Audio Nightlife: Scenes from “Demystifying Mastering” at FLUX

May 16th, 2012 by David Weiss

FLUX Studios and a Friday night proved to be a killer combination once again, as the “Demystifying Mastering” event went down last week.

Colorful things seem to happen on Fridays at FLUX.

A full house of producers, engineers, mixers, artists and – of course – mastering engineers kicked off their weekend with knowledge and networking at the always-buzzing East Village recording/mixing facility.

The center of attention was top NYC mastering engineer Dave Kutch of the Mastering Palace, who led a clinic presented by Dangerous Music, Manley, Focal Professional, and Alto NYC.

Kutch’s presentation in FLUX’s “Dangerous” live room captivated the crowd’s attention, as he shared the considerable wisdom he’s gained in mastering for the likes of Alicia Keys, The Roots, John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, MNDR, Natasha Bedingfield, and many more.

In addition to covering advanced mastering techniques such as mid-side processing and parallel processing, Kutch went over file labeling protocols, gave career/life advice (“Hang out with people smarter than yourself!”) and fielded some high-quality questions from the crowd.

In the meantime, demos of Dangerous, Focal, and Manley gear went down in the artfully appointed “Fabulous” suite. And as per FLUX’s most hospitable tradition, champagne and snacks fueled musical conversations before, during and after in the lounge and on the roof.

Check out Kutch’s essential segment on mid-side mastering techniques.

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For dance music producer Matt Verzola, “Demystifying Mastering” was a highly informative experience. “I’m doing my own mastering on my dance tracks,” he noted, “so when this clinic came up I said, ‘I’d love to hear more about how the real pros do it.’ I really liked how open Dave was – he wasn’t keeping any secrets. He explained how he’ll use parallel compression for mastering, for instance, which I never thought to do.

“Dave offered up a lot of good resources to go to later, and the crowd was really good,” Verzola continues. “I think only people that understand what mastering is were there, so there weren’t any questions that weren’t great. It was a really good forum.”

Also in the audience was Heba Kadry, Mastering Engineer/Project Coordinator at The Lodge, who was more than happy to learn from one of their accomplished colleagues. “It’s terrific to have someone like Dave Kutch – with all his experience – demonstrate some material pre- and post-mastering, and illustrate the difference that mastering can make on your record,” she said. “He showed the progression of mastering over the years, and talked about the best way for mixers to approach their mixes with the mentality that the material will be mastered later on.

“Just beyond the geek talk, its great to get out of your studio bubble and see what other people are doing in a relaxing environment,” Kadry adds. “FLUX is a great studio. It’s really fun to talk to people and see what they’re doing.”

Now see more for yourself! (BTW, SonicScoop, FLUX, and our friends will be holding more audio-centric events throughout 2012 — if you want to be notified about future happenings, drop us a line at info@sonicscoop.com with the word “events” in the subject line. Thanks! See you soon.)