What Exactly Is Mastering?
Mastering is composed of four major functions
Most Importantly, mastering is an art in itself. Try not to roll your eyes, but really... it is. A truly great mastering engineer, more than any other skill, is partially limited by how well they understand the music and the emotional content of the artist who created it. A technically savvy engineer cannot become a great engineer, until you understand the core concepts of the creative work that you are making changes to. It's a completely subjective and personal process that requires years of training and dedication. It is the ultimate form of listening and painting the final touches on what should always be a masterpiece.
- Quality control. The job of the mastering engineer should first and foremost be to listen and adjust as objectively as possible to every detail in the audio. It is imperative to catch any errors, unwanted sounds, intro and outro times, congruency across tracks, and other issues. Most times, to an accurate listener, errors are obvious. Sometimes, especially with audio that is experimenting with new ideas, what is wanted or unwanted is not always apparent. This requires informed opinion by discussions with the artist, label, or producer, and is an important step in the quality control process.
- Processing the audio. Once the initial stage of listening, discussing, and identifying errors is completed, it's time to fix those errors, bring out the best in the project, and make sure that it is ready for its intended audience and listening environment. Background experience and knowledge combine with trained creative processes and judgment calls to put the final touches on your precious piece of work. Copious notes will be made on your audio for you to go over in detail how we got from A to B. I don't keep any secrets.
- Deliverables. Engineers really like saying this word. It means the final files to be delivered to required parties for distribution. Sounds simple enough, right? It's surprisingly detail-oriented! Is this going to be used for broadcast? Vinyl? Streaming sites? Download sites? Different bitrates, sample rates, lead in times, fade outs, and changes to the audio structure itself are needed for all of these things. They seem like minor things, but make a huge difference when done correctly both to the listener, and other people who use or work on the song downstream. There's some very interesting conversations with lacquer cutters, broadcast mixers, and publishers I've had over the years about what kind of files they get and what they prefer. Trust me.
- Bus Processing (optional). Ok some other engineer is reading this right now and shaking their head. But that engineer is wrong. Why? Because mastering has changed. Sometimes I work with a mix engineer who has done their job well. They want a clean, accurate master that simply brings out the best of the mix and prepares it for various mediums. Most times, that is not what I get. With the ability for pretty much anyone to make music now, there is so much work that absolutely needs bus processing before the master. I will always let the artist know before hand, and give them a chance to do it themselves, or elect to have me do it. If they elect to have me do it, this means that there is a separate and subjective process during mastering. It means we enter into a more "liberal" territory with the choices I make to help the artist achieve their goal. I will likely ask them to remove a lot of processing they themselves have done. This is distinctly where I differ from most mastering engineers, and this view is actually more controversial than people think. My happiest clients are usually the ones that come to me saying "I need a master", and it turns out that it needed some coloration, processing, and tonal adjustments that go way beyond a normal master. Some people are too purist to do this. I can respect that. I only care about the net result, though.
Most Importantly, mastering is an art in itself. Try not to roll your eyes, but really... it is. A truly great mastering engineer, more than any other skill, is partially limited by how well they understand the music and the emotional content of the artist who created it. A technically savvy engineer cannot become a great engineer, until you understand the core concepts of the creative work that you are making changes to. It's a completely subjective and personal process that requires years of training and dedication. It is the ultimate form of listening and painting the final touches on what should always be a masterpiece.
What Does Your Mastering Setup Look (And Sound) Like?
Much like mixing, I master hybrid. This means utilizing both digital and analog. I do not have a specific mastering chain, but rather a selection of gear and software that I use in whatever order it's needed to achieve the necessary goals. Here is some of the gear and software I use the most:
- UAD (most recent model) & Dangerous Converters
- Elysia XFilter Mastering Edition Mastering EQ
- Heritage Audio Symph EQ Asymptatic Mastering Equalizer
- Standardclip
- Izotope RX & Ozone
- Custom Built SSL Bus Compressor with adjustable drive API Transformers and Parallel summing (modded sidechain for top end control)
- Bettermaker Mastering Limiter
- Manley Variable Mu Compressor / Limiter - Mastering Version w/ T-Bar Mod, Sidechain & M/S mod installed by Manley
- Eventide SplitEQ
- Drawmer 1973 Multiband Fet Compressor
Do You Charge For Revisions?
I do not charge for revisions. Get what you paid for. I do charge for substitutions.
What About Mastering For Vinyl?
I have mastered hundreds of records for vinyl. It is one of the primary reasons clients return to me. They sound good and I know how to prep for a lathe. I do not cut the lacquer myself (housing a lathe in NYC is not easy!), but will work directly with your cutter to achieve the best results. There's not many lathes in the world. There's a very high chance I've worked with whoever may be cutting your record before, and know what they prefer.
Speaking Of Fees, What Are Your Rates?
Check all rates for all my services HERE.
Mastering rates are very straightforward. Price is for the listening, feedback, audio processing, revisions and deliverable management. Trust me, it's kind of a bargain.
Mastering rates are very straightforward. Price is for the listening, feedback, audio processing, revisions and deliverable management. Trust me, it's kind of a bargain.
I Want To Get a Song Mastered. How Do I Get Started?
You fill out a form HERE. It goes right to my inbox and I will reply to you within 24 hours. If I am fully booked, I will try to suggest other engineers.