20 Oct
2011
20 Oct
'11
3:40 a.m.
On Wed, 2011-10-19 at 21:02 -0400, Al Thompson wrote:
This whole "mastering plugin" thing is
something I really fail to grasp
from a logical, technical, and artistic viewpoint. In years past, the
recording engineer, under direction of a producer (who may or may not
have been the artist), mixed the track to sound how they wanted it. The
record company then sent the half-track master to a "mastering engineer"
who made sure it was technically acceptable to be cut on a lacquer and
would play on a typical turntable. He also made SLIGHT EQ adjustments,
based on his trained ears, highly-specialized equipment, and experience.
And it still is. Nothing has changed just because the industry is more
digital now.
Alas, along came computers. Along came someone with
the bright idea of
totally automating what it was that the mastering engineer did.
When I master I use a variety of tools, including jamin, but i don't
use one setting, and I don't know any credible mastering engineer who
does use some automated setting. That's just crazy.
Jamin has a multi-band compressor, and a high resolution EQ in it (as
well as a limiter and the ability to add harmonics) which can be found
as separate tools in an analog mastering rack.
No difference.
Rich...