JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Industry Message Forum ASCAP/ Landr?

Anyone use Landr: http://join.landr.com/en-as/music-m...ingSearchEN&utm_term=music_mastering

Never have, but it's a free benefit with an ASCAP membership. An ASCAP member is entitled to one song mastered per month - free. Interesting... I'll give it a try.

Best, John

Just tried it. The difference between the original and the master... The master is louder with more high-end. Don't like it as much as the original. Also, the "free" only pertains to a LO-Mp3. $9.99 for a 16bit/ 44100 Hz wav file. That's not even Industry standard at 16/48. It wasn't false advertising. After re-reading it did state a "free" LO-Mp3.

Hi John:

Thanks for letting us know. I get the daily "party line" E-zine from ASCAP but don't recall being informed of this service. There must be a "catch" to it? Sometimes "free" only appears that way. Gee, I hate it about my return to cynicism... I haven't always been that way.

Regards, ----Dave

Hey Dave,

I just wasn't satisfied with their mastering. Though because they create a really "hot" track some whippersnappers may like it. I definitely do not. Now I'm trying to remove my subscription with Landr. It stated just to go to my account and click on the cancel subscription link (though I didn't see such a link). I sent ASCAP a message informing them of my dissatisfaction with Landr.And to please have my subscription removed. Don't seem to be any way to contact Landr directly. Another bummer.

John

Also the emails which Landr sent me are one-way emails. When I replied to their email, I received this notification: "Delivery Status Notification (Failure)". Bummer, Bummer... Can't believe ASCAP uses Landr as a benefit to its members. I'm calling ASCAP tomorrow!

I use LANDR. I will master the track myself (using a preset in my DAW - I am no master of mastering, to put it mildly), then remove the mastering and upload to LANDR to see what that produces. Then I compare the two versions.Usually, but not always, LANDR is better. It’s no substitute for a real live expert, but my songs don’t really justify the expense of one of those.

I imagine it works for some Gavin. It killed my dynamics. Everything is one volume – LOUD. And it added high-end that my track didn’t need. Though my track was already fully processed. Glad it worked for you Gavin.

Best, John

I totally agree about the volume and the effect on the dynamics and the high-end. It's not always a good way to go. I use it on a case by case basis. If I don't like what it produces, I don't use it. It does offer 3 different intensities - low, medium and high - with high giving you the most volume and the biggest compromise in dynamic range.

You are supposed to remove any mastering you have already done before uploading your track.

I do not agree with 'one size fits all' Landr mastering.
Basically a boosting preset + high filter

Hi Ariel:

I agree with your opinion. I also don't care much for "one size fits all" music... LOL! "Mastering"... from all I've read about it... seems to be a combination of science and art, depending on which "expert" is describing the process. Because my recordings are "live" I don't really need that end of the equation. However, because of my miserable vocals... I usually need to re-record a song I happen to be getting ready for "roll-out" several times. (Think of all the practice I am provided with because of my inabilities.)

In the end, what matters to me is how the "product" sounds and is embraced by the invisible audience here at JPF and at other sites.

Regards, ----Dave

Do you know the LUFS level that they're "mastering" to? That's the most important thing now. The LUFS for streaming services is -16 and -14 depending on which one it is. CDs, if you're still considering making any, are usually between -12 to -10.

Shockingly -14LUFS isn't far off from a normal properly mixed track.

All streaming services will now conform your music to -16LUFS (Apple Music) or -14LUFS (Spotify and YouTube). Thus it doesn't make sense to go any higher in volume via removing dynamics. Not anymore. The higher you go, the more they lower the volume. The lower you are, the more they raise it.

Never used LANDR. Never plan to.

Jody is correct. Just mix it well and they'll set the levels.

Don't get me wrong - there is a definite need for mastering. Great mastering engineers have magical powers. But LANDR is not of that ilk.

That being typed... The better your mix is, the easier the mastering engineer's job is to make it shine.

I was only curious since ASCAP members had free access to Landr (one freebee per month). After hearing the results, I would never pay for their mastering service.

John

So is Landr just normalizing the stuff? Like a million programs out there will do and have done for 25 or more years?

Brian

Thanks for the heads up. To me, it sounds like a bait and switch, they just want you to hear the quality of their work, and upsell you from there?
.

Sounds more to me like extreme limiting, which makes it loud and kills dynamics.