Re: Mastering singles for radio with new Waves Mastering suite.
Thanks for the great responses. I will check out the book on Amazon "The Mastering Engineers" handbook. I have seen that book for sale actually, and didn't buy it, mainly because the first few sentences were "I'm not a mastering engineer....but...!!!." However, after reading "The Mixing Engineers" handbook, I am sold on his technique. More as a researcher than anything. So, I will go check it out. I also found the book "Audio Mastering (Quick Start)" by Craig Anderton and will buy that one as well. You can never get enough knowledge.
Doug, thanks for the info on the mastering tools. I had no idea they mastered a version just for radio but that makes perfect sense. Sterling Sound told me they do "Internet mastering" as well just for WMA and mp3 formats. Anyone know what the trick is for Internet mastering? I would guess more mid range and less highs since popular Internet formats choke on high frequencies.
Well, here is what I am going to do. I found a mastering engineer that is going to master this track for free, then, if I like his work, I will have him master my future tracks. He told me to replace my mix EQs with the Waves Linear Phase EQs if I have the DSP that way my purchase was not a waste. Then, I can attempt to master it, and I can keep the version I like the best.
SO, I guess the main goal is to make the mix sound the same on all speaker types and that's why fresh ears help. I can see where this would be difficult. However, I have been doing that with my mixes for the past year and a half and limiting them as well. So, I guess I have been "mastering" in some ways. However, I never used a stereo EQ on the final mix or a multi-band compression, so those tools are new. I used Maxim before, but most people here do not like it. I plan on using the L2 now.
It sounds like good equipment is very important in the mastering phase. I think I may have better equipment than the mastering engineer I am going to use (better monitors, and processors. He has the original Waves Mastering series native). However, he has a lot more experience and the monitors probably don't matter too much if he is going to check the mix on all the speakers he can find.
Anyway. Thanks again!
Monty
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