|
Here
are some suggestions on how to get the best results out of
the mastering process:
When
you send in your master for mastering, provide a track sheet
listing the artist name, project title as well as the start
times, end times and duration of each song. Also jot down
any instructions you may have for the mastering engineer.
If
you are mixing down to DAT, record all your DATs at 44.1 kHz.
Record one to two minutes of silence at the beginning of each
tape. Make sure that the DAT has A-time (absolute time) throughout
and Start IDs at the beginning of each track.
Leave
1-2 dB of headroom on your DAT. Overs are difficult and time-consuming
to fix and the meters on many DAT machines are imprecise.
The headroom will be made up transparently on the final master.
When
mixing, use a quality commercial recording in a similar style
as a reference. This will enable you to keep perspective and
achieve greater tonal balance & clarity in your mix.
Don't
risk doing manual fades at mixdown. Good fades are quick and
easy to do during mastering.
Once
your mix is in the digital domain (i.e. on DAT) keep it there.
Further D/A and A/D conversions will adversely affect the
clarity and quality of your sound.
Do
not EQ, compress or otherwise process your stereo mix. This
type of processing is best done at the mastering stage. If
you do process your mix, bring copies of the unprocessed versions
with you to the mastering session so that the engineer can
go back to them if necessary.
If
you're using a digital editor to compile your project, use
it just for that. Don't use it for adjusting volume levels,
processing, doing fades, normalizing or dithering. Every time
you process and then return to 16 bit audio you will get increased
graininess, loss of resolution and digital coldness. The only
way to get around this is to do all the digital processing
in one step at a minimum of 24-bit signal resolution.
If
you haven't followed all of these guidelines, don't worry.
There are ways to fix almost any kind of audio problem. That's
what mastering is all about - making your recordings sound
as good as possible.
More
Questions?
If you have any questions about preparing for mastering or
about mastering in general, we'd be glad to answer them. Email
your question to:
info@soundmasterstudios.com
Answers
To Frequently Asked Questions
|
