Muff's Modules & More

Babaluma · Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 6:26 pm Post subject:

thanks luka!

i'm very glad you were happy with what i did.

i've said it before, but making things sound louder is easy, and making things sound better is easy, but to do both at the same time can be quite a careful balancing act!

Audio Resistance · Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 2:50 am Post subject:

Wow, nice work Gregg.

He even pulled out that detuned bass drum that was hiding down in the mix. thumbs up

You really did make my day and now I can quit dicking around with software and sucking every bit of life out of my songs.

Cheers,
Rob

Babaluma · Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 4:41 am Post subject:

thanks rob!

Morley · Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 5:30 am Post subject:

I say go for it!
I hate the almost saintly aura mastering engineers get. Some deserve it, most don't.
I got my first album "tilted" mastered in Munich (MSM) and it was an eye opener. What a great job. So, over the next few years I thought about what I saw and heard and practiced on my stuff and in the end my last album I mastered and I get good feedback about it and I am very happy with it.
It's not voodoo. It needs good ears, a good room, some decent gear and practice.
Now, there is a LOT of people offering mastering and they have no clue. Zilch. So many BAD jobs out there, that unless the mastering place you go to is a place you know personally and have total confidence in, you are safer on your own.

I master things for people sometimes and I am confident about them. I wouldn't let anything go out that I wasn't happy with but I have yet to have to do that.

Go for it!

Babaluma · Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 6:08 am Post subject:

thanks morley!

yeah, i've been mastering my own stuff for about ten years or so. it was only the last couple of years, when other people started asking me to do it for them, that i thought about taking it more seriously. i'm no bob katz or bernie grundman, but i got good feedback, which is why i am offering the "free track" now. if people like what i do and word gets round, all the better!

one of the other main reasons i am doing it, is that it is wonderful to be able to hear so many different types of music on my system, and to practice using my new kit on it. doing all this free work has REALLY helped me get to know the comps, eq and preamp combo, and for that i thanks everyone who has sent me tracks.

i completely agree with you on the whole mastering engineer "aura" and golden ears thing. anyone can do it, like you say, and i do think more and more people are mastering their own stuff these days (that's how i got started!) practice makes perfect! i am sure there are a lot of people doing it very badly too, and i try my hardest not to be one of them.

it's so easy just to strap a brick wall limiter across the mix, but it is also just as easy to overdo it. it's also very easy to LOOK at what your plugins are telling you, and make adjustments based on that without even realising it. with the hardware i have now, i just shut my eyes, really listen, and twiddle till it sounds good. wink

i'd be honoured to have a go at mastering something for you, just to get your experienced feedback.

all the best and keep sending those tracks!

gregg

Luka · Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 8:25 am Post subject:

here check out the tune that gregg mastered for me
i am well pleased

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BK7GXNDL

Babaluma · Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 12:52 am Post subject:

thanks luka!

i just started a three week holiday, so i have a lot more time for music now. if you still haven't taken me up on the free track offer, then please do!

also, anyone who wants to come back for more, with a paypal donation, will take priority and i'll be able to get it done quickly.

thanks for all the great feedback,

gregg

Babaluma · Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 9:27 am Post subject:

load of free time at the mo, and nothing to do, so please send me your track for FREE MASTERING!!!

no takers?

please check the first post and PM me for more details!

merry xmas,

gregg

insomniyack · Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 1:20 pm Post subject:

Just got my mastered track back from Gregg and I'm pretty impressed!

It's gotten louder overall without the bass getting out of control and the sounds that were so faint before are now actually able to be heard! It's made the mix brighter, louder, and clearer!! I highly recommend this guy!

Babaluma · Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 6:58 am Post subject:

thanks!

updated first post again to be more informative.

slovo · Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:34 pm Post subject:

Hey Babaluma... a) how do you afford to buy music equipment in Japan!? I love browsing the shops, but aside from 2nd-hand Roland gear everything is faaarrrr too expensive. Teach me your tricks! XD and b) your friend Pawnsphinx is really pretty exciting sounding. His myspace didn't seem to turn up any useful info, do you know when that album will be available? Any chance of those tracks showing up on Amazon mp3? Because it's not super easy to buy mp3s here.

More on topic, the tracks sound great! Support this fledgling enterprise! You can say you were there first!

Babaluma · Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 4:54 am Post subject:

hey slovo,

thanks for the very kind comments.

i bought my modular slowly over the period of 7 or 8 years, so it wasn't too pricey at any one time.

the outboard/mastering gear took me three years to save up for. it always seems to be way more pricey in japan than in the west. the second germ comp was ordered from mercenary audio in the states, as i already had a power supply. it was cheaper to order and pay shipping and import tax from the us, than it was to go into a shop and buy one here. but i'm pretty much done with buying gear now, my dream studio for creating my own music and mastering others is finished. i'm still awaiting a custom fromel seraph deluxe though, to add multiple dimensions to your mix! wink

pawnsphinx is a very close friend of over fifteen years. he's a true artist and won't compromise his art for anything. he has way more integrity than most of the people i meet. he's a talented oil painter, juggler, tabla player, philosopher, and electronic musician. afaik he doesn't really use his myspace page. so far all of his releases have been "soft", but i think he wants to start getting actual artefacts out there. you can download his currently released projects from the web label SKP here:

http://www.skprecordings.com/

and i think he has some older stuff on enpeg. hopefully he'll jump in and let you know how the album is coming along. or you could ask in his thread on here. i've mastered about 19 tracks of his over the last year and there is a lot of amazing stuff there!

thanks again!

gregg

Babaluma · Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:10 pm Post subject:

i've updated the first post with info on rates.

the response to the "one free track" has been astounding and i have a lot of mastering work on right now! i will continue to offer this service, although as more paid work is coming in, that will obviously have to take priority. i should still be able to get the free tracks done within a week.

thanks to everyone who has sent in tracks so far, it has been great to hear so many different styles of music, and i have enjoyed listening to every single one of them. there are some REALLY talented people, and genuinely nice folks, on here.

anyway, after months of thought i have decided on a payment scheme which i think is fair and competitive. for those that have contacted me previous to this post, my offers still stand. from today the new rates apply to new clients. if it's not clear, please just PM me.

all the best,

gregg

slovo · Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:54 pm Post subject:

Nice, congrats on getting your dream studio mostly completed. Mine's only just beginning! Didn't realize pawnsphinx was a board member, I'll have to check out his thread. Thanks for the info. I hope I get a certain track I'm thinking of finished in time to take advantage of the free track offer. If you don't mind, next time I head up to Kanagawa I'll have to bug you for advice on music spots to hit. wink

Babaluma · Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 5:05 am Post subject:

hey slovo,

thanks. the free track offer will last indefinitely. it's something i'll always consider doing. it allows people to try before they buy, and is a good way to build trust with people.

i've only ever bought gear from the following places in japan:

echigoya, 5g, rock on (all in shibuya/harajuku for vintage and new studio gear and synths)
ochanomizu area in tokyo (various shops, for guitar stuff)
ishibashi, shimamura, kurosawa (the "guitar centres" of japan, full of prosumer shit, but can sometimes find bargains there)
soundhouse (japan's largest online retailer, the "musician's friend" of japan?)
yahoo japan auctions (prices are way higher then they used to be for vintage stuff though, gone are the days of 20,000 yen 101's and 30,000 yen re-201s and 60,000 yen ms-20s)
hard off (the "cash converters" of japan, can sometimes find bargains here)

as for kanagawa/yokohama, there's nothing very good here. there's a place called "messe de music", for vintage gear, but prices are high and the manager is a little strange. tokyo is where it's at i reckon!

slovo · Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 7:27 pm Post subject:

Awesome, awesome info, thanks. I can read a bit of kana and Chinese, so stumbling through the Japanese music forums can be quite bewildering. Thanks. One nice thing to pick up via Yahoo Japan, I have to say, is large stuff. Sure, shipping is a fortune, if you're int he US or Europe (not so bad to me in HK hehe) but the savings on higher end Tama gear, for example, can be pretty sweet. But yeah, the electronics are pretty well-picked through, unless you're willing to try junk listings.

Audio Resistance · Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 9:05 pm Post subject:

Thanks for another excellent job Gregg!

I am not going to waste peoples time by trying to explain music with bullshit adjectives. However, I will say how nice it is to have somebody with a love and deep appreciation of electronic music taking care of this important part of the process. I have had local yokels master tracks from me before and the results were less than satisfactory.

If anyone cares to hear the latest track he did the link is below.

http://soundcloud.com/audio-resistance/they-leave-the-soul-not-satisfi ed

Thanks again Gregg,

Rob

Babaluma · Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 1:59 am Post subject:

Thanks Rob,

It's great to get such high quality submissions, both artistically and in sample rate/bit depth. I hope you get your EP together soon and that it garners the success is deserves!

nyarlathotep · Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 6:34 am Post subject:

I should mention that Babaluma (hermetech studio) has worked on every track for my next ep release and follow up album to be released (as yet only digitally) on SKPR . Unfortunately these releases will not be until much later in the year (July or later).

Babaluma (hermetech studio) has done some very satisfactory work for me ranging from subtle analogue enhancements to tracks and stems through to tightening up entire mixes (where original mix information is no longer available for production uses).

If anyone is interested to hear some of my music there are 2 threads in the 'your tunes here' section one of which (the flaming acid horse) has been mastered by Babaluma (hermetech studio). Comments appreciated thumbs up

Jiddy Up!

Babaluma · Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 10:07 am Post subject:

Thank you Mr. Pawnsphinx!

The mastering work is taking off at just the right time, as the hours at my day job will be cut soon.

A big thanks to everyone who has trusted me with their audio babies, I'll try to continue doing a good job.

Keep the submissions coming!

Best wishes,

Gregg

Cthulhu