# Can anyone recommend some who does a decent job mastering Virtual Orchestral stuff?



## kmlandre (Jun 9, 2014)

Hi All-

Due to a related tangent posted here (http://www.vi-control.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3798130#3798130), I'm interested in getting some of my tracks mastered by somebody who knows what they're doing a bit more than I do (which, I presume, would be virtually everyone on this forum  ).

Basically, I need everything to be brought to the same perceived volume, sound like it's all in the same space, *appropriate* compression/limiting applied (my stuff tends to have a lot of extreme dynamics, which I really want to preserve), etc.

I know there's a lot of places that will do pop/rock/dance/etc., but those are a very different sound than what I'm looking for, which is more classical/cinematic in nature.

I can't afford bazillions of dollars for this - of course - but I understand that "time+effort=gettin' paid".

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Kurt M. Landre'
https://www.SoundCloud.com/kmlandre


----------



## Hannes_F (Jun 9, 2014)

Recordings of mine have been mastered by John Rodd and at Abbey Road Studios on behalf of the composers. The results were top notch.

www.johnrodd.com
http://www.abbeyroad.com/service/3/mastering.

For a recent project I sent some files to Ray Kemp in this forum (rayinstirling) and he is very able.


----------



## Frederick Russ (Jun 9, 2014)

+1 on John Rodd. He's superb.

I'm sure there are others here though who mix well. Those who do, please chime in to make yourself known!


----------



## Resoded (Jun 9, 2014)

Another + 1 for John Rodd. Not only a terrific engineer but also a great guy.


----------



## bryla (Jun 9, 2014)

A big shout out to www.onlinemastering.dk by Holger Lagerfeldt. The man has got the best ears!


----------



## DenisT (Jun 9, 2014)

Great topic!  

It would be cool if we could start a list and pin it somewhere on the forum, what do you think ?


----------



## Hannes_F (Jun 9, 2014)

kmlandre @ Mon Jun 09 said:


> Basically, I need everything to be brought to the same perceived volume, sound like it's all in the same space, *appropriate* compression/limiting applied (my stuff tends to have a lot of extreme dynamics, which I really want to preserve), etc.



kmlandre,
after re-reading your request more properly I wonder what you mean by "sound like it's all in the same space'. Like 'same space from track to track', or 'all the orchestra groups in the same space'?

Because if you want somebody to fix things on section or stem level that would rather be a mixing than a mastering job. To a mastering service you usually send one (1) file per song and that should be the completed mix.


----------



## kmlandre (Jun 9, 2014)

Hannes_F @ Mon Jun 09 said:


> kmlandre,
> after re-reading your request more properly I wonder what you mean by "sound like it's all in the same space'. Like 'same space from track to track', or 'all the orchestra groups in the same space'?
> 
> Because if you want somebody to fix things on section or stem level that would rather be a mixing than a mastering job. To a mastering service you usually send one (1) file per song and that should be the completed mix.



Good question - after rereading the post myself, it wasn't all that clear. 

What I'm looking for is making the space sound "the same" from track-to-track. I'm reasonably happy with the mix and the spatial placement as a whole (though I'm considering going back and remixing some of the older stuff because my template has developed quite a bit since they were written). 

It's just that the pianissimo of one track sounds a bit louder than the pianissimo of the next track, etc. I want that sort of thing evened out so there's a more seamless transition from piece to piece.

I'm hoping that makes a little more sense...

And thanks for everyone's replies thus far! I plan on contacting a number of the folks mentioned to see what might work best...

Thx,

Kurt M. Landre'
https://www.SoundCloud.com/kmlandre


----------



## kmlandre (Jun 9, 2014)

DenisT @ Mon Jun 09 said:


> Great topic!
> 
> It would be cool if we could start a list and pin it somewhere on the forum, what do you think ?



+1 on that...

And what would be super helpful are some "before" and "after" examples of previous work, if such a thing was available. 

That way the people in question can sort of show off what they can do. That, of course, requires a lot more work from them.

But that's ok, right because it's no extra work for me? 

Kurt M. Landre'
https://www.SoundCloud.com/kmlandre


----------



## rgames (Jun 9, 2014)

I've never understood what "Mastering" means when you're talking about a single track. As near as I can tell, most people mean "Make it loud."

What's the difference between mixing and mastering if it's just one track? Mastering, to me, means assembling an album of multiple tracks or preparing for some delivery medium like DVD.

But if you're just adding final EQ/limiting/whatever to a single track that is being used in another project or compressed to MP3 for sale on iTunes, then isn't that just mixing and possibly applying bit reduction and dithering and file compression?

If you're providing the score for a film, you're not even doing the bit reduction and dithering and file compression, so what is "Mastering" in that case?

rgames


----------



## kmlandre (Jun 9, 2014)

Hi rgames-

Well, I suppose in this *particular* context, it's about tying all the tracks together so that they sound like the were recorded in the same place, at the roughly the same time, etc.

In the "pop" context, it's always meant the last, creative step before a track or tracks are delivered to manufacturing for reproduction. For me, it feels more natural to talk about in that context due to maybe a bass guitar sounding a little weak and needing some EQ, the dynamic level being too uneven, adding in a bit of additional reverb on the chorus or bridge, etc.

But I've heard quite a few pieces in the VI realm that suffer from the same thing - maybe needing to roll off the bottom end a bit, which means you end up opening some head room, so you might want to boost the overall volume, maybe limiting a certain passage by just a decibel or that and a half so that it sounds natural when it moves to another track in the same set. Maybe somebody had muffed ears one day and there's a piccolo that's just cutting through on a couple notes and sounds screechy, so you judiciously cut a bit of the troubling frequencies there.

And I'm certainly no better at those things than anybody else. I can hear it on someone else's piece, but I start to lose my objectivity when it's my own...

Kurt M. Landre'
https://www.SoundCloud.com/kmlandre


----------



## John Rodd (Feb 29, 2016)

Resoded said:


> Another + 1 for John Rodd. Not only a terrific engineer but also a great guy.



Thanks everyone for the kind words. Much appreciated. 

I record live ensembles for a wide variety of score projects (orchestral, rock, hybrid) plus I do mixing (live ensembles, hybrid, but also 100% virtual) and also mastering of all genres of music. I think that this range gives me an advantage. 

Details can be seen on my website.


----------



## Dean (Mar 1, 2016)

rgames said:


> I've never understood what "Mastering" means when you're talking about a single track. As near as I can tell, most people mean "Make it loud."
> 
> What's the difference between mixing and mastering if it's just one track? Mastering, to me, means assembling an album of multiple tracks or preparing for some delivery medium like DVD.
> 
> ...



Hey, at its most basic,mixing is about balancing/editing/Eqing all the individual tracks to make them all work together for the 'final' stereo mix,...mastering is about balancing the sections/dynamics of the 'final' stereo mix,(quiet intros/outros vs loud sections),EQing unwanted frequencies/Compression/limiting to get the best most present signal possible while preserving dynamics/tone/sound) this would include EQing/compression and more,they would then do all of the more tech end for final master/delivery specs. 

Its not just about making songs work with each other I've had mastering done many times for trailer cues that work on their own for clients/projects,..I have to say that everytime Im always blown away by the great 'sound' they get,..I hear things that I did'nt before,..that bit of mud is gone, that extra clarity,the 'tightness' of the sound.(Its not always possible to master trailer cues so much as youre constantly revising so it would nt make sense financially or time wise t get a master done after each revision.) D


----------

