Mastering (more accurately known as pre-mastering) takes place right before the material is sent to the replicating plant. The entire recording process usually goes as follows:

1. Songwriting / Rehearsing
2. Pre-Production
3. Recording / Overdubs
4. Mixing
5. Mastering
6. Replication / Duplication

At the mixing stage (the stage prior to mastering), all the individual songs are mixed onto some type of 2-track medium. The songs should sound the way the artist(s), label and producer(s) want them to sound at that point. However, when compared to professionally mastered albums, the songs lack some of the punch, volume, warmth, stereo spread, clarity, bass definition, mid energy, crisp highs, etc., of their mastered counterparts. In comparison, most project studio CD’s sound too bright, harsh, lacking proper stereo separation, boomy, muddy, filled with clicks and pops, thin, distorted, and so on. In other words, most unmastered CD’s don’t sound quite as polished as those that have been mastered, even when the mixed sound is fairly satisfactory.

In general, mastering can do something to bring the material closer to a more “finished” sound. Mastering will also make your music translate well on many different playback mediums; including hi-fi audiophile systems, satellite and terrestrial radio, car stereos, iPods, computer speakers, lo-fi systems, cell phones, and other hand-held devices, etc.

The mastering process generally involves:

-Discussing the project with the client to determine direction;
-Analysis of the project to identify style/genre characteristics;
-Song-by-song analysis to identify sonic weak points and strengths;
-Determining what type of processing chain suits the project best – all digital, all analog, digital/analog combination (compression, EQ, stereo enhancement, limiting, etc.);
-Determining methods to make the individual songs fit seamlessly onto the final master;
-Creating level consistency throughout the master;
-Cleaning up unwanted noise (hiss, clicks, pops, buzz, etc.) where and when necessary;
-Inserting appropriate amount of spacing in between each song;
-Inserting ISRC, UPC, Copyright, Artist Name, Label info, etc., information where available;
-Sample rate conversion if necessary;
-Sequencing tracks into proper order;
-Word length reduction (dithering);
-Burning master to Red Book specifications suitable for CD replication;
-Error checking and Quality Control (QC).

For mastering sessions, most studios will accept one (or all) of the following formats:

*stereo .wav or .aif files up to 24-bit/96kHz
*DAT
*Masterlink CD24
*CD-R/W
*DVD-R/W
*Client Hard Drives (for attended sessions)
*Digital Workstations (for attended sessions)

Some studios can also accept analog ¼” and ½”, as well as Pro Tools files.

The music mastering process generally involves the use of specialized mastering equipment. Simply put, mastering studios use outboard signal processors (compressors, equalizers, limiters, expanders, etc.) that are designed specifically to process stereo music signals. The use of such equipment will result in a more polished sound lacking all of the problems associated with using inferior equipment not designed to handle stereo signals.

It usually takes about 20 – 60 minutes to master a song / track, depending on the complexity of the mix and length of the song. Any more than that and the engineer will probably recommend a remix instead of spending more time mastering. Costs for mastering music vary anywhere from $0 with your cousin Joey to $3000+ for an album mastered in a top studio.

Most music mastering studios can also help you find a place to replicate your CD’s and even interact with the facility throughout the manufacturing process to make sure everything goes smoothly. This can be of benefit to you, especially if you’ve scheduled your release party to take place soon after shipping your masters of.

IMPORTANT MUSIC MASTERING NOTES

Never send us the only copy (original) of your master. Since all the formats we accept are digital, a high-resolution copy will work just fine for mastering.

Label all your materials so we can identify your project among others in the studio.

Be EXTREMELY careful with the Redbook CD-R master we give you to send to the replicating plant. You should listen to it carefully one time ONLY and avoid scratches, finger prints, exposure to extreme heat, liquids, etc. on the master.

File formats – for mastering, we accept stereo .wav or .aif files up to 24-bit/96kHz, 16-bit or 24-bit DAT, Masterlink CD24, audio CD-R/W, client hard drives, and Digital Workstations.

Avoid applying any 2-buss processing (e.g. compression, limiting, “maximizing”, EQ, etc.) to the material you will be sending us. All necessary processing should be done during the mastering session. Light compression to make things ‘gel’ together is okay. However, heavy compression that causes ‘pumping’, or aggressive limiting (e.g. Waves L1, L2, L3, TC Electronic Finalizer, etc.) should be avoided.

Check your material BEFORE you send it to us to make sure everything is the way it should be. Checking your material is especially important if you’ve recorded several different versions of the same song. It is up to you to make sure we are mastering the correct version. If you need different versions mastered (e.g. “vocal up”, “guitar down”, “kick up”, “edit #3”, etc.) make sure you discuss this with us ahead of time.

Do not apply fade-ins or fade-outs to your songs at the mix stage. We can handle this much more precisely during mastering.

Avoid any unnecessary sample rate conversion and/or wordlength reduction unless it is unavoidable and you have professional grade sample rate converters and word length reduction methods.

When you write down your song titles, be clear about the final song order.

Watch your levels! Make sure there is no distortion in any of the songs. Distortion is very difficult (and in most cases) impossible to remove once it is embedded in the song.

Leave yourself enough time before your release date to allow for corrections, changes, edits, remixes, etc., of your material. Even though we can master your project under a tight deadline, you should plan for the session a few weeks before you need the material mastered.

Make sure we have a phone number and/or email address on file that we can use to communicate information about your project to you, especially if you are on a tight deadline.

Too many people during an attended mastering session can be distracting to the engineer. Try to keep the number of people attending a mastering session to no more than 3.

Make sure the material you send us includes the Sanctuary Lane Sound Studios Mastering Order Form 188.21 Kb (Click to open in new window or RIGHT CLICK & 'SAVE TARGET/LINK AS' to save this form to your hard drive for printing).

MOST IMPORTANTLY, call us if you are unsure about anything related to the process prior to sending us your material.