|
 What
is Music Mastering?
 There
are thousands of playback systems with all kinds
of sound qualities and frequency responses.
From a cheap boom box to an audiophile home stereo,
not two systems sound the same, especially when
you also factor in room acoustics.
That's the reason why once you've finished your
work in the studio your music mix needs to go
through one more final and crucial step, mastering.
Mastering is not mixing where
tracks from a multi-track format are reduced to
a two channel stereo mix format (left & right
stereo).
Mastering is the
process of optimizing all individual frequency
levels to meet Industry Standards. However for the most part, this process is source dependant, so the better your mix, the better the results.
The music sounds punchier, more clear
and on point on all systems,
so that wherever played and whatever
used for playback, the sound quality always is at
its maximum delivery potential
(MDP).
We achieve this end through frequency
band alignment and our experienced ears for judicious
detail.
Your
new master source
will be correctly formatted for manufacturing
to get perfect and great sounding copies for cds,
cassettes and vinyl records.
Your music cds will be radio ready
or formatted for air
wave broadcasting which is the kind of quality
radio program directors expect to hear from your
material.
You won't even believe how much better your mp3
sounds on the web. But, hold on, see first if
your mix meets the right conditions (get a free
demo).
Your
new master source (if a CD master was ordered
from us) is also guaranteed to pass the Media
FORM CD-5900 test, at any plant in the USA,
or we will replace it.
Our
philosophy is to never add color or stamp
anything to the mix itself (if possible
at all) unless of course, this is requested.
From our view point, mastering is a technical
process where creativity is placed in solving
frequency band problems and correcting mix issues
at your end whenever possible.
Unless you have basic training or knowledge on
audio engineering, you won't truly grasp some
concepts about the subject of mastering, so we
recommend you to listen to our mastering samples
and read our articles
on mastering.
Listen to those samples and you'll be able to
hear our mastering results which again, they depend
upon the mix and other sonic factors that we will
skip for now.
Keep in mind that while some mastering engineers
promise "to level the playing field"
for you, we promise to tell you the honest truth
about what we can do for your project. In many
cases, prior to taking a dollar for our service,
we advise people to go back, adjust something
and try to do another mix. Who does that these
days?
We are interetesting in creating a mentorship
and a partnership with our clients. You need to
trust people who are honest and knowledgeable
if you are to succeed. We also want you to obtain
the most decent and professional product
your mix or music can deliver. If you have the
time, please read this entire page, it should
broaden your knowledge on the subject a little
more.
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What is Industry Standard?
Every
major record
label release or CD you buy from a record store has gone through this finalization
process called "mastering". After this applied to any project, the benefits woould vary from being dramatic being subtle or subliminal.
The most telling sign from an un-mastered group of mixes is the lack
of consistency in the delivery of sound, which varies significantly on
every system used for playback and hardly
ever sounds the way you heard it in the studio.
Signs such as:
- You hear mixes with mismatched levels.
- They lack of either bass or high frequencies.
- They have excessive bass and/or high frequencies.
- They sound either muffled or muddy and with vocals not present enough (correctable sometimes at mastering).
- They present problems loading pq codes at TOC (the track ids) etc.
All that being said, by aligning your master's frequency bands (optimizing
their individual frequency levels) you get a
better translation of a mix on any system and at
any given loudness level.
The
result is a cohesive program that sounds consistent
and at its 'Maximum Delivery Potential' (MDP).
At
present the Industry Standard sound
quality is based on the specifications of the
Red Book Convention, which is a sampling
rate of 44.1 Khz and a word resolution of 16 bits.
We consider a music production
to meet the Industry Standard
when its frequencies show an adequate alignment of
3 main densities of interest (the bands that define a good sound):
Bass
(20-300hz)
Middle Range (1K-8k)
Hi Frequencies (10K-20K)
While the frequencies that are not being shown are also important, unless there exist anomalies such as frequency band overshoots, we let them be unmodified per their original frequency response.
The music will sound punchy and clear with
all its dynamics intact (if possible).
Depending on the material, high peak transients should not reach or go over full scale
digital (meaning RMS power too low in decibel level, i.e. squared flat waves) as it might
severely compromise the dynamic range (if the
source is not already
"crunched").
