"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Iain Churches wrote:
Probably not. I am inclined to think what Jim suggested may be correct -
this project fell victim to an automated generic pop mastering process,
where heavy compression and brickwall limiting are the norm..

It's the norm for some little tin pot duplicating company to do this sort
of 'mastering'? I find that beggars belief.

Most mastering facilities have modern facilities with an "impressive"
array of equipment. Considerable investment has been made.


This begs the question: "Did anyone actually listen to the music?"

This whole mastering thing has always confused me (except for vinyl). If a
mix is produced in the studio that satisfies the client, why is that
messed with afterwards?

Indeed. A question I have been asking myself for many years.

Gus Dudgeon (producer for Elton John and David Bowie) whom I
knew well from my Decca days, summed it up nicey when he stated
"whether we like it or not, CD mastering has become an extension
of the creative process"

And that's the difference, in a nut shell. The objectives are not the same.
In vinyl disc mastering the aim was to copy the information from
analogue tape as accurately as possible to acetate disc. Giving the
shortcomings of the medium, the results achieved were often amazingly
good.

In CD mastering, this "extension of the creative process" and an
attempt to give the public what (they think) they want, can often
result in severe overprocessing..

This is a problem seldom encountered in classical and jazz
recordings. I have often been at pop mastering sessions,
invited by the artist or the client as a neutral pair of ears, and
come away bewildered at the seemingly irrepressible desire
to inflict GBH to what was a perfectly presentable studio master.

However, this is the first time that such a thing has happened
to a project in which I have been involved. And as there was
no mastering session (the production discs were to have been
made 1:1 from a CD sent to the plant, via a glass master) I
shall be interested to hear their explanation.

Iain