Stephen Marcussen

Patrick M · Postby **Patrick M** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 4:22 pm

What made him think it was a good idea to do this to Michelle Branch's "Everywhere"?

What's up with this guy? Some of his stuff is good, some of it (like this) is awful.

britre · Postby **britre** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 8:34 pm

Love that screen shot...

I took a moment to do the taboo download, and listen.

your right, horrible mix. What was this guy thinking?

Postby **lukpac** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 9:13 pm

britre wrote:your right, horrible mix. What was this guy thinking?

That's "you're right"... :wink:

Patrick M · Postby **Patrick M** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 9:46 pm

Silly me: I thought this song was supposed to get louder during the chorus.

In fact, I would say this song is so compressed, it's practically mono!

britre · Postby **britre** » Sat Apr 12, 2003 10:08 am

lukpac wrote:
britre wrote:your right, horrible mix. What was this guy thinking?

That's "you're right"...

Ahh yes, forgot the spell/grammar check, you're right, my bad

Patrick M · Postby **Patrick M** » Sat Apr 19, 2003 1:39 pm

This is fun. Stephen Marcussen also mastered Gillian Welch's Revival (1996). This waveform is for track 1, Orphan Girl. Notice anything different?

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BradOlson · Postby **BradOlson** » Sat Apr 19, 2003 10:00 pm

The Gillian Welch waveform represents that it isn't compressed as much as the Michelle Branch waveform.

BradOlson · Postby **BradOlson** » Sat Apr 19, 2003 10:01 pm

One of the CDs I have that was mastered by Stephen Marcussen is Amy Grant's Heart In Motion.

BradOlson · Postby **BradOlson** » Sat Apr 19, 2003 10:03 pm

I actually have quite a few Stephen Marcussen mastered discs.

BradOlson · Postby **BradOlson** » Sat Apr 19, 2003 10:06 pm

http://www.marcussenmastering.com/

Patrick M · Postby **Patrick M** » Sat Apr 19, 2003 10:21 pm

BradOlson wrote:One of the CDs I have that was mastered by Stephen Marcussen is Amy Grant's Heart In Motion.

Bradley - what year was that mastered? Is it compressed like the Michelle Branch example?

I'm curious why there is so much difference in the approach here. In particular, does the mastering engineer really think that compression is a good idea, or are they being foreced/pressured to use it?

I'm planning a George Marino thread soon.

BradOlson · Postby **BradOlson** » Sat Apr 19, 2003 10:41 pm

Heart In Motion was mastered in 1991 and it is very compressed. An example of it can be seen right here with a waveform of Every Heartbeat. BTW, this was Amy's breakthrough album to the pop audiences. Stephen also mastered her followup album, House of Love in 1994. http://rvcc2.raritanval.edu/ktek9053/cdpage/

BradOlson · Postby **BradOlson** » Sat Apr 19, 2003 10:42 pm

They are pressured to use it by the record labels so that it can sound "hot" and some actually like using it while many hate using it.

BradOlson · Postby **BradOlson** » Sat Apr 19, 2003 10:49 pm

Although Amy does sing better all the time, her best album overall, IMO is Lead Me On, a digital recording mastered by Bob Ludwig from 1988, which does sound excellent sonically. The Collection, from 1986, mastered by Doug Sax, is an excellent compilation of many of her early Christian singles.

Sound · Postby **Sound** » Wed May 07, 2003 5:55 pm

Thanks for the info Brad! It's good to hear from you.
And thanks for the photo Patrick. (ouch!) I don't need to hear it.