Venting to the mastering 'engineer' himself

I just received a CD today, and was disgusted to find it completely brickwalled. Not only did I send an email to the record company, I tracked down the mastering hack and sent him an email as well. These guys are talentless destructors, nothing more. The person in question for this debacle is Dave Turner. Hell, he even looks like a nut!

http://www.360mastering.co.uk/engineers/dave-turner-2

Here's what I sent, just to get it off my chest:

This message is for Dave Turner. I'm not sure why you feel the need to completely brickwall all the CD's you remaster. I just received Cherry Red's reissue by the band Blue Zoo, mastering credited to Dave Turner, and the dynamic range has been virtually eliminated. You have quite a negative reputation on various forums on the web as a mastering engineer that creates cringe-worthy overcompression, along with others like Jon Astley, Peter Mew, and Andy Walter. All of you could take note from Tom Parker, who did a recent set of Bananarama reissues for Edsel. All walked the line very well between being loud, but not too loud to destroy all dynamic range. This latest CD with your name on it is now little more than a coaster.

 

Hmm, I can see why it's tempting to be that guy, but I'm not sure I'd boast about it.

 

Excellent! We should all cc that letter and just substitute the names of the particular labels, CDs and engineers we have problems with.

 

wow...

 

Why single this guy out?

I can't imagine buying a CD in 2013 and expecting anything other than a brickwalled mastering job.

 

Seems a little harsh. For all you know the engineer may have been instructed by the record company and/or artist to make it sound that way.

 

He's just doing what he was told.

 

Not true. I used to master for Cherry Red, and at no point did they ever tell me how they wanted it to sound. They left it up to me to determine what was best. Some of their reissues are wonderful, and it's all based on who's mastering it. Just like with Edsel. If this was a major I would agree he may have been told to crank the volume, but this is not the case. Plus, it's not the first time his name has been attached to botch jobs.

Oh, and I was heading up the lynching of Andy Walter when the Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet back catalogs were being destroyed a few years back, and let him know it as well. Any of the negative reviews by anyone on Amazon mentioning Andy Walter by name were removed after he and the facility he worked for found out a mob was bitching about his hack-work.

 

Other than venting, what are you expecting to accomplish by writing that?

 

I've always assumed it was the fault of the record company demanding higher volume. It's a scary thought that anyone in the chain who performs the act, or approves the final product, is considered to be a professional and capable of working in the music industry. Having the ability to hear properly should be a major qualification, wouldn't you think?

Why don't we hear from the artists complaining that their work has been ruined? Do they not hear it? Are they contractually silenced? Don't care? Some big conspiracy? I confess I'm not an expert on this but the only artists I've heard (secondhand) express their displeasure with the practice of killing their dynamics are Kate Bush and Bob Dylan, who apparently went on to release brickwalled discs himself...

I like to think that at least a highest quality digital copy with full dynamics is saved first, before any mastering adjustments, in case the tapes become unusable. In fact I think it's necessary for vinyl anyway... from my limited knowledge of vinyl mastering I know that if stuff is too loud, it won't cut.

Imagine if future releases had to be sourced from already ruined recordings... it happens now already with compilations. I see over-compressed waveforms chopped off at ridiculously low levels to make them sound level next to tracks that still have some dynamics.

The music we love is being killed and except for our complaints which apparently fall on (obviously) deaf ears, nothing is being done to stop it.

 

I would think if you are a mastering engineer yourself you would add that in the letter....otherwise it comes off as an unqualified rant IMO.

 

I only have one issue from Cherry Red, Frazier Chorus-"Sue" re-issue, very nice, was that yours Scott?

 

No....we really shouldn't.

 

A great mastering job is the George Jones and Tammy Wynette Classic Christmas Album on Sony/Legacy done by Vic Anesini

 

Not buying something would have more of an impact then any letter, IMO.

 

I have experienced the same. Tanya Tucker's Delta Dawn album was reissued a few years ago in the UK on T-Bird Records which is Cherry Red's Country reissue label. Some of the songs were sourced from poor vinyl with sibilance and wow and flutter issues.

 

I tried editing my original post and somehow managed to delete it..... but their BBR label is dreadful as well. The Gloria Gaynor is a brickwalled mess, and not even balanced properly between the L and R channels.

When I see something on Cherry Red I avoid unless I have a chance to "try before I buy"....

 

This "loudness" thing has gotten out of control! Check out the new duet by Celine Dion and Ne-Yo, the piano at the beginning is so loud, that it hurts to listen to it and you have to believe me when I tell you that the hard copy of the CD sounds just as bad or worse!

 

E-mailing someone telling them what you think of their work is one thing, but crucifying them on a public forum like this really is bad form in my opinion. And I do hate brickwalled CDs and badly mastered stuff like that, but that's not the point.

 

Ted Jensen has taken full responsibility for the mastering of Metallica's "Death Magnetic".

 

Hard to tell on my computer, but I agree that it does not sound much like a normal piano. Probably the sound they wanted though.

 

He said the mix arrived like that and there wasn't much he could do.

 

Did he confer with the band to make sure that it was the mix they wanted? I know of a few mastering engineers who do that, just as a semi guilt trip in the hopes they'd lower the db's.

 

Probably not, but these are the guys who said the album sounded great and didn't they approve a mix over a cell phone at an outdoor concert in a tent once?