7 steps 2 a better master

We wanted to provide a simple checklist for you guys and girls out there who are getting ready to send your songs to SoundOps (or any other mastering studio) for professional mastering.  And for those of you who’ve been doing doing your own recording, there are some easy steps you can take prior to mastering that will give your tracks their best chance for success.

These are the main things you should think about, but we still recommend you talk to someone at the studio you intend to use for your post production before sending them your audio.  There’s no turning back after you have a final mix.  Mastering will enhance your mix, but it cannot make fundamental changes to individual instrument tracks like gain, reverb, etc.

Make sure you know how much your mastering studio (engineer) will charge you.

.1

This one seems like a no-brainer, but not every professional in the music biz runs an honest operation.  @ SoundOps, we have a flat rate for every song and that’s it…no extra charges, even if it takes us extra work.  Your mastering studio may not do it that way, but their pricing should at least be simple.

Make sure the mix of each song sounds as good as it can (not necessarily as loud as it can).

.2

This is really important, because even though our mastering engineers have special powers, once your songs are mixed down, we can’t use our powers on just the drums or just the keyboards without also affecting everything else.

At least you don’t need to worry about maxing out the volume of your CD, that’s the part we do best.  In fact, it works out really well if you leave some head room and try not to let any peaks be over -3dB.

Make sure all the tracks for each song are mixed down into single STEREO files.

(.WAV is the most common format)

.3

Speaking of mix-downs. We can mix down your tracks for you, but most of the time, it’s best for you to have the person who’s been doing your mixing to finish the job.  You probably already paid him or her for that anyway

And with the formats, obviously, we are looking for something “lossless” (uncompressed).  There are several file types that work and unfortunately, they all take up a lot of space.

Make sure the mastering studio (engineer) is aware of your preferences and concerns related to dynamics and the “feel” of each track.

.4

This is where most studios mess up.  They don’t make it clear how important this part is, and so a lot of indie bands don’t know.  The end result is the mastering engineer just guessing what “sound” the artist is looking for.  Take your time and tell your studio all about how you sound and how you want to sound, and who else sounds like you do and like you want to…go crazy - because it’s your last chance.  (A good mastering studio will encourage this type of dialog)

Make sure you have an idea of how you’d like the songs to go together (as in, the order, and if any of the songs should connect without silence between them)…

.5

The more you have this stuff figured out BEFORE MASTERING, the less time (and less headaches) it will take to get your masters back.  But that’s only half of the battle…

AND make sure you and your band communicate these things to your mastering studio (engineer).

.6

Like we said, mastering techs have super powers, but we have to concentrate on reading the minds of listeners (not musicians) all over the world to make your band’s music sound good to virtually all of them on almost any stereo.  Most studios will offer you some type of form to print out and include with your CD for mailing.  @ SoundOps, we use Online forms whether you mail or upload your songs.  We find this helps keep the notes for each song from getting mixed up.

Make sure you’re ready for your music to sound so good, you and your fans are gonna freak out

.7

This last step may seem like a joke, but it is not.  We’re in this business because we want to help guys like you get noticed for their music.  Mastering is the first part of a good marketing plan for your band. Artists who are proud of their music (and expect great things from it) will be better marketers.  This makes our job more rewarding as well.

These 7 steps are meant to help you and your band have a recording you’ll be proud of.  If you’re having trouble with any of them, just ask us (or the other guys who may be mastering your music) for help.  For some extra pointers, here’s a link to some of the SoundOps Frequently Asked Mastering Questions on our studio’s website.

It takes a lot of money, time, and energy to make a great recording, and we know what it’s like as recording artists to end up with something that sounds like garbage,but we want your music to sound the best it can.

Good luck out there!