| What Steps Do You Take In The Mastering Process? |
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I must start off by saying that any website can run down the list of what they do for your music in the mastering process. Add EQ, compression, etc, etc. The problem is, most mastering companies don't know "when" to use these processes or "how much" of them to use. They have no standard of excellence they're shooting for, so basically you get your songs back "louder" but they're not "right." We know this is true because roughly 60% of the material we receive is already poorly mastered by another company. Most of our work is fixing other studios mistakes, making the songs sound like they should. If you start with us to begin with you'll save time, a lot of money, and your songs will sound the best they can be. Also, what a company charges has nothing to do with your final results. If it's around $100 for an entire CD, I don't even have to tell you what you're going to get back. Your songs should sound "better" but they won't sound the very best they can. Believe it or not, we've even remaster songs the client paid over $100 PER SONG! This happens several times a year. Update: Early 2011, we received a mastering job that was already done by World-renowned Universal Mastering studios. You know, the one in all the magazines, that charges $99 to master one song. The Hip Hop songs were mastered bright, brittle and narrow, with low bass. An absolute joke, at any price! We also received a gospel CD mastered by the same company, a month later. Terrible! Needless to say, we made the CDs sound the way they were supposed too, for 70% less! Save $1,000 and go with US first!! Here's What Our Mastering Process Entails: 1. We evaluate your songs. 2. If found, we'll let you know of any major flaws in your mixes. It's your option to correct them and upload new song files, or we can just work with the original song files and make them sound the best they can.
3. We apply proper EQ (boost and cut), compression, de'ssing (if possible without dulling the song), noise reduction, bass enhancement, proper balance, stereo width, ambiance, phase correction, spectral enhancement and a level maximizing boost - based on the genre of your music. This is done on a song by song basis.
4. Your song is then reviewed in a car, on an Ipod, and on a boombox. Notes are taken for each medium and adjustments are made to maximize your performance on each one. This is an added bonus that no other company charging under $100 per song will provide. I can just about guarantee this.
5. Your songs are now initially mastered.
6. The next day we open the song files back up and listen to them again with fresh ears. You songs then get a final tweak and are finally finished. This is yet another added bonus no other company will provide.
7. Lastly, we work with you on any preference adjustments you would like us to make on your songs. Many times clients adjust their mix and send us a new one. There is no extra charge for two adjustment sets. Why do we provide a few added free bonuses that no other companies do? Because they are necessary for your music to sound the best it can. And that's our goal! |