this is bad:http://pitchfork.com/features/article/9894-the-dark-art-of-mastering-music/
purports to explain mastering but mostly resorts to a bunch of different bad metaphors and continually referring to it as mysterious and inexplicable
― Immediate Follower (NA), Friday, 20 May 2016 19:03 (seven years ago) link
"If rock stars are the sex gods of music, mastering engineers are its druids, the ones who work methodically and meticulously, and to whom people come for mystical wisdom and blessing."
there's good useful stuff mixed in there but mostly their conclusion is that the job of the mastering engineer is to make stuff sound good, which isn't a very good explanation
― Immediate Follower (NA), Friday, 20 May 2016 19:05 (seven years ago) link
there is an excellent interview with Scott Hull of Masterdisk in the new issue of Tape Op Magazine that i just got in the mail. very illuminating.
― scott seward, Friday, 20 May 2016 19:21 (seven years ago) link
also a long interview with Don Was that is good. don't think i knew that he was now the president of blue note records.
― scott seward, Friday, 20 May 2016 19:22 (seven years ago) link
i certainly didn't
― da vinci beaver testicles (contenderizer), Friday, 20 May 2016 19:43 (seven years ago) link
that mastering article was so disappointing
― just sayin, Friday, 20 May 2016 21:29 (seven years ago) link
no one knows what they do... so we wont try to explain
this fits my lifestyle and my kicky new windswept summer look.
http://wwd.com/media-news/fashion-memopad/conde-nast-traveler-pitchfork-launch-musical-magazine-spotify-10434908/
― scott seward, Wednesday, 25 May 2016 18:28 (seven years ago) link
ow, that mastering article made me angry! One because, it reeks of non-musician-dumbsplains-music-stuff, and two because I actually have a hard time believing MC Schmidt doesn't know what mastering is!
Here's mastering: after a track has been recorded and mixed, you send the completed audio file to a mastering engineer. He makes (usually subtle) changes to it, including compression, EQ and overall volume/gain. The important difference between this process, and the mixing process, is that in mastering, you're working with a single audio file -- the whole song, that's already been recorded and mixed -- which is why the changes are usually subtle (but important).
Why would that have been so hard to explain in that article, like maybe somewhere in the first couple of paragraphs?
― Dominique, Wednesday, 25 May 2016 18:49 (seven years ago) link
Re: "Traveler"
Yep, nothing makes me feel like I'm barrelling down the open road of summer like the line "he came out a little late / maybe that's where frustration's born"
― geoffreyess, Wednesday, 25 May 2016 18:55 (seven years ago) link
hey dominique that's a really good and concise explanation!
― niels, Thursday, 26 May 2016 09:13 (seven years ago) link
L.F.W
― da vinci beaver testicles (contenderizer), Thursday, 26 May 2016 13:40 (seven years ago) link
this is still one of my favorite interviews on mastering: http://roberthenke.com/interviews/mastering.html
― μpright mammal (mh), Thursday, 26 May 2016 14:35 (seven years ago) link
no offense, but let me translate that to a general audience because you lost me at "mastering":
the master is given a box containing an ocean of sound. they pour the water out onto the board with hundreds of unknowable knobs and waves begin to form over certain areas. the master makes a few adjustments, and then turns to talk to the biggest asshole musician of all time, plus his evil twin manager who does the talking. everyone pretends that everything is pretty good but could be a little better. after sending the noobs out for a restroom break, the master adds a little Oomph to the low end and a little twizzle to the high end (these correspond with sounds that bounce off of the ear lobe and the top part of the ear, respectively). the most important part of mastering is maintaining a straight face at the end of the process, after the high fives, when the master talks about what changes were made and why. this is difficult for both parties in the conversation but absolutely necessary for a good mastering job.
― I look forward to hearing from you shortly, (Karl Malone), Thursday, 26 May 2016 15:47 (seven years ago) link
lol
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 26 May 2016 15:52 (seven years ago) link
classic behind the scenes footage of the mastering process:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJsYKhEV6o0
― I look forward to hearing from you shortly, (Karl Malone), Thursday, 26 May 2016 16:00 (seven years ago) link
So what you're saying is you would have been lost at the headline of any article about mastering.
― Dominique, Thursday, 26 May 2016 16:03 (seven years ago) link
actual photograph of famed mastering engineer steve hoffmanhttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/JosephWright-Alchemist-Cropped.jpg
― tylerw, Thursday, 26 May 2016 16:03 (seven years ago) link
xpost
thanks niels!
lol dominique i was just kidding, and i agree with niels btw!
