mastering question

[trevorscott33]

i am in the process of mastering my music for my first cd. i have taken a few of the tracks to my friend to master and he has done a much better job than me
my question is would i better going to an engineer who does my genre of music or should all mastering engineers do a simalar job? my music is what is now termed as EDM and my friend does mainly rock/reggae

[Jonnypopisical]

If was building a house I'd get a builder in who has built similar types of houses in the past.....

[BJG145]

...then again, there's also general skill level and personal taste. If you like what he's done on your last track you might as well let him do the next one. (Anyone who calls himself a mastering engineer should be able to handle any track you throw at them IMHO.)

[franciskimberley]

Some MEs trade on being specialists in particular genres and some don't. Personally I'm not convinced genre really matters all that much with mastering although experience in a genre is never a bad thing.

Experience in a genre helps when it comes to stuff like loudness matching against other releases and knowing what a client may have in mind when they say subjectively vague things like "make the bass pump" or "make the snare crack like *insert popular track name here*" but what's most important is you and the ME are on the same wavelength and can have clear communications - IME that's why artists tend to stick to the same ME once they find a good one. MEs can be helped immensely by clients giving a few reference tracks to listen to (and it's never been easier for an ME to research a genre using Spotify or whatever to become aware of any obvious expectations a genre may impose).

If you're happy with the job your friend is doing then it sounds like you might already be winning! I'm not overly familiar with the rules regarding self promotion here (as I'm very British and find blowing my own trumpet deeply uncomfortable) but fire me a PM and I can do a free test track for you if you're still curious.

FWIW, as with anything else everyone will have their own opinion so don't count this opinion as gospel... For every person saying "No" you get someone saying "Yes". Follow your ears.

[SafeandSound Mastering]

I can only answer it personally really.. I work with virtually every genre that exists. A good mastering engineer should have a good handle on various genres. Though you tend to find that classical music has it's specialists and interestingly heavy metal along with it's sub genres.

cheers

Barry Gardner
SafeandSound Mastering
Audio examples and mastering FAQ video

[Tony O'Shea]

Many of us are generalist but a few engineers specialise in some musical genres such as free jazz, death metal, choral and classical music. Some of those who specialise in those areas have a background either as a musician or producer in the particular area. What is important is less that the person specialises and more that you can communicate with them.

Best of luck with your project.

Cheers,
Tony

[Dave Blackman]

A good engineer will be able to handle anything you throw at him or her - I think I've had pretty much every genre through here at some point. As has already been said, communication is the key. If you're happy with the results your buddy is giving you, then I'd stick with him.

Dave

[trevorscott33]

thank you all for your input.
as i explained to francis my friend is not a mastering engineer, but works in a studio with live bands and he worked on my laptop using only logic 9, so i am taking up francis offer to see if there are (i expect so!) any differences.
thanks again

[Dicko]

I'm not sure if i'm allowed to say (Apologies To Moderator)
I wouldn't do it myself as i've played and lived with the music.
Also there's a reasonable priced guy (Barry Gardiner) who does such a good job i'll never even think of wasting time and agonising over mastering again.

[Guest]

All good mastering engineers "should" be able to achieve the same result. Good communication can help removing some of the guesswork. One the most important points about "good" mastering is the is the issue of translation. Like mixing, it is about achieving the best possible presentation of the track, but making sure it will translate on the majority of systems, from laptop speakers, ipods, to club venues. This is particularly important for EDM which is often mixed in home studios without proper acoustics or monitoring.

[SafeandSound Mastering]

Thanks for the kind words Dicko : )