Quote:
|
Originally Posted by SisterMidnight
gah why is he so tight-lipped about it?! you'd think he was building an atomic bomb or something..
tell us more about the swanky party you saw him at, valerie.. you did talk to him and he did say they were in the studio mastering the album, right?
isn't that the final stage of recording? anybody?
|
I think he's so tight-lipped about it because he's a crazy perfectionist. He'll tell you it's done after it's already released.
So for some of the details that I've been withholding - August 24th i think - I was at this exclusive Sia concert at an Automotive museum here in LA. You had to either be invited or win tickets from a radio station. It was a really small crowd - maybe 300 people at most. I'm certain almost no one recognized Damien in the audience.
I ran into Joel, and talked to him for a minute and didn't even notice Damien behind him until a minute or two later. He said hi, gave me a hug, asked how I was doing. Not sure if he actually remembered me or was just being nice. I could say the same thing about Joel
he knows so many people, I'm sure he doesn't really remember me when I see him.
I talked to them both a little after the Sia show - that's when I found out they were mastering the album. Damien mentioned to my friend that they were working out of someone's house, but she couldn't remember what he said
I'm sure it's someone with a studio in his or her house.
It was a bit awkward for all of us, I think - I never know what to say to Damien. I don't have that problem with Joel or even with Lisa, but I look at Damien and just draw a blank most of the time...
Oh, and yes, mastering is the last step in the recording process. From some place on the internet
:
**Mastering**
This is the final stage before duplication process. Put simply, the goal is to take all of the mixes and treat them in such a way that the final album sounds like a cohesive and unified whole. Not a bunch of tunes stuck together on a tape. The product you leave with is a master tape/CD-R that you can take to a pressing facility and say 'make 1,000 copies of this.'
Steps taken at some point in the process include: cleaning up the beginnings and endings of the mixes (unless you really *want* those countoffs...), placing the tunes in order, adjusting the spacing between songs, and matching volumes for consistency from track to track. In 90%+ of cases, your material will also benefit from some degree of added EQ or compression. Editing out sections of song and/or splicing together different takes of a mix are also options. The important thing here is to look at the big picture--the album as a whole. Choose a song order before the session. If there are several different mixes for a given song, know which ones should and should not be used. And, although most duplicators can handle a variety of formats, it's not a bad idea to check with the one you plan on using to see what they would prefer. Request that format from your mastering engineer.