Mastering Tips
1.Always give us the original mixes but make a clone for yourself.
2. Mix your Audio at 44.1khz. This means that we wont have to do any sample rate conversion which downgrades the quality. And saves you time and money.
3. Let us know what you want what kind of feel. Be as helpful as you can with your labelling and descriptions.
4. Ship your materials with a reputable courier such as FEDEX. Please remember to insure your materials you never know.
5. To mail in your project call or email us to discuss your requirements, we can then give you a quote and turnaround time.
6. Please list all songs as they are to appear on the Master.
7. Mastering is the smallest part of the budget but is the point where your project makes its biggest leap.
8. Your mixes should not contain fade in or fade outs, nor should they have been processed with stereo bus compression/limiting. Its ok if these things have been done but not ideal.
9. Can i be in attendance for the mastering session ? Yes we encourage clients to attend themastering session and welcome their input.
10. In mastering it is easier to deal with vocals that are too hot than too soft, its easier to pull up the instruments around the voice, than it is to pull up the voice. The solution is to compress the lead vocal more in mixdown or spend more time riding the faders. Be aware of hearing the voice and trying to keep it even in level.
11. Always make a TV mix without vocals and a vocal only mix, with the original EQ and FX and leave a one or two bar count in at the beginning of track as makes syncing easier. then if for some reason you are not happy with the vocal blend on a song we can layer the vocal mix onto the TV mix.
12. Another common problem is mixing cymbals and hi hats too loud. Remember that since its common to enhance the highs or mid highs for clarity when mastering. this can inhibit how much a track can be enhanced. Cymbals and hi hats are easy to hear even when mixed back.
13. Always try to use a de-esser on the vocals to stop the sound becoming spitty or overly harsh.
14. Starting the first mix at the start of the dat is another common mistake. Like anologue tape the first part of the dat is the most fragile and prone to errors. Roll at least a minute into the tape before recording the first song.
