Bob Breen (microphone), Noah Mintz, seated at table (left to right): Andy Krehm, João Carvalho, Phil Demitro, Nick Blagona, Peter Cook, Peter Moore Toronto Section, January 26, 2010
Bob Breen opened the meeting by introducing the moderator for the evening, Noah Mintz from The Lacquer Channel. Mr. Mintz opened the discussion by relating the difficulty in describing what he does as a Master Engineer to people outside of the industry. It is not a well understood role to those who aren't involved.
In relating his experiences, Mr. Blagona noted that, in some respects, recording / mastering is seen as a hobby and the overall quality of recordings has lowered. He indicated that sometimes a bad product can't be helped with mastering and the project has to be rejected. There's no point in having an association with a poorly recorded project.
Mr. Mintz then offered the discussion topic: why should material be mastered? The panel offered several reasons. In particular, since the mix engineers have been involved so much in the recording it is very difficult to "hear" the recording. A mastering engineer allows the recording to be balanced with other recordings on the market. The recording is mastered in a known environment.
The next topic was common problems that are found with incoming recordings. It was noted that a lot of material is distorted and clipped. There was a lament about the death of the VU meter in favour of the peak meter. The engineers noted that the VU meter allows you to create a more balanced recording than a peak meter. It was noted that many recordings have no dynamics.
There was a discussion about the availability of gear. To use a cliché, "it ain't the wand, it's the magician". In other words, having recording and mastering equipment doesn't make you a master.
In terms of other topics of discussion. Items were discussed such the acoustic memory of mastering engineers, the lack of credit given because of digital downloads and the general business of mastering engineers.
With respect to the loudness wars, it was noted that there is an ITU rule coming but it is not likely to be adopted by the USA. The ruling is intended to make music sound better than typical "dull and compressed" recordings.
In terms of loudspeakers, it was noted that mastering engineers monitor on a variety of equipment to ensure that the mix sounds good on a variety of consumer equipment.
