October 16-22, 2003

cover story

On the Levels

The master in his domain: "I think mastering engineers tend not to talk about the process with much clarity," says Baker. "It’s very secretive, not unlike the recipe for Coke." Photo By: Michael T. Regan

John Baker of Maja Audio Group nearly explains the greatest mystery of music recording.

by Patrick Rapa

John Baker is renowned for his soft touch. He does mastering at Society Hill’s Maja Audio Group, where local musicians show up with their chaotic studio recordings and ask him to perform a technical balancing act. In recent years, he’s been an unsung sound engineer for local bands and artists like Eltro, Mazarin, Matt Pond PA, Lenola, Liz Carroll, Lefty’s Deceiver, She-Haw and The Wayward Wind. They call what he does "mastering," but what does that mean, really? And what do all those buttons, knobs and switches do? He recently stepped out of the shadows to talk shop. Then he recoiled back into darkness.

City Paper: Everyone knows what producing means, but what is mastering?

John Baker: Mastering used to be simply transferring a song to vinyl as unchanged as possible, without screwing it up. Over the years, though, it's become quite a creative process. It's the end stage in the making of a record. You're taking weeks or months of work by a group and making it all as sonically cohesive as possible. The result, hopefully, is a polished body of work that sounds better than when you got it and is able to hold its own.

CP: Why do you think mastering is such a mystery?

JB: Well, I think mastering engineers tend not to talk about the process with much clarity. It's very secretive, not unlike the recipe for Coke or something. Also, as a sound engineer, in general, you become very sensitive to minute changes in sound. So, many times, you're making very subtle changes over the course of an hour or so, and it's all those little changes that make a big difference in the end. So, if you're not paying attention, you don't really know what happened. It can have sort of a black-box effect.

CP: Do you produce also?

JB: No, I don't. At least, not officially. I've thrown in my two cents in a session, but that hardly qualifies.

CP: So, a band comes to you with recorded music and you get it ready to be turned into CDs?

JB: A band will bring in songs on a CD, CD-ROM or FireWire drive. I see less and less DAT tapes. I'll master song by song and then sequence the entire album at the end. The artist gets a final master CD to take to a duplication house.

CP: What equipment do you work with? What does it do?

JB: We have a Drawmer 1960 stereo tube compressor, a couple of Focusrite equalizers, some Waves' processing equiptment-- compressors, EQs, DeEssers, limiters, etc. -- and a few other knickknacks. Compressors allow you to control the dynamics of a song, and add clarity. A tube compressor can add a little extra something. With EQs you can clean up a bass or pull out a vocal or guitar, but remember we're dealing with full mixes, so there are compromises. Limiters with the help of compressors and EQs will help you to increase the apparent loudness of a song, and everybody wants loud.

CP: Um, what is a DeEsser?

JB: A DeEsser is a device that de-emphasizes the sibilance in a vocal track or a vocal that is mixed within a song. It is a compressor that only acts on the small range of frequencies that produce a harsh s sound -- generally between three and eight kilohertz.

CP: Is the job all technical? Is there room for creativity and judgment calls?

JB: It's definitely not all technical. The quicker you get the technical stuff under control, the sooner you start really listening to how you're affecting the overall vibe of a song. It's not as creative as mixing, but there are still many ways to go with mastering a song. And having an artist who is sensitive to these possibilities makes for a lot of good dialogue during a session.

Find more information at www.majaaudiogroup.com.