HOW DO I GET MY FILES TO YOU AND HOW WILL I RECEIVE THEM BACK?
We do it all online. Things can be done via post, but it’ll obviously take longer and there’s a risk of losing things.
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO GET MY FINISHED AUDIO BACK?
We offer a speedy service, although we refuse to sacrifice quality by rushing a project. On receipt of your audio, we will book a listening slot in our studio (which almost always happens within 24 hours) and decide the best plan of action in order to achieve the results you have asked for. At this point, we will contact you to advise of the mastering schedule, which in most cases, results in your tracks being treated within 3-5 days. Depending on how many tracks you have given us, it is realistic to say that the average album is finished around 7-10 days from receipt of your music. For mixing, times vary according to the complexity of your project, but we will of course send you an appraisal with an outline of the mixing schedule before work commences.
I AM ON A TIGHT DEADLINE, CAN YOU DO THIS ANY QUICKER?
We always do what we can to help our clients and more often than not, we’ll find a cost-effective way to help out in very urgent situations. Just ask!
WHAT FORMAT SHOULD I SEND TRACKS IN?
For best results, submit your tracks in AIFF/WAV or other full-resolution audio format. Files such as mp3, wma, m4a, etc are not good enough quality for mastering purposes. For mastering, we only require the final stereo mixdown for each song, i.e. not the individual instrument tracks/stems which we only require if Mixing your project. Please also ensure that there is no digital clipping on the mixes. A resolution of 24-bit is recommended, even if you recorded your project at 16-bit resolution. Use the native sample rate used for recording/mixing your project (typically 44.1kHz) in order to avoid unnecessary conversions.
CAN I SEND A REFERENCE TRACK TO YOU?
Absolutely, you are welcome to send a reference mix from another artist to provide an idea of the kind of tonal balance or loudness you would like for your own music.
SHOULD I APPLY ANY POST-PROCESSING TO THE FINAL MIX DOWN?
Any processing applied to your mixes (or effects on the master bus) limits the options available during mastering. Any processing intended to increase overall loudness should be left for mastering. In other words, do not normalize, compress, or limit your stereo mixes before sending. An exception to this guideline is if mix compression is part of the sound you are trying to achieve (e.g. compressor pumping or a particular tonal color you like).
CAN MASTERING FIX A BAD MIX?
Fundamental mix imbalances are best handled by remixing the track. If you have a troublesome mix, we can advise you on how it might be improved. If a remix is not possible (and the track is not overly distorted), we should still be able to achieve a significant improvement.
CAN I ATTEND A SESSION?
Unfortunately, we can’t offer attended sessions right now. If this changes, we’ll let you know!
Feel free to holler our way with any other questions!