> > I have Bob's excellent book and am well aware of the basics (at least) > > of summing principals. Although there may be a theoretical benefit to > > a higher summing bus resolution, you would have to have something like > > 128 tracks at 0db gain to exceed the headroom of a 48bit fixed bus, > > and a similar number to exceed the headroom of a 32bit float bus. I'm currently recording a demo and am probably going to master it myself, in hopes that later, some label will pay for a mastering pro to do it. Would you recommend Bob's book for me, or is it too deep?

> I'm currently recording a demo and am probably going to master it > myself, in > hopes that later, some label will pay for a mastering pro to do it. > Would you > recommend Bob's book for me, or is it too deep? I'd recommend Bob's book to anyone who ever has anything to do with recording music, digitally or otherwise, whether you're mastering or not. Not only are there articles explaining, in simple terms, the ins and outs of digital recording, what is "loud" etc, but his whole philosophy of getting the emotion of music onto the cold hard material of hard drive/audio tape is worth considering. Ian ------------------------------ Ian G. Morris - Tonewright ian@... www.igmusic.co.nz

At 16:02 Uhr -0500 31.03.2004, ROBERT GALLIGAN, BLOOMBERG/ 499 PARK wrote: >I'm currently recording a demo and am probably going to master it myself, in >hopes that later, some label will pay for a mastering pro to do it. Would you >recommend Bob's book for me, or is it too deep? My opinion: Any information is good information and will show up in ones own experience and therefor work! Cheers Hans

<Admin - please reply privately, or to the OT list> Hi Robert > I'm currently recording a demo and am probably going to > master it myself, in hopes that later, some label will pay > for a mastering pro to do it. Would you recommend Bob's book > for me, or is it too deep? I personally believe everybody involved in audio production at any level should own and read Bob's book. Yes some of it is heavy going and fairly technical, but there are some fairly complex issues to address in the world of digital audio, and Bob does it with authority as well as keeping the details as digestible as possible. There's also a load of stuff which is just fascinating, great tips on preparation of media, some interesting gear comparisons etc. Plus he challenges lots of current practices and beliefs, like our communal obsession with squashing the f*** out of mixes in order to make them as loud as possible, the truth about jitter, samplerates etc. There's a great section on monitoring as well, and much of the content is as relevant to production and mixing as it is to mastering. I could go on all day. It sits by my mixer every day and is regularly referred to. One problem - be prepared for a serious case of GIS (Gear Inadequacy Syndrome) after you've read it! Actually he's not about telling everybody to buy the biggest and best, but you will undoubtedly uncover some shortcomings in your studio, I certainly did. Hope this helps. Jules PS. I promise I have nothing to do with the great man, in case anybody suspects I have a vested interest!

Just to chip in my potentially useless 2 cents...... Another amazingingly intelligent mastering engineer based in Orange County, Southern California is John Vestman. His website is soooooo deep with information on all of the topics that were mentioned as being in the Bob Katz book. The difference is you can read and print all of the info on a website for freeeeee! Check out this link and be prepared to spend a LONG time reading all of this invaluable information. John Vestman has a rather impressive resume himself working on projects of the likes of Sting all the way to Alanis Morissette. www.johnvestman.com Vestman was also the developer/creator of a new monitoring system for masterers that all of the "big boys" including Katz are incorporating into their studios. It allows you to A/B mixes against commercially finished mixes to compare leveling and also frequencies. This product was named at the recent NAMM show as one of the top 10 best.

It allows you > to A/B mixes against commercially finished mixes to compare > leveling and also frequencies. This product was named at > the recent NAMM show as one of the top 10 best. Hmmm. Wouldn't it just be lovely if you could make multiple mixes within Logic, and all variations are stored within a single song file. In my head, I see it functioning quite similarly to screensets . . .where you can lock, copy, paste . . and add maybe reset all or something. best, Jon

> > It allows you > > to A/B mixes against commercially finished mixes to compare > leveling > > and also frequencies. This product was named at the recent > NAMM show > > as one of the top 10 best. > > > Hmmm. Wouldn't it just be lovely if you could make multiple > mixes within Logic, and all > variations are stored within a single song file. In my head, > I see it functioning quite > similarly to screensets . . .where you can lock, copy, paste > . . and add maybe reset all or > something. That's already there. I do all my mixes to a stereo audio track in Logic. I can keep as many as I want in there as well as comparison tracks for fine tuning EQ, compression, etc. James

> That's already there. I do all my mixes to a stereo audio track in Logic. > I can keep as many as I want in there as well as comparison tracks for fine > tuning EQ, compression, etc. > > James This is the functionality I am referring to: from MOTU's site "Digital Performer's Mixing Board window gives you a virtual mixing console on your computer screen. Ride faders and knobs during playback to record automated mixes. Create snapshots of the entire mixer - or any portion of it - anywhere in your sequence with the click of a button. Save your fully automated mixdown for instant recall at any time, and then create an unlimited number of alternate mixdowns - all available from this menu for instant recall". best, Jon

> > Hmmm. Wouldn't it just be lovely if you could make multiple > > mixes within Logic, and all > > variations are stored within a single song file. In my head, > > I see it functioning quite > > similarly to screensets . . .where you can lock, copy, paste > > . . and add maybe reset all or > > something. > > That's already there. I do all my mixes to a stereo audio track in Logic. > I can keep as many as I want in there as well as comparison tracks for fine > tuning EQ, compression, etc. > > James What I'm talking about is something like mixer recalls. I believe Digital Performer has this functionality where, via a pulldown, you can quickly switch between mix A, B, C etc. What you are talking about is destructive, in regards to your mixer settings (unless I'm not understanding you). best, Jon

>> >> That's already there. I do all my mixes to a stereo audio track in Logic. >> I can keep as many as I want in there as well as comparison tracks for fine >> tuning EQ, compression, etc. >> >> James > > What I'm talking about is something like mixer recalls. I believe Digital > Performer has this > functionality where, via a pulldown, you can quickly switch between mix A, B, > C etc. What > you are talking about is destructive, in regards to your mixer settings > (unless I'm not > understanding you). > > best, > Jon No, actually you're talking about a kind of snapshot mode, and you're right, Logic doesn't have that. Good idea though. James