Mastering

My band is just finishing our first full-length album and I'm seeking out good mastering services. We play roots rock n roll, so our sound is much like that of early 70s Stones, The Black Crowes, and Drive-by Truckers. We're independent and looking to keep the budget reasonable, so Greg Calbi is out. ; )

Right now, I've been leaning toward using Rodney Mills in Atlanta. He has a great client list and seems to be very easy to work with. The prices are very reasonable and it's close enough to us that we can sit in on the sessions.

Has anyone ever used Rodney Mills?

Do you all have any recommendations?

Thanks

Dave Harris in Charlotte (Studio B Mastering (http://studiobmastering.com/)) is mighty good, but if you're in the Knoxville area, Atlanta's probably closer.

I checked the website and they do have an impressive client list. Is there any reason why you want sit in on the sessions? Really, the last thing the mastering engineer needs to hear is a band member asking if an instrument be turned up.

Seriously though you should call and get Greg Calbi's rates just to get an idea. He might have special rates for bands in your position.

I checked the website and they do have an impressive client list. Is there any reason why you want sit in on the sessions? Really, the last thing the mastering engineer needs to hear is a band member asking if an instrument be turned up.

Seriously though you should call and get Greg Calbi's rates just to get an idea. He might have special rates for bands in your position.

Thanks for the response. We're confident in our recording engineer's mixing. Rodney suggested us holding the mixes for a few days just so we don't have to ask him stuff about the mix itself. Actually, the studio suggested we sit in or at least be available for easy contact because they don't want to do the "is this version ok?" five different times via email and drag out the process any more than a day. They wanted us to be able to have input and learn what all goes on. I was surprised at this.

I thought about going with Greg or someone at Sterling Sound, but the minimum for our project would be about 1500 bucks just to have someone at that studio do it and that's just too much. I wonder how much of that is just because of NY rent. ; )

Dave Harris in Charlotte (Studio B Mastering (http://studiobmastering.com/)) is mighty good, but if you're in the Knoxville area, Atlanta's probably closer.

Thanks. I'm gonna check out Dave Harris' services. Atlanta and Charlotte are both under 4 hours of Knoxville, so that's no biggie.

Are those prices right? With that client list they charge about $60/song?

I've sat in on mastering sessions with Dave, and he gave me choices in his treatment — do you like A, B, or C? If I had an opinion, I'd state it, and if I didn't, I'd ask him to make the call. That's customer service, IMO. Some of the long-distance mastering mills are very good and cost-effective, but if I have a choice, I wanna be there when my music is mastered. Guess I wuz just born that way! :razz::mrgreen:

Are those prices right? With that client list they charge about $60/song?

Are you talking about Rodney Mills? If so, then the prices listed are accurate. I've been in contact with them on two occasions and got the quote. They have been extremely friendly and professional. Considering the client list, I thought it seemed too good to be true, so I wanted to check with my TDPRI brethren to see if anyone had used him. Rodney was apparently a recording engineer for some early Skynyrd stuff and mastered some of their later stuff... among some other great bands, many of which in my genre. He also was in a band that played with the Stones in the 60s. I wanna meet him for the stories, alone!

I want to be thorough, so I'm welcome to suggestions.

I've sat in on mastering sessions with Dave, and he gave me choices in his treatment — do you like A, B, or C? If I had an opinion, I'd state it, and if I didn't, I'd ask him to make the call. That's customer service, IMO. Some of the long-distance mastering mills are very good and cost-effective, but if I have a choice, I wanna be there when my music is mastered. Guess I wuz just born that way! :razz::mrgreen:

This is what I'd like, so I'm hoping to find places like this. I don't wanna be a burden on the engineer, but I want to use someone who truly wants us to dig the work he's doing.

Be sure and let us know how it works out.