Scott Hull: Mastering Of The Universe
What was it like to work under a legend like Bob Ludwig?
In the '80's there were a lot of big records being made. Masterdisk was humming day and night with an average 30% of the Billboard's Hot 100. It was an amazing time. Springsteen, The Stones, Journey, The Police, Genesis, Hall & Oates - the list goes on. What was most remarkable by today's standards is how quickly an average album was mastered.
This even included cutting reference lacquers and making analog reference copies. The masters came in the door in sequence & separated into Side A & B reels. Now what is more common, is for the masters to come in the door with three, four or five alternate mixes or stems. (Stems are separate stereo files delivered to mastering so that the mastering engineer can alter individual elements in the mix)
The album session that used to take 3-4 hours to run down and cut reference lacquers, now takes 7-8 hours to listen to all the alternates, edit and fade and experiment with sequences and so on.
The point I'm making is, the actual process of mastering several songs, getting the levels and EQ right doesn't have to take a long time. In fact if an album project were to come in to mastering with all the choice mixes in place and the sequence known and generally consistent in production, it can be completed in about a half day. All of this preparation can be done very effectively outside the mastering room. So, even though your budget might be limited to such an extent that you think you will have to let some less than experienced mastering engineer have a whack at your master, you can get some "quality time" with a quality engineer and get a wonderful product at a discount prince.
What about clients trying to save a few bucks? Is it possible to get a junior engineer?
Many mastering studios have assistant engineers that are working to get experience and practice mastering. But is it really a good use of your money to have a junior engineer make those really critical decisions? A smarter option is to have the "ears" decisions made by the senior (ie. Experienced, not just old) engineer and use the assistants do all of the work that doesn't affect the sound of the album. This was how mastering studios were organized many years ago. It's a good use of studio time and a good use of the talented ears... uhh, that's me.
There's been a lot of talk lately about the "loudness issues". It seems like people are starting to think that louder is better. I'm sure clients ask you for louder all the time.
Making the music LOUD is very easy. Truly, there are hundreds of mail-in mastering rooms throughout the country that can make your music un-believablely loud. This is rarely what you set out to create though when you go into a recording studio to capture that special song, sound or vibe. That being said, there are good ways and not so good ways to make a modern rock project LOUD. But then if your project is about more than just being loud, you need a mastering engineer that has experience making music sound "good" and "loud enough". I believe that if the tone and balance is correct then you won't have to make the mastering extra loud just to make it sounds exciting. You may have to just sit back and let me show you how your production can sound even better with a little more dynamics.
I saw a list online with your discography. It's seems like a lot of albums. How many do you do in a week?
It's true that is a lot of music. Typically I'll master 4 or 5 album length projects each week. With a couple weeks off through the year I have averaged over 200 albums per year for the past several years.
I believe that if the tone and balance is correct then you won't have to make the mastering extra loud just to make it sounds exciting.
Then there must be some burn out issues?
Not really. I truly enjoy this work. Also my client list is very diverse. I can be asked to master a solo prepared piano piece on Monday morning and later in the day I might be working on a hard rock project or traditional blues. From a virtuosic Theremin recording to thrash metal. It keeps it really fresh for me because I'm not about just one genre of music. I really like well played interesting, exciting, thoughtful music. It doesn't even have to be in English. I master many projects from all around the world. Japan, Spain, France, Canada, Australia, Finland, Sweden, and South Africa. I find I can let the music "tell me" what it wants to be. The emotion of the music is universal.
So when you are not in your mastering studio listening to some of the world's greatest music, what are your doing?
Well this is where the rubber meets the road – I have taken a 1971 Volvo sedan and turned it into a racecar. I mean, there are hundreds of us total nut-jobs each weekend who go to road race circuits across the country racing everything from Corvairs to Camaros. Each car is classified and races against other cars with similar performance capabilities.
It's real racing for "independent" folks. It's supposed to be entry-level racing and relatively less expensive than a full sponsored race team. I load the car on the trailer, load the tools, drive to the track, get the car inspected, go to the driver's meetings, prepare the car and the driver, qualify, race and pack up usually all myself. It's just a blast. And yes I wear good ear protection.
It's a nice change of pace of me. I've met some great people at the track. They are not who you would expect. The other car owners are technical professionals, computer geeks, counselors and dentists. Many of them own their own shop but some of us are just out there to amuse and challenge ourselves.
Mastering is a nebulous topic for some. I'll admit I didn't fully understand the power of the process until I came face to face with it at the end of my first major recording.
I've heard an astonishing amount of people agree they don't really understand the "how" of mastering. However, upon finishing the mastering process, everyone agrees that, when done well by a consummate professional like Scott, the added value to a recording is priceless. It raises the enjoyment factor of a listening experience, smoothes over flaws in the recording and keeps the listener engaged with the music in ways even they can't describe.
Mastering is as simple as it is complex. And now that I know more about it, I have come to the dramatic realization of two immutable truths: 1) Mastering is not only preferable, it is necessary, and, 2) Mastering is an art.
Scott Hull is clearly an artist. 
More Info
Scott Hull Mastering
321 West 44th Street
Suite 402
New York, NY 10036
212-957-2450