An increasingly alarming number of new things I'm buying seem to be mastered here, many by Rashad Becker. It's got me thinking about the importance of mastering in a big way, and given that most of my listening is done at home on my decent-quality record player, I notice that the stuff they master tends to sound just completely fantastic, next-level, present and detailed and vibrant. I've of course bought certain artists, record labels, etc, on sight without hearing over the years, but I think this is the first time I've approached unquestionably forking over cash based on a back-cover mastering credit. Is anyone else going through this?
― Clarke B., Tuesday, 2 August 2011 01:39 (thirteen years ago)
i have never done this, especially since i haven't bought vinyl for years and years, but the d&m vinyl has always sounded particularly rich. i guess if yr a company started in part to press basic channel/chain reaction product you gotta, though.
― king of torts (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Tuesday, 2 August 2011 01:45 (thirteen years ago)
Makes sense... So, like, is there any curatorial aspect to D&M, or can pretty much anyone have their stuff mastered here if they have the cash? (In other words, is the "carefully, deliciously, meticulsouly curated" vibe I'm getting more the result of smart purchasing from my local record shops rather than any sort of aesthetic intention on the part of D&M?)
― Clarke B., Tuesday, 2 August 2011 01:50 (thirteen years ago)
http://www.dubplates-mastering.com/prices.html
apparently anyone!
i think they've definitely attracted a lot of techno/house types of a certain stripe, though, probably in part because of the bc/cr mystique and in part because that legacy lets them know they're sensitive to a certain kind of music.
― king of torts (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Tuesday, 2 August 2011 01:56 (thirteen years ago)
I don't think there are any exclusive mastering houses - mastering places are just, whoever sends their stuff in gets it mastered.
― pathos of the unwarranted encore (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Tuesday, 2 August 2011 02:04 (thirteen years ago)
you underestimate the cultishness of the german techno scene
― king of torts (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Tuesday, 2 August 2011 02:08 (thirteen years ago)
Wow, that website is about as demystifying as it gets! I wonder if it takes something extra to get, say, Rashad Becker to do it. I bet it does... I'm imagining a heirarchy of master masterers, regular masterers, and newbie/trainee masterers, with the "whoever sends their stuff in" crowd getting stuck with the newbies, but that's pure speculation. I'd be fascinated to read more about the mastering process if anyone has any recommendations...
― Clarke B., Tuesday, 2 August 2011 02:16 (thirteen years ago)
one of the monolake guys was the main d&m mastering cat for a couple years if i remember correctly.
― king of torts (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Tuesday, 2 August 2011 02:18 (thirteen years ago)
http://www.monolake.de/interviews/mastering.html
― just sayin, Tuesday, 2 August 2011 11:22 (thirteen years ago)
There's a short documentary on the activities at D&M on this DVD; http://www.discogs.com/Various-Berlin-Digital-A-Guide-Through-The-Electronic-Music-Scene/release/1066223 - it's from 2004 so a little dated. It was set up by Basic Channel in 1995. D&M is in the same complex as Hard Wax records, hence a lot vinyl mastered there ending up at HW.
― mmmm, Tuesday, 2 August 2011 12:03 (thirteen years ago)
Here's an out-take from Speaking In Code set in D&M. I know the film gets some hate around here but I liked it. http://vimeo.com/9865489
― mmmm, Tuesday, 2 August 2011 12:07 (thirteen years ago)
Thinking more about the original post, hasn't there always been a coveted mastering person or place in dance music scenes? Ron Murphy in Detroit and some other guys I can't think of in Soho, London for D&B. I'm not experienced here but as far as I know mastering is quite a collaborative process so it seems to make sense that a producer would want to get someone they trust is going to bring the best out of their music. In dance music circles there is 'that sound' referring to each individual scene. The other day I was talking to a young dubstep producer that was thrilled to bits because a certain guy mastered his track, the same guy who did X, Y & Z, I can't remember who. The point in dance is surely the ability to sound 'right' next to the other big tracks on the club sound system, no?
― mmmm, Tuesday, 2 August 2011 12:30 (thirteen years ago)
This is why it's sometimes funny to me when bands' one-sheets list other bands the mastering guy has mastered, as though it meant anything beyond how much money the band was willing to spend.
― jaymc, Tuesday, 2 August 2011 12:31 (thirteen years ago)
Thanks so much for that Henke/Becker interview link, just sayin... That's one of the best interviews I've read in ages. Becker comes across like such a thoughtful, intelligent, sensible guy.
― Clarke B., Tuesday, 2 August 2011 14:13 (thirteen years ago)
as though it meant anything beyond how much money the band was willing to spend.
this can be meaningful though! especially inasmuch as “we were prepared to shell out xx $ in order to get Bloke Y” will be enough of a point of pride for the band that they want to list it in promo, even if 100% of the people receiving it will give nil shits
― generous loller at dollies (sic), Wednesday, 3 August 2011 00:08 (thirteen years ago)
George Peckham nodding to some techstep. Great little video on vinyl mastering.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpidqcG7sSo
― errant flynn, Wednesday, 3 August 2011 01:15 (thirteen years ago)
Badass video, thanks! I'm so very intrigued and fascinated by mastering... The same way I wonder what great chefs make for themselves when they come home at the end of the night, I wonder what these mastering masters like to spin when they get home from a long day of mastering.
― Clarke B., Wednesday, 3 August 2011 22:22 (thirteen years ago)
My father was a chef, rarely cooked at home. When people enquired as to why not he would reply "because it's my fucking job."
― errant flynn, Thursday, 4 August 2011 00:51 (thirteen years ago)
Ha, I like that... I work for a small French/Italian wine importer, and I can't say I'm not up for a few glasses at the end of the day, but I feel where your dad's coming from. I wonder if mastering guys end up noticing records that are really poorly mastered and not being able to get into them for that reason? Like the way Sick Mouthy is about compression, but way more sensitively and to a way higher degree? Was your dad crazy picky about food?
― Clarke B., Thursday, 4 August 2011 01:12 (thirteen years ago)
The same way I wonder what great chefs make for themselves when they come home at the end of the night
"scrambled eggs and toast" is an answer I've seen more than once
― L.P. Hovercraft (WmC), Thursday, 4 August 2011 01:15 (thirteen years ago)
a porky prime cut!
― missingNO, Thursday, 4 August 2011 01:26 (thirteen years ago)
Has anyone heard the new Rashad Becker LP?
― mmmm, Wednesday, 7 August 2013 17:32 (eleven years ago)
No but I want to. It's supposed to be pretty bizarre
― Pingu Unchained (dog latin), Thursday, 8 August 2013 01:01 (eleven years ago)
some top class abstract electronic foobling imo
― i'll be your mraz (NickB), Wednesday, 28 August 2013 23:42 (eleven years ago)
re the rashad becker album on pan
― i'll be your mraz (NickB), Wednesday, 28 August 2013 23:43 (eleven years ago)
^^ YES
― the late great, Saturday, 7 September 2013 18:32 (eleven years ago)
Such a strange, weird, beautiful record. I don't really understand how these synthetic squelches and whoops can have such a profound emotional effect.
― Pingu Unchained (dog latin), Thursday, 3 October 2013 08:08 (eleven years ago)
Gonna check this out once I finish listening to the Haim album.
― Luigi Nono, le petit robot (seandalai), Thursday, 3 October 2013 14:36 (eleven years ago)
New Board Description!
― Mark G, Thursday, 3 October 2013 14:38 (eleven years ago)
NEW ALBUM!!! I've been waiting 3 years for this to come out :-) :-)
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Thursday, 15 December 2016 09:37 (eight years ago)