A refined mastering job sound loud enough and shows adequate alignment
within a 25 to 30 bands of the frequency
spectrum (our mastering standard).
Disclaimer: the frequenciy ranges listed above
are our main focus of interetst only, as opposed
to using ELV, SLV, ULF and SLF designations. However,
we do check for anomalies on the full band spectrum.
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What
is a PMCD?
Pre
Mastered Compact Disc.-
The
pre-master CD was originally developed jointly
by Sonic Solutions and Sony. The
PMCD has the advantage of being easily played
on an ordinary CD player before glass mastering.
A true PMCD contains the PQ code burst in the
leadout area; for this reason relatively few CD
recorders are capable of making a true PMCD.
Some CD pressing plants require PMCDs and other
disk-at-once CDRs to be accompanied by a hard
copy printout of the PQ code information in order
to document its authenticity, and thus to prevent
confusion with ordinary recorded CDs which may
be track-at-once (duped in real time).
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What's the Advantage of Mastering to PMCD?
Please,
read also What is Industry
Standard?
By using a CD-R format for storage (Compact Disc
Recordable), is a better medium and more reliable
than 1610 & 1630 pre-mastered U-matic tape,
or any 4mm/8mm tape format.
The reason is due to magneto-optical technology
which has no tape head friction.
This is a storage medium that will last for many
years and the last step on your sound production
investment.
While
the manufacture of compact discs is done to stringent
standards, economic pressures can force CD pressing
plants to take shortcuts when material is supplied
in a non-professional CD format (i.e., track-at-once,
instead of disk-at-once CDs).
Some CD pressing plants will accept CDs recorded
on ordinary track-at-once CD recorders, but the
glass master might be made from an analog transfer
(you lost a generation!) from the customer's CD.
Other plants will not even accept such CDs.
The problem with track-at-once CDs is that there
is a digital gap before each track selection and
this interruption in digital data causes excessive
errors during the glass mastering.
We have a StageTech EC2 CD Error Checker for analyzing
CDs of unknown heritage. That's why all our PMCD's
guaranteed to pass the MediaFORM
CD-5900
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What's
Accuracy to MG?
In our book, it just means that the mix has a
well balanced frequency spectrum within these
3 major densities (bass, mid-range & the high
end). Their high peak transients are not overshooting
(clipping) allowing for higher overall levels
without compromising significantly the dynamic
range. Ideally, any anomalies in the frequency
spectrum should be addressed at the mixing stage
(what track is the culprit?) but sometimes this
is not possible to do again, so we try correcting
best as we can these issues.
Ideally, a frequency curve consistent with a particular
style of music should be achieved after frequency
alignment, but ultimately, good sound can't certainly
be measured by curves.
However, curves tend to give us a lot of information
about how a mix will perform on playback systems,
confused?. This is part of our definition for
the term Maximum Delivery Potential used on our
site (MDP) so, don't take it to the bank.
For people without engineering knowledge, our
statement on accuracy may not mean much at all.
But relax, because not even some "mastering
engineers" understand it or care to know
about it either. ME's have big egos too.
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Does
Equipment make a difference?
Some
so called "mastering engineers" - offer
a dirty cheap rate for this service,
claiming their motivation is to "help
musicians" - when in reality all
they do is, help themselves.
How can you tell?
Check their equipment listing.
No equipment listing?
Then once again, beware.
There are only 2 names and 5 digital workstations
in total to look for. They are:
-SonicSolutions
DAW (24 Bit / 48 Khz or higher)
-ProTools HD (24 Bit/192 khz)
(That's right folks, 192 Khz sampling
rate!)
-ProTools Mix 3 TDM System (24
Bit / 96 Khz)
-ProTools Mix Plus TDM System (24 Bit / 48 Khz)
-ProTools Mix TDM System (24 Bit / 48 Khz)
There are some ProTools versions that don't meet
the professional mastering criteria - such as
'ProTools Project 1' 'ProTools
LE', and there is even a downloadable ProTools
free software version on the web. They
are not TDM systems,
so be advised of this fact.
Using Apogee filters to do A/D conversion is considered
a plus, since neither SonicSolutions nor ProTools
can provide a finer digital conversion. DigiDesign
argues that their HD- TDM system is as good or
better, though.
