An Evening with Gentry Studer and SPL
On Thursday 29 October, Gentry Studer joins us at Studiocare in Liverpool for an SPL Mastering Masterclass. The evening begins at 6.30pm with a talk from SPL, followed by an hour-long walkthrough of Gentry's mastering workflow. It is free to attend, and there are thirty seats.
Gentry's chain is built around SPL's 120V mastering gear, which we stock at Studiocare. If you have wondered what happens between a finished mix and a released record, this is a good chance to hear it explained by someone who does it for a living.
What is mastering?
Mastering is the final stage of making a record. By the time a mix reaches the mastering room, the arrangement, the performances and the balance between instruments are settled. The job is to shape its tone, control its dynamics, set its level, and make sure it holds together alongside everything else on the record and on the listener's playlist.
It is patient work. The moves are usually small, and they are judged in context, because a change that sounds impressive on its own can easily make the record worse. A good mastering engineer is listening for what the mix needs, not for somewhere to leave a mark.
What does a mastering chain do?
A mastering chain is the sequence of processors an engineer works through, and each stage hears what the one before it did. Equalisation shapes the overall balance of the record. Compression and limiting control dynamics and level, bringing the record up to a sensible loudness without flattening the life out of it. Conversion and monitoring sit either side of that work, because you can only make good decisions about what you can actually hear.
What is SPL's 120V technology?
Most analogue audio circuits run at plus and minus fifteen volts. SPL's 120V designs run at plus and minus sixty volts, 120 volts in total, which gives the circuit far more headroom. It stays comfortable and clean when asked to handle loud, dynamic material, with lower distortion and a wider dynamic range.
That suits mastering well. When you are making small, careful adjustments, you want the equipment to be transparent about what it is doing and quiet about everything else.
Who is Gentry Studer?
Gentry has spent over a decade and a half in music production and the music industry, and is a sought-after expert across a wide range of genres, providing mastering services to artists worldwide. His credits include Metallica, Deftones, Miley Cyrus, Christina Aguilera, At The Drive In, Ryan Adams, Bush, Andrew W.K., Incubus, Crazy Town and Heart.
That list spans rock, metal, pop and alternative, which is a reminder that mastering is not a genre-specific craft. What changes between those records is the material and what it needs. What stays the same is the discipline of listening.
What does the evening cover?
The evening opens with a talk from SPL, the manufacturer behind the gear Gentry's chain is built on. Then Gentry takes over for an hour-long walkthrough of his workflow, step by step. For anyone who has read about mastering but never sat in on a session, the useful part is hearing why each move was made, and what the engineer was listening for at the time.
How to claim a seat
The masterclass is at Studiocare, 56 Evans Road, Liverpool L24 9PB, on Thursday 29 October, starting at 6.30pm. The room is small: thirty seats, one per person, so anyone coming as a group needs to claim their own individual ticket.
You can claim a seat on the Gentry Studer - SPL Mastering Masterclass @ Studiocare product page.