What is Mastering?
Simply put, mastering is the last creative step in the recording of your music.
The process entails critical listening and then making the necessary adjustments to improve, re balance, correct flaws, edit, and restore your music to its fullest potential. I use the best equalizers, compressors, and processing gear specifically designed for the task.
Mastering can also be described as taking the final mixes from several sources, different studios, different engineers, reviewing everything, and then processing the music tastefully so it’s ready for release on any format and will sound good on any system it’s played on. To date, there is no process that can compensate and bring you a finished and consistent product like a true mastering facility with the proper engineer at the controls.
How Much Does It Cost?
Probably a lot less than you think! I have been mastering projects every day for many years now and I price my services at a reasonable rate. Independent music happens to be the backbone of my business! Please go to my contact page to see my current rates.
Why hire a professional mastering service?
A professional mastering facility has several advantages over “doing it yourself”.
We provide “ears behind the gear”. A professional mastering engineer will be able to select from a wide palate of tools to fine tune, restore, and bring your project to its fullest potential.
Experience. With hundreds or thousands of projects under the belt, an experienced mastering engineer will know how to squeeze the most out of your music. There is a reason everything you hear on the radio has been brought to a professional mastering facility before it is released. That’s because we can put the final “polish” on the music.
Why not use my software’s “mastering ” plug-ins and do it myself?
While plug ins are fine products, they are not a replacement for the trained ears and the critical environment of a professional mastering facility. Also, most of the processing in these home “mastering” fixes are meant to make your music instantly loud & bright. These adjustments are like taking a sledgehammer to your music when what it needs is a scalpel. A trained mastering engineer will tailor every move to bring out the best in your music.
What is Audio Restoration?
Audio restoration is the process of removing artifacts and anomalies in order to make a recording clearer. With the help of some wonderful technology from iZotope along with careful equalization, we can remove noise, buzzes, crackles, hums, we can bring a recording to a much improved state. Audio restoration can be used for both music as well as forensic audio.
What can I do to prepare my mixes for mastering?
- When mixing, try to reference your mixes against source material that you are familiar with, like your favorite CDs or streaming music.
- Apply minimal compression (or none at all) to your 2 track mixes. But in the end, hand us your mix the way you like it to sound. Feel is always more important than being technically correct!
- Ideally, you don’t want to send mixes that are crushed with a limiter, unless that’s part of your sound, and you were mixing into it. If that’s the case, send it as they are.
- If you’ve already tried to master it yourself, or had someone else do it that you weren’t happy with, let us know! We want to make it better for you, and it’s better if you’re honest with us. Send us a copy of your master if possible too.
- Don’t Rush! Take your time and make sure your mixes are what you want. While mastering can sometimes vastly improve a mix, it can’t fix a bad performance or lackluster mix.
- Ask questions. Don’t be afraid or intimidated by the process. Your mastering engineer is happy to explain the process and show you what he/she is doing.
How long does it take to master something?
There is no definitive answer, but an average full music CD consisting of approximately 40-50 minutes of music (10-14 songs) usually can be finished in about 4-5 hours. A CD single with a few different versions can usually be finished in an hour or less.
Can you do mastering for vinyl (LP or 12″)?
Yes, but I do not cut lacquers.
What Formats do you accept?
- Digital files: Please send .wav or .aiff stereo, or dual mono. These can be sent over the Internet to us with a file service.
- Please do not dither or sample rate convert your files before sending them. Keep them in the same resolution as your mix.
- Files should remain at the sample rate they were recorded at. Stereo interleaved or dual mono are both fine.
- .WAV files (any sample rate)
- .AIF (Aiff) files (any sample rate)
- Other formats can be arranged. Please call for information.