"Inspirational
SOUND"
FREQUENTLY ASKED Q's
01
What is Audio Mastering?
Mastering can be defined as the fine-tuning of levels and equalization of a track, preparing it for replication and broadcast. This includes optimizing the average and peak volume levels of a track, using compression and equalization to achieve a level that’s consistent with other recordings.
Mastering is truly an art form: a blend of technology, psychoacoustics, educated ears and musical intuition. In the right hands, the smallest increments of compression or equalization can have a major impact on the entire track. A good mastering engineer will make subtle decisions about sonic balance, bringing out the most important frequency ranges of different aspects of a recording and achieving a blend between the bass and high frequencies that can give a mundane track punch and make a good track even better.
02
How does the service work?
All mastering orders are submitted online and we return your mastered tracks to you online. It's a seamless process that's extremely easy to complete. Click here to go to our store, select the service you require (eg stereo mastering) and proceed to checkout remembering to choose your number of songs along the way.
You can always contact us first if you have further queries .
03
How much does it cost?
We offer extremely low and competitive rates without comprimising quality.
Please visit our store for a breakdown of our services and costs, or if you have a specific audio mastering need that is not covered by the options and rates described, please contact us and we will help you determine the best rate for your specific project.
04
How do I prepare my tracks for Mastering?
For best results bounce down (export) your mixes as stereo interleaved .wav or .aiff files. Please ensure that your sessions overall mix buss doesn't exceed 0db at any point during the bounce down. Going over 0dB will cause digital clipping and a loss of dynamics. Choose a bit depth and sample rate comparable to the resolution settings you used throughout your recording and mixing process. So, for example, if you did your recording and mixing at 16-bit/44.1kHz then you should provide us with a stereo .wav or .aiff file at 16-bit/44.1kHz resolution.
Please do not send us .mp3, .m4a, or .wma files for mastering unless you have no other option as these file types have a reduced frequency spectrum amongst other things.
05
Can you make my tracks really loud?
No problemo, it’s your music and you’re the boss! We work with all types of commercial electronic music from Dubstep to EDM and know the importance that an artist/label can feel towards their music being of a comparable level to other releases in their chosen genre. We are more than happy to receive specific final level requests, this enables us to then provide any necessary advice on the mix that may be required to ensure that we can achieve your loudness goals while still creating an exciting listening experience.
06
How long will it take for you to deliver?
We are working round the clock here at Mr Mastering to ensure that you have the best possible chance of hitting those deadlines. Turnaround time for auto/human mastering is usually as quick as 8 hours and our high end packages are light years ahead of the industry norms.
07
What if I don't like the results?
Here at MrMastering we strive for complete customer satisfaction.
We are confident that you will be blown away by our service and we're always happy to make tweaks on our high end services. Just let us know and we'll make your desired changes.
08
What formats will my final master be delivered in?
We will deliver the final product in a variety of formats for masters that are purchased via our site.
Currently this includes wav files in the following form: 24bit/96khz, 24bit 48khz and 16bit 44.1khz.
We will also provide final masters in mp3, AAC and AAC+ so that you can publish your music to the likes of iTunes, Youtube & Soundcloud with ease.
09
What is stem mastering?
Stem mastering is a type of mastering that differs in that it uses ‘groups’ of instruments such as bass, guitars, drums, keyboards, vocals. There are a number of advantages to stem mastering. The ‘collections’ of instruments allow the mastering engineer to create a master with more targeted corrections and enhancement to the equalization, dynamics, depth and balance of the instruments in mix down.
When you prepare for stem mastering you need to ensure that all the groups (or stems) are of exactly the same length. In your digital audio workstation you set locators at the beginning and end of the tracks (ideally with a 2 second pre and post roll at each end of the bounce/export to avoid cutting off reverb tails etc.) The engineer will require 24 bit files and they should be stereo interleaved files. This way when the mastering engineer receives the files they can be imported and lined up on multiple tracks so they will all play perfectly in synchronization.