― I look forward to hearing from you shortly, (Karl Malone), Thursday, 26 May 2016 16:06 (seven years ago) link
haha ok. I so rarely do anything helpful for anyone, was too protective of my paragraph
― Dominique, Thursday, 26 May 2016 16:10 (seven years ago) link
in real life laugh out loud at "after the high fives"
― tylerw, Thursday, 26 May 2016 16:11 (seven years ago) link
KM that's some top notch Clickhole style writing
― Evan, Thursday, 26 May 2016 17:17 (seven years ago) link
I'm about to send an album out for mastering. Is there like a Yelp for finding someone good or is it all word of mouth?
― Heez, Thursday, 26 May 2016 21:22 (seven years ago) link
Gary is great.
― schwantz, Thursday, 26 May 2016 21:28 (seven years ago) link
do you have enough money for Howie Weinberg
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 26 May 2016 21:30 (seven years ago) link
If your music is loud/heavy, I recommend James Plotkin.
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Thursday, 26 May 2016 22:03 (seven years ago) link
kind of amazed james plotkin even has ears at this point. but yeah, he's great.
― like $500 billion in stuffed fart sales and I have an idea (contenderizer), Friday, 27 May 2016 01:29 (seven years ago) link
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Thursday, May 26, 2016 6:03 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― like $500 billion in stuffed fart sales and I have an idea (contenderizer), Thursday, May 26, 2016 9:29 PM (45 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Thirded. Firsthand experience, that guy's great
― Wimmels, Friday, 27 May 2016 02:17 (seven years ago) link
another cog in the devilish strickler machine!
https://twitter.com/kickstarter/status/738028232138760192
― scott seward, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 16:35 (seven years ago) link
wonder if even more of the old staff is going to start jumping ship...
― tylerw, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 17:41 (seven years ago) link
Why, is there a reason? Or do you mean since the redesign?
― Evan, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 17:54 (seven years ago) link
yeah, just since the conde nast buyout
― tylerw, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 17:55 (seven years ago) link
Are there any old staff left to jump off the proverbial ship? Seems like most are gone at this point.
― Position Position, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 17:57 (seven years ago) link
ha maybe you're right ... mark richardson? jayson greene? amy phillips? they've all been around a while right?
― tylerw, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 18:02 (seven years ago) link
has mark richardson written much lately? feel like he just shows up to write marquee reviews every now and then
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 18:03 (seven years ago) link
richardson seems in it for good, he's still editor-in-chief right?
― marcos, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 18:08 (seven years ago) link
oh wait not anymore, executive editor
dombal, sherburne, hogan, and pelly have all been around for a long time iirc
― marcos, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 18:09 (seven years ago) link
What does one do at the kickstarter offices?
― Evan, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 18:21 (seven years ago) link
lol i was just thinking that, what is he going to do
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 18:24 (seven years ago) link
Suspect they might be doing something along the lines of Bandcamp -- editorial/writing work tied in with projects.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 18:28 (seven years ago) link
You have hired several music journalists, notably former New York magazine columnist Nitsuh Abebe. What do they do at Kickstarter?I met Nitsuh 14 years ago on a message board, and he has always been one of my favorite writers. A year-and-a-half ago, I saw him on the street and I told him I was looking for a copywriter. He has done some great longform pieces here, too -- a recent one analyzes why slim wallets are such a big thing on Kickstarter. We also have Nick Sylvester and Sam Hockley-Smith. They’re highlighting things that are happening here. As far as bigger editorial ambitions, I can say they’re working on a variety of projects.
I met Nitsuh 14 years ago on a message board, and he has always been one of my favorite writers. A year-and-a-half ago, I saw him on the street and I told him I was looking for a copywriter. He has done some great longform pieces here, too -- a recent one analyzes why slim wallets are such a big thing on Kickstarter. We also have Nick Sylvester and Sam Hockley-Smith. They’re highlighting things that are happening here. As far as bigger editorial ambitions, I can say they’re working on a variety of projects.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/6274107/kickstarter-ceo-yancey-strickler-success--south-park
Slim wallets are the new black metal.
― Position Position, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 18:32 (seven years ago) link
what is 'Slim Wallets'
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 18:33 (seven years ago) link
why is "a year and a half ago" hyphenated?
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 1 June 2016 18:33 (seven years ago) link
About this here message board.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 18:35 (seven years ago) link
does kickstarter do live music stuff? suprised they don't do the branded musicfest thing or something. brandon is good at the festival thing.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 18:39 (seven years ago) link
"says the unmarried Strickler,..."
and, ladies, he's single...
― scott seward, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 18:40 (seven years ago) link
"The sound of 300 pounds of lard banging against the wall..." thread doesn't go over well on first dates
― ejemplo (crüt), Wednesday, 1 June 2016 18:42 (seven years ago) link
he's married with a kid now (that piece is from 2014)
― maura, Wednesday, 1 June 2016 19:00 (seven years ago) link