Dear Clients, Producers and Engineers,
Please use these guidelines when sending projects for mastering.
If there's anything here you aren't familiar with or don't understand, please don't hesitate to contact us and we'll be happy to help.
Bit resolution:As high as possible. 32 bit floating point if possible (Nuendo, Cubase...) or 24 bits (Pro Tools, Logic...).
Sometimes you're stuck with 16bit as with portable recorders and such. We can certainly work with this if it's the highest resolution available to you, but please don't take a 24 or 32 bit recording and bounce it down to 16bit for mastering.
File formats:Wave, Aiff, Wave64, Broadcast Wave.
Never use a compression method such as MP3 to submit your work for mastering. These "intended for Internet" file types DO NOT have the resolution needed for mastering.
Media:CD-ROM (ISO 9660) or DVD-ROM. CD-ROM is the most data-secure format. CD Red Book only supports 16 bits and is more error-prone. Please DO NOT make an "audio CD" to send in for mastering. Only raw audio files burned to disc as data, NOT burned as a "music CD".
External USB or Firewire hard disks are also good media as well as "thumb drives".
Dithering: PLEASE DO NOT DITHER.
Fades:Please do not fade. You can either leave it up to the Mastering Engineer to determine the best fade for each track, or you can list the time code for the beginning and ending of the fade for each track. (Fades which have been undertaken prior to dynamics processing tend to have a pumping effect following dynamics processing in mastering).
Beginnings / Endings: Allow enough time for edits. Please leave at least 500 ms at the start of the recording. The Head Fade(or fade in) is more important than you might think. (This is also required to take a fingerprint for denoising).
Compression / Limiting:Slight peak limiting is permitted, but please no finalizers or similar! It is much preferred that there is no compression (bus or otherwise). We can do MUCH more to make your tracks sound great if we control the compression and limiting. Please resist the urge to make it louder before mastering.
Track labeling:Please give the song files the correct track number due to the desired order:‘09-my song.wav’ unless you're leaving the song order to be determined by the Mastering Engineer.
Track list:Please do not forget to add your wishes and commentary. Information for CD text (Interpreter/Song name/Text/Music), ISRC if desired.
Stems:Stems are also a great way of having your song's mastered. There are however a few rules that have to be followed to master in this way.
1.If stems are provided, DO NOT run them through any type of bus compression as the compression behavior is completely different running all the tracks through it at once(the way you're used to hearing it in your mix) than it is bouncing them through one at a time. In other words, if you've been running your mix through a compressor or limiter on the main bus (output bus), please disable the compressor or limiter before bouncing stems for mastering.
2.If stems are provided, print all stems as stereo tracks even if the tracks themselves are mono in nature. If mono tracks within the mix are "bounced" as mono, your DAW will still take a left and right signal and combine it to create a mono signal which in turn strongly changes that track's balance in relation to the other tracks within the song. With this change in balance, the Mastering Engineer would have no way of knowing if this unbalanced sound is incorrect or if it was the creative intent of the Mix Engineer.
3.If stems are provided, please place the stems for each song in it's own folder on the disc(or thumb drive...) properly named to avoid any confusion.
Reference tracks: You are welcome to supply 2 or 3 reference tracks.
