preparing your project for mastering

a must-read guide to ensure your project is ready

Digital Mixing

More than 90 percent of the projects we work with are recorded in a digital format.  If you are mixing on a digital audio workstation, there are a few simple do’s and don’ts to achieