KVR Mastering Workshop - expressions of interest

How to do this, that and the other. Share, learn, teach. How did X do that? How can I sound like Y?
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

Well hello there.

We approach the end of the KVR Mix Workshop. The final week remains - the week focussed on mastering. Generally I have not admitted additional participants during the workshop, as each week builds on the previous. This final week, however, presents the opportunity to start from a common base. It aso conveniently coincides with several other recent discussions about mastering.

So, I thought I might open up the workshop for its final week. Anyone interested in participating, please email me at kvr-workshop at kimlajoie dot com before Monday 20th. The structure of the final "week" will be as follows:

Today-Sun19th: Please email me if you're interested.
Mon19th: I will email notes to all participants. These notes will detail my mastering process, and serve as a suggestion for your process.
Mon27th: Last date for first drafts to be emailed to me. I'll accept drafts earlier though.
Wed29th: Last date for second drafts to be emailed to me. I'll accept drafts earlier though.
Mon3rd: I will publish my notes and links to participant's versions here on KVR.

Limitations:
1) I will not be accepting expressions of interest after Mon19th. If you're too slow, you're too slow. It's hard enough to keep track of where people are at when they all start at the same time. If it takes you more than four days to send a one-line email, how do I know you'll do a draft master in any reasonable timeframe?
2) I will only be publishing THIRD DRAFTS. I will only be publishing THIRD DRAFTS. In the final few weeks of the workshop, people have simply waited until the last minute to submit their versions, meaning I don't get a chance to provide feedback, and the participants don't get a chance to improve their version in response to my feedback. This defeats the purpose of the workshop!

Of course, the unmastered version will be published along with the mastered versions, and anyone is free to try their hand at it. However, once the workshop reaches this stage I may not be able to provide detailed individual feedback.

Anyone interested in participating, please email me at kvr-workshop at kimlajoie dot com before Monday 20th. Current KVR Mix Workshop participants need not email again - I assume you are already participating!

-Kim.

Post

Bump for great justice.

-Kim.

Post

i've got a few songs just finished mixing, so i'm up to the mastering stage and interested, thanks.

Post

shanecgriffo wrote:i've got a few songs just finished mixing, so i'm up to the mastering stage and interested, thanks.
Kim (esoundz) wrote:Anyone interested in participating, please email me at kvr-workshop at kimlajoie dot com before Monday 20th.
-Kim.

Post

hey kim, just 'tagging' so i get e-mails about it from the KVRbot then i am able to read and listen mate (so sorry for a non-useful post)

Bump then i guess

Thanks

Dean/Nekro :)

Post

I e-mailed the first day of your post but never heard back. Can I assume you got it?
We escape the trap of our own subjectivity by
perceiving neither black nor white but shades of grey

Post

eduardo_b wrote:I e-mailed the first day of your post but never heard back. Can I assume you got it?
Yes I got your email. I was going to reply to everyone tomorrow.

-Kim.

Post

thanks, a bit tired and not reading things properly it seems :oops:

Post

shanecgriffo wrote:thanks, a bit tired and not reading things properly it seems :oops:
No problem.

Just make sure you're not tired when you're mastering. ;-)

-Kim.

Post

Kim,

I've just had a last listen to my mix, before starting the mastering process, and it seems that my mixdown has peaks that
go as high as -3.7db, and at the loudest part of the song, the level is at about -9 db.

You wrote in the mastering week notes that one may need to lower the reference mix to about -12 db.
Is it possible that my mix is too loud?

Also, I'm just looking at my sequencer's mixer, and I see that none of the channels has it's fader above 0db,
So I can bring them all up a little and get a peak at 0db.
Should I do that before starting the mastering process?

I've read somewhere that a level of -3db is common for sending the mixdown for mastering.
What is your opinion about that?

Post

yonyz wrote:Kim,

I've just had a last listen to my mix, before starting the mastering process, and it seems that my mixdown has peaks that
go as high as -3.7db, and at the loudest part of the song, the level is at about -9 db.

You wrote in the mastering week notes that one may need to lower the reference mix to about -12 db.
Is it possible that my mix is too loud?

Also, I'm just looking at my sequencer's mixer, and I see that none of the channels has it's fader above 0db,
So I can bring them all up a little and get a peak at 0db.
Should I do that before starting the mastering process?

I've read somewhere that a level of -3db is common for sending the mixdown for mastering.
What is your opinion about that?
No.

The mix is fine if it sounds fine, regardless of the level. It could be peaking at -1dBFS, or it could be peaking at -18dBFS. It doesn't matter. The overall level relative to 0dBFS is addressed in mastering. During the mixing, it's irrelevant - so long as you don't clip your output bus!

-Kim.

Post

Okay, thank you.

Post

Kim, would you please recommend a few songs that are similar to this Workshop's song, and which are a good examples of "good mastering"?
Pop music is something I never listen to by choice, and to be honest, this workshop's song is of a pretty new style for me.

Post

yonyz wrote:Kim, would you please recommend a few songs that are similar to this Workshop's song, and which are a good examples of "good mastering"?
Pop music is something I never listen to by choice, and to be honest, this workshop's song is of a pretty new style for me.
When I mastered Flesh And Bone, my reference tracks were some of the more dense mixes from recent albums by Britney Spears, Deltra Goodrem and Poe.

I recommend checking out whatever is on the top ten singles this week. There should be at least a few songs which are suitable.

-Kim.

Post

And where can I see the Top List? :?

Post Reply

Return to “Production Techniques”