At Sanctuary Lane Sound Studios we specialize in professional CD mastering for the independent music community. Because we offer CD mastering services to clients throughout the United States as well as Internationally, most of the work we do is unattended (i.e., the client is not in attendance at the session). The workload is about 85% unattended to 15% attended. Regardless of whether the client is in attendance or not, there is absolutely no compromise in the quality of the CD mastering that we do. The key to a successful project and a happy client is clear and open communication, which is done on the phone, via email and/or in person (for an attended session).

The CD mastering process generally involves:

• Discussing the project with the client to determine requirements;
• 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 and possible;
• Inserting appropriate amount of spacing in between each song;
• Inserting ISRC, UPC, Copyright info, 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).

If you are not sure about what exactly CD mastering will do for your material, feel free to send us a song so we can master a 30-45 second clip free of charge. There is no better way to tell what a CD mastering facility can do with your material than have them master a sample.

If you want a sample CD mastering, please call for instructions. The turnaround time for samples is generally one to two weeks. If you are on a tight schedule and need a sample quickly, give us a call to arrange a quicker turnaround time.

If you are ready to book a CD mastering session or have any further questions, call us at (301) 644 – 3370 to discuss your project. If you are unable to attend but wish to book a mastering session with us, call us to check our schedule and fill out the Mastering Order Form to send along with your payment.

Please read our CD mastering Process Information before sending us your material.