CD Mastering
Mastering is the essential final stage to your audio project and, whether it be a single track or an entire CD album, will add the final 'polish' and professional sound that you need to allow people to listen to your music sounding its best.
Having taken the time, energy, and money to create your music don't be tempted to skip the last thing you should do with it - get it mastered!
Our main aim at Musiklab is to provide independent artists and studios with high quality mastering at an affordable price to enable them to stand out in the ever competitive world of music - we only have to look at MySpace, CD Baby, etc. to see how many artists there are out there.
“Given the masters a thorough listen on many different systems… your wizardry has surpassed any expectation yet again. Its punchy but levelled and aggressive yet soft and smooth. brilliant.”
Laurie Housewife - The Housewives
Preparing your music for mastering
The following list of guidelines is by no means exhaustive. If you have any questions we'll be glad to answer them: info@musiklab.co.uk Tel. +44 (0)7788 421037
Before sending us your work test your mixes on as many audio systems as you can. If they sound as you intended on the majority of systems that's a great start. If they don't, tweak the mixes until you're happy.
Usually, the more care you take with your work (recording, mixing, burning CDs, handling the CDs etc.) the less time we'll have to work on solving problems - ultimately the end result is better and less expensive!
Do not limit/clip the stereo mix
Leave adequate headroom when you bounce down your mix; for 16bit tracks leave around 3dB and for the better quality 24bit leave around 6dB. This leaves room for us to manipulate your work without first having to reduce it's volume and also helps avoid inter-sample peaks.
If you use stereo buss compression make sure it benefits the sound and is not purely for boosting level. If in doubt supply a compressed and uncompressed version.
When comparing your mixes with commercial albums, especially those from the mid-90s onwards, remember that your tracks may be considerably quieter because your mixes haven't been mastered yet! Use your volume control to bring your tracks closer to the commercial tracks and listen to the sound of the mix, not the loudness.
Avoid fade ins, or outs, on your tracks - a better job can be done at the final stage. If you require a long fade out then please let us know the time you would like it to start and end.
Leave a second or two of background studio noise at the beginning and end of your tracks (make sure any reverb tails have finished and not been chopped off short). If their is any background noise this can aid us removing it by being able to create a noise profile.
It is adviseable to de-ess vocals (if needed) during mixing as it is difficult to focus on one particular part when mastering without affecting other parts. As with any effect use sensibly (unless you are creating a particular effect) and always A-B the result to check it is not detrimental to the recording.
Check your tracks for any clicks or noise as having to remove these will add to the mastering time.
Work at a consistent bit depth and sample rate to maintain quality; e.g. if you are recording and mixing at 24 bit 44.1kHz take this right through to, and including, the mixes for mastering.
The mastering process can often reduce the lead vocal part slightly so it is best not to mix the vocal part too quietly. Ideally, it's a good practice to also mix one or two 'vocal up' alternative mixes of your songs - raising the vocal part 1dB can make quite a difference - just in case it is needed. Takes only a few minutes during the mixing process and can be well worth it.
When supplying your music by post, data (CD-R/DVD-R) discs are preferred to audio as they have good error correction unlike audio CDs. Send your work on an ISO 9660, Mac, or UDF (Universal Disc Format) disc, use slower burn speeds, and use good quality branded media.
Handle your CDs/DVDs by the edges and keep them clean; avoid touching the underside and don't put them down on a surface. When they are ejected from the burner put them straight into a jewel case (normal or slimline), not plastic/paper/cardboard wallets that can rub the surface of the discs during handling and transit.
Do not use stick on CD labels. Yes they may look great but they can alter the rotational speed of the CD.
If you have already decided on a track order for your CD album then please number the track titles accordingly. When supplying a CD-ROM (tracks are in a random order) please label your tracks on the disc with something similar to '01_track_title.aif','02_track_title.aif' etc. and preferrably with the number at the beginning. Any queries then let us know - will save time later.
Supply a cue sheet including any notes relevant to the album.
Check your mixes in mono to make sure everything is there.
Pricing
£25 per hour. An additional charge of £30 is made for the CD package which includes: 1 PQ encoded red book CD-R master for duplication, 1 CD-R listening copy, CD-R/DVD-R data backup copy of your project, and Special Delivery postage within the UK.
If you would like a fixed price quote for your project we will be happy to provide one (see terms below).
We guarantee to keep a copy of your project for three months after the completion date free of charge. If you would like us to hold it for longer we offer a project backup service at £20 per year.
THE SMALL PRINT
All prices IncVat.
The above CD package charge does not apply for an online only project transferred to you via our server.
We always strive to satisfy our clients wishes and our project quote will remain fixed unless extra work is necessary due to circumstances beyond our control. For example, if new mixes have to be sent to us due to client error, altering the original project by wanting to add extra tracks, etc. Extra work is charged at our standard hourly rate.
To ensure everything runs smoothly please check your tracks and relevant details before sending them to us. The quote is based upon us receiving good quality tracks that are ready to master and without major errors.
Full payment must be cleared before masters are released to the client.
Musiklab guaranties that supplied masters or sound files will function properly without defect or will be replaced in a timely manner at no additional charge.
What you get for your money
- Your music carefully adjusted with techniques to ensure a uniform and professional sound from track to track that sounds great on a wide range of sound systems.
- We'll give your music the right amount of loudness, dynamic range, tone and warmth needed to give you and your listeners years of enjoyment.
- If required: de-clicking, de-noising, and general sound restoration.
- For CD projects: 1 CD-R master, 1 CD-R listening copy and CD-R/DVD-R project backup.
- MP3s of your tracks at 256kbps (or bitrate of your choice) so you can use your music online straight away without having to convert the tracks yourself.
- Each project is unique and we start each mastering session from scratch using techniques and processes that best compliment the mix and genre of your music whether that be pop, rock, jazz, country, dance, classical, etc.
Example of a Typical Album
- You upload/post tracks to Musiklab including relevant notes and have a chat with us to discuss your project.
- You receive a free mastered test sample of one of your tracks with no obligation to go any further. Alterations can be made at this point to your wishes.
- When you are satisfied with the sample you pay for the job online via PayPal (using credit/debit cards/your PayPal account) or cheque.
- Once the funds have cleared we will master the remaining tracks and despatch the finished project to you.
Sending your tracks to Musiklab
With increasing broadband speeds it is becoming more and more common to use the internet, instead of posting CDs, to send music to us for mastering.
Pando is a free P2P program available from www.pando.com.
This small and reliable piece of software securely transfers files from our clients to us and vice versa and is available for both Windows and Mac computers.
We also recommend the free service from YouSendIt. Please use are email address info@musiklab.co.uk in the 'To' field.
If you have FTP software we can send you the login details so you can upload your tracks directly to our server. If you use Firefox you could use the free ftp Firefox extension FireFTP.
Some info about mastering
Mastering is not about just making the music 'loud'. The hypercompressed loudness war that rages on can only be bad for music as it adds irreversible distortion to the music which becomes fatiguing for the listener.
It is a myth that you must have your music really loud (squashing to death all the dynamics you had during recording and mixing) as the radio stations multiband compressors/limiters are going to do that for you - consider, for example, how a superb dynamic track from several decades ago will sound just as loud on the radio as a modern track!