Other brands most likely utilize an algorithm,
acquired or borrowed from reversed engineering,
conditional licence, and even illegal patent.
They do not conform to the professional
mastering standards found at reputable
mastering facilities in the U.S.A.
Brands like: MOTU or Digital Performer, Cubase,
Logic, Ensoniq Paris and many others, are fine
multi-track recording systems for project studios
and even for some major studios. But,
not meant for professional mastering.
Some engineers make and/or brag that they do their
own gizmos and devices. This is nothing but a
gimmick to get your business.
Why would anybody want to add some weird or unknown
process to the signal path of a mix that simply
needs frequency alignment? Be this analog or digital,
it's all non-sense.
So
the answer is, Yes!
It does make a difference working with professional
tools. However, if the engineer doing
the mastering is not a experienced ME, we are sure
that you will not get a quality mastering job.
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Who
Needs Mastering?
If
you are a major recording artist then most likely,
you don't care less, since this is totally
out of your element, and it gets all done for you anyway.
You have come to expect only the best treatment
to your music (mastering should be part of your contract's
recoupment cost, right?).
But, what about those who are struggling on their
own trying to market their work or shopping
for a label deal all by themselves?
What about their dreadful meeting with the radio
program director in hopes the station will play
their tune?
You guessed it, mastering is probably the least
of their thoughts. Usually they are already out
of budget when they find out about it and many
will have to skip this step.
We
don't know if it's even possible to get radio
play on major radio stations these days, maybe
College Radio or small local
stations.
But if it doesn't sound "Radio Ready",
forget it.
To
make things worse, it is precisely these recordings
coming from these artists and indie producers
that require the most mastering work since, their
mixes come from recording situations where budget
is always an issue and major compromises had to be made on sound
production quality.
They hardly ever allocate the necessary budget
to do good MIXING or dedicate enough time for that task.
Songs that came from state-of-the-art studios
($150 to $200 hourly rate) may require much less
adjustments than songs recorded in a basement or a bedroom,
but still benefit from this process, especially
when they reach radio
broadcast.
That all being said, nobody can make a project studio or
a bedroom studio mix sound like a million dollar
studio mix, but with the right advise and process we sure can get close in many
cases!
Well,
this is what our studio has been doing the last
15 years; helping this group of artists present
their material with the highest quality possible
and at a price they can live with.
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Our Digital Mastering Facility
We
are located at 20th Street and Fifth Avenue.
Call us at the number down below to get our
address. By appointment only.
Master
your song or music album at CD Digital Music Services,
located in New York City, and get that fabulous
sound that finalizes your music project. If your
music is your investment, then you can't skip
this crucial process.
In addition to to good monitoring, we
do complete music spectrum analysis for accurate
compression and equalization to insure your music translates better on all playback systems.
Pre-gapping and fine tuning (fade ins and outs
or digital black).
We use cutting edge software and 100% digital
domain.
You can master from your DAT, audio CD, CD24, Mini-Disc
and even a Cassette (though it's not advised unless you need
to archive the contents) to create a PMCD (pre-mastered
compact disc) that will be used as your source
of duplication.
Your
new master cd will make great cd copies as well
as cassette and vinyl. Your music will be
RADIO quality ready, which is the first
thing radio program directors expect from any
published material.
You won't even believe how much better your mp3
sounds on the web (really).
We
also do quality CD
manufacturing and CD-r
short runs at competitive prices.
or Call
us for a quote at 775-373-9475.
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of Contents
What's
Your Mastering Equipment?
If
it's good enough for Bob
Ludwig from Gateway, then it's good enough
for us.
All audio is digitized on ProTools
HD or 24 Mix TDM System
with DSP by:
Focusrite,
Lexicon,
TC Works and
Waves mastering tools.
Superb A/D converters by:
Apogee,
SONY
DMX -R100 A/D/DA
Other Conversions and transfers by:
MasterLink
ML9600,
Tascam DA-45HR 24 bit,
Panasonic 20 bit,
Marantz CDR610 MKII,
Sony DAT machines,
Playwrite CD recorders.
Your music is handled with care.
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CALL
FOR AN APPOINTMENT @ 212.727.1397
or
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