SH Spotlight Steve's Mastering Secrets, Part II

Can one of you guys educate me? In the previous thread, Steve talked about bass reduction on Hotel California. I just listened to the Target pressing and my early Japan (38XD-60), which sound identical, but are both very light on the bass -- and I thought that these were flat transfers?

 

Not sure where I heard that; might be remembering incorrectly. In any event, that Japan pressing sure doesn't sound as good as I remember it; the bass drum sounds like a cardboard box.

 

Are you sure? I'm just confused.
It is not so called 'pink Island'. Or is somewhere pink?

 

I did this recently on a country CD I mastered, where the material was compiled from titles recorded at three different studios, across a seven year period. I just keyed in on making sure the lead vocal on all the songs was at about the same apparent level from song to song, and the relative dynamics on the introductions of the songs flowed well from one song to the next. The most dynamic songs will just hit digital maximum; the titles with the least dynamic range ended up needing to be set to where they were peaking at no higher than -4 or -3 dBFS to 'fit' alongside them. (Sure, I could have just compressed the more dynamic titles to fit against the others, but I wanted the sound to be as lifelike as possible. And the artiste is a more 'old school country' chap, and he's THRILLED with the results I obtained. I guess I'm proud of this one! )

A popular CD I have, that embodies this mastering technique, is the Beatles '1' CD, mastered by Peter Mew.

Another great thread, Steve!

 

I've narrowed it down to two songs. Critical listening time tomorrow.

 

"70's Rock Classics Vol.1"

Just wanted to add my 2 cents about this CD.

The version of Evil Woman is amazing. I'm a huge ELO fan and I've listened to several masterings of this song. But this one on the "70's Rock Classics Vol.1" CD is a revelation. I hear string layers I wasn't aware of before. The word "unearthed" pretty much expresses my listening experience.

 

That's so true. But i think it is not only this song, that benefits from the mastering. Most songs are pretty well known Rock Staples and each of them sounds spectacular on this CD. 'Because The Nigh't has such a wide open sound, that i just do not hear on Patti Smith LP. Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear The Reaper" - the harmony vocals and the guitars sound so alive and huge - it is fantastic. I could go on and on. Even Linda Ronstadt really rocks on the last Track ... Will look out for the other 4 Volumes of this series.

 

D'Oh! I should have thought of that!

Now I got yet another old CD to hunt down...

And a few more listens to the gold CD to figure out the SH splice...

Thanks Steve, for the links.

 

I believe that's only true of "Straight Up", which was mastered by Peter Mew. The CD of "No Dice" was mastered by Mike Jarratt, and sounds nearly identical to yours. I don't recall hearing any DNR on "No Dice", but it's been a while since I listened to the EMI CD.

Derek

 

Hey Steve,

Can you give us a run-down on your current mastering setup? I am curious about the equipment you use!

 

The DCC's can get expensive, but the "Reeling in the Years" volumes are identical to the DCC's and much cheaper. They just have different track sequencing. "Because the Night" sounds better than I've ever heard it. Totally amazing!

 

Hi Steve, my guess is around the two minute mark of the title track. Or there seemed to be something around the 1:00 mark of "Seagull" - I want to listen to this one again when I get home to make sure.

 

Steve,

Do you ever fall into the trap of gradually getting everything louder and louder when adjusting levels? If I don't look at meters, this happens to me.

 

I use an analyzer to find where the center of energy is. There is a little tool in Audition that has a little trackball and halo that represents the energy level and phase. If I can keep that little ball hovering in the average of the center, and above the line, I can balance the stereo track and keep it in phase, despite what the DB or VU meters say.

 

Teo Macero told me that he used to have business card size "meter readings" printed up. He would place the cards quietly in front of the meter glass ahead of some recording sessions. They were printed to show a non-overdriving meter reading. The engineers at Columbia would only take a cursory glance at them, so they would assume that nothing was being overdriven. Teo did this to make sure that the master tapes weren't too quiet. He cited the example of the drum duel on Battle Royale as recorded by Count Basie and Duke Ellington. The drums are big and loud, but I don't think the tape was actually overdriven, so he probably achieved his desired effect.

 

I wish I had more. Mostly we were talking about unreleased material. He mentioned lots of live jazz which has never seen the light of day.

 

I'm surprised they didn't notice the meters not moving!

 

I've always wondered how to pronounce his last name. Is it Mass-ero or Mace-ero?