s some preparation that needs to be done beforehand. Here's a look at the technical prep, session prep, and personal prep needed before diving into your latest mixing session.

Instrument Tuning Tips for Better Recordings

Posted by Daniel Keller on May 18, 2012 3:53:08 PM PDT

While you’ve been working hard and paying attention to the songs, the parts, the sounds, and all the other big-picture stuff, maybe something’s just ever so slightly out of tune. Tuning is one of the little things that can end up making a huge difference in the final quality of your recordings, so here are some final things to listen for before you start your first take.

What’s your DAW de-essing technique?

I'm a member of a few music production groups on LinkedIn and found that the information being shared over there is really, really good. The title of this article came from a discussion happening in the Small Recording Studio Network. It's a group of highly passionate professional sharing their experiences with recording gear and techniques. This discussion was started by Songwriter and Producer, Mark Moore who was was smart enough to add a poll.

As you can clearly see most production work is being done in-the-box.

What's your DAW de-essing technique?
68% of production in happening in-the-box.

 

As I mentioned the information being shared on LinkedIn is really good. So good that I found this gem of a technique from Producer/Engineer/Mixer, Robert L. Smith.

Multiple de-essers set minimally at specific frequencies, as opposed to one de-esser really digging in. Found this to be the best method. Sometimes this could be up to 5 different de-essers. Some of those new 'bright' microphones can be kind of harsh... Robert L. Smith.

I've never heard nor seen this done before but it makes perfect sense and I'm very excited to try out. If this sounds like something you'd like to contribute to please join us over in the Small Recording Studio Network on LinkedIn or leave a comment below.

“Look out”, The Ross Sea Party aired on ABC’s Private Practice.

The Ross Sea Party, a CrazyEye Music Service mastering client.
Featured on ABC's Private Practice

On March 15th CrazyEye Music Services mastering client, The Ross Sea Party had their song "Look Out" featured on ABC's hit show, Private Practice.

This is huge for the LA based group of "five friends who wanted to transcend the disconnected and nonsensical nature of life in the city to create something consequential, the band embarked with hollow-body guitars, well-tuned drums, and a glockenspiel."

Read more

Blackwater Jukebox #4 on Berkeley Place’s Top 10 Indie songs of 2011

CrazyEye client, Blackwater Jukebox

CrazyEye mastering client, Blackwater Jukebox gets #4 on Berkeley Place Blog for Top 10 Indie EP and Singles for 2011 for the EP Banjos and Breakbeats.

I've done many projects with Geordie McElroy, the leader (and sole member for that matter) for Blackwater Jukebox, but this one was our first together. His style is very unique and extremely interesting. He once told me "It's like electro/funk/banjo mixed with breakbeats", but I think this description from his site sums it up nicely...

"Imagine the sound of Pete Seeger and the RZA in a switchblade fight in the catacombs under a decaying medina."

Yup, that's about right. If you'd like to hear more of Blackwater Jukebox you can head over to his Bandcamp page and listen to Banjos and Breakbeats as well as the Eastside Girl single and the Moonshiner EP. If you're into new music - like really new - both are worth a listen.

By the way, how great is the Banjos and Breakbeats cover art!? How does it relate to the title of the EP? Heck, I don't know. That's something you'll have to ask Geordie.

Show Dates:
If you're in LA you can catch him twice through the end of January. Once on Dec 30 at Lot 1 Cafe  and again on Jan 28 at  Silverlake Lounge.

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