Are mixing monitors different than mastering monitors?
Yes and no. I’ve been to a lot of mastering studios where they have very expensive monitors but they’re also the same very expensive monitors that I’ve seen in some very expensive studios where people mix.
One of the best, most exciting experiences I’ve had mastering was to have Bob Ludwig master The Fray’s second album. I flew out to Portland, Maine and I sat in a room with Bob while he mastered their second record.
We did everything to a DAW printed in two tracks AND to tape. We listened to the tape and to the 2 track inside of Pro Tools and chose which mix we wanted to use to master from. It was a wonderful experience and I got to hear through these massive, incredible speakers that he had in his room.
Bob Ludwig is the Mastering Engineer’s Mastering Engineer. Bob was Frank Zappa’s mastering engineer on many records.
What’s the point of me telling you all of this? Well, it was one of the most thorough experiences I’ve ever had. I felt like I was working with a guy who was referencing all the different sources. He was sitting there listening to things, making different EQ adjustments from song to song. It wasn’t “here’s my chain and how it works,” which is a lot of people’s mastering experience.
This was very detailed. I felt like I was working with someone who really cared and went the extra effort. It was an amazing experience- we spent an entire day mastering an album. It wasn’t just a 3 hour session. It was a long time, and we listened at very low levels.
His speakers were insane. They were huge! They were very expensive, but they were picking up low end that I didn’t know existed! I heard low end that I thought that I high-passed out! It was there! There was rumbling at about 20 hertz on a kick drum, there was rumbling 20 hertz at an acoustic section.
The last thing you want to do is have a song like “You Found Me” playing through a huge PA at a massive outdoor festival and have all this low end rumbling!
I answer your questions about monitors, guitars, pickups, mic placement and other questions in the video below! I also answer the following questions:
• Where would you high pass on electric guitars?
• Do I see some new gold/platinum records hanging on the wall?
• Is there a specific placement on the back of an amp or just directly opposite of front 57?
• Warren what’s your favorite go to guitar pickup configuration?
• Are Mixing monitors different from mastering monitors?
• What to do if the odd bass note is to loud or too quiet?
• What is your everything amp?
