A question for a knowledgeble person

[33]

Following the latest Tommy Stinson article I have a question for anyone more knowledgble than me!
I know that there was a recent topic very similar to this. But can someone please let me know how far along the process Mastering is? Im ignorant as fuck about this sort of thing! Basically if mastering is pretty much the final process then its surely time to get pretty fucking excited!

[nesquick]

Usualy 1 week or 2. But it is very likely to be longer with Axl as usualy...maybe 1 month? or 2?
let's see: imagine the mastering starts now (current september), then you add 2 month (mid november). They all do a briefing with the band and the record company, they discuss about the tour, the singles, they contact promoters etc...(until december). the band starts to rehearse (december/january), and then the record is released in early 2005 and the tour begins in the fall. It seems possible to me. But I can guarantee you that the album will NOT come out until the end of the year. It's not like "the mastering is finished, ok the album is released tomorow". It's not as easy and as fast. It takes time. a few month. They need to print the album to X million copies, the record stores need time to receive it and to inform people of it. It takes time. It's not that fast. In french we call that "les d?lais". I don't know the word in English sorry. Maybe it's the word "delay"? I don't know.

[SON OF A PREACHER]

Usualy 1 week or 2. But it is very likely to be longer with Axl as usualy...maybe 1 month? or 2?
let's see: imagine the mastering starts now (current september), then you add 2 month (mid november). They all do a briefing with the band and the record company, they discuss about the tour, the singles, they contact promoters etc...(until december). the band starts to rehearse (december/january), and then the record is released in early 2005 and the tour begins in the fall. It seems possible to me. But I can guarantee you that the album will NOT come out until the end of the year. It's not like "the mastering is finished, ok the album is released tomorow". It's not as easy and as fast. It takes time. a few month. They need to print the album to X million copies, the record stores need time to receive it and to inform people of it. It takes time. It's not that fast. In french we call that "les d?lais". I don't know the word in English sorry.

les d?lais = delay

the word actually comes from French 

i still have hope for a late december release date to be announced

[nesquick]

late december? it seems more likely than november, but...it's again too soon for me. Really I would say march 2005 (january and febrary are bad months because people are in the red because of chrismas, they don't have money).
- early 2005: small promo tour
- march: worldwide release? of the album
- summer: Summer festivals.
- autumn: Start of a big arena/stadium Guns n' Roses World Tour until 2006 or 2007 (if the singles go well, they could do wembley stadum easily).

[33]

Thanks Nesquick! Much appreciated

[Will]

Check out these pages:
http://www.aes.org/sections/pnw/pnwrecaps/2003/cdmastering/
http://www.artistdevelopment.com/about_mastering.html

There's no way you can say: "it's gonna take (xx) weeks/months". It can take a couple of weeks, a couple of months, no one can tell. It depends on the artist, the album (length, number of tracks), the record company, etc.

What I can tell you though is that: "Mastering is described by most engineers as, 'The last step in the creative process and the first step in the manufacturing of a recording.' " , which means the record is almost done, technically.

[nesquick]

alright Will but you know how Axl is, it's always "later" than "sooner" with him...
It's Axl!?

[Will]

That's why I said "technically"!

[norway]

Hope to hear it soon

[Andy-k]

Do someone here know someone who do mastering and stuff like that for a living so he can tell us what they really do when they mastering and how long it takes?

After the mastering and CD is done I think we are going to hear something about a single, album, tour etc. right after that. Because I don't think everybody in the record company can be quiet about the plans.   

[Will]

Do someone here know someone who do mastering and stuff like that for a living so he can tell us what they really do when they mastering and how long it takes?

Did you check out the links I gave? It will give lots of info about mastering.

[Andy-k]

oh yeah. I didn't see that!

[Dr. Blutarsky]

That 2nd link was very helpful. I diddn`t know what exactly mastering was .

The 1st link was a little too much detail.

[erose]

That 2nd link was very helpful. I diddn`t know what exactly mastering was .

The 1st link was a little too much detail.

same here, 2nd link was very helpfull.

[IndiannaRose]

I already posted this yesterday in the 'Tommy Stinson Interviews' thread but I'll post it again:

Here is a simplified explenation of mastering:

WHAT IS MASTERING?
Mastering is a fine tuning process that is done to the studio mix. It is the final step before duplication and your last chance to get everything perfect. Albums that contain music from a variety of sessions, studios, engineers and producers need to be combined into a cohesive sounding package. Mastering is about album consistency, and a sound quality that doesn't vary from track to track. Tonal balance, fade in's and fade out's, sequencing, noise problems... all of these things are dealt with during the mastering process. Frequency analysis and correction, noise reduction, compression, expansion, and equalization (EQ) are just a few of the techniques used to provide the professional quality heard on every major record labels' commercial recordings. We offer the latest in a computerized state- of-the-art digital mastering and editing.  We use special digital signal processing tools to make your mixes sound the way they should. Whether it is rock, rap, pop or dance, blues, jazz, country or gospel, we can bring out the sound quality of your music using the latest techniques. Why settle for just the studio mix down copy of your recording when it could be clearer, cleaner and more cohesive? Let us give your recording the attention it deserves.

How Long Does it Take?
Although there is no limit to the time or money that can be spent on mastering, many people in the business state that a good rule of thumb would be an average of 8-12 hours for most albums, or in the neighborhood of an hour for each song. This assumes that the CD was well recorded and no additional processing requirements are specified. Additional time will be allocated depending on the condition of the original recording, a client's specifications and any unusual or custom needs.

Thanx to: http://www.acoustikmusik.com/mastering.htm / http://www.discmakers.com/music/pse/mastering.asp
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So even if Chinese Democracy took 56 times longer to master than the average amount of time albums are mastered in, that would only come out to 4 weeks. Velvet Revolver just mastered Contraband in one day. (December 19th, 2003)

[mikegiuliana]

It takes axl an hour to make minute rice

[Dr. Blutarsky]

But it takes Axl 3 weeks to make minute rice using the current equasion.   

[oneway23]

We can assume that whoever the engineer might be that will end up mastering the record will most cetainly have Axl over his/her shoulder and breathing down their neck for every micro-second of the process....This could conceivably be a while if the mastering process is meticulously laboured over in the same way that the recording was.
     Something to consider:  If Axl has taken on the responsibility of the mastering himself and there is no one to temper his
second-guessing, we could be in for another wait...