an overall problem is what most musicians think of a mastering engineer.
they think he is a supersonic wizard who will make sound everything perfect. which is completely wrong.
a good mastering work comes from a good mix. mastering can make a good mix sounding stunning and a bad mix just better, but not good.
most of the time mastering engineers try to compensate mixing mistakes.
Ive talked to some over the years and the overall canon is:
make a good mix and the mastering will be a breeze.
If you cant mix properly, learn it or let it be done by a mixing engineer.
I also gave some tunes away back in the days to some test mastering, but I liked my versions better. but i have to say that werent some platinum studios with awesome analog outboard equipment. just trained guys with a computer based setup.
careful listening to everything and training your ears is what makes a good mastering engineer I think!
like I said before. mastering should come naturally, if not there is something wrong in the mix stage.
there are some creative mastering techniques which can come handy in the mixing stage also, like different kinds of compression for example parallel compression, but thats a different cup of tea.
the aforementioned book is:
Bob Katz - "Mastering Audio - The Art and the Sience"
this is the only book you really need to understand whats it all about. The guy just knows whats it all about without genre barriers, just how to treat sound right.
@asp:
I really like how you made "Psychic Existentialism" in a strange way it reminds me of J Dillas productions which are often labelled as his "paper thin" works instead of maxed out bass which i more common in the genre of beat driven music.
the album isnt harsh at all, and thats what makes it a good mastering in my ears. its well balanced, and if it hitted the spot as what you wanted it to sound like, which mastering engineer could have made it better?
the most important thing for someone who searches for a mastering engineer is to find somebody who understands the aim of the artist. there are a ton who are making things sound huge and LOUD for gods sake, because thats the actual industry standard, but they dont care about the soul of the recordings. I recently talked to an artists who made such a moody, dark and muffled (!!!) piece of sound tapestry which was in itself totally perfect but he was dumped because his drum sounds didnt match the industry standard, say hart hitting and pumping. which in that case would have destroyed the overall feel completely. his work lived from the fragile and nonconform use of sounds.
difficult topic, but nontheless interesting
sorry for the book-like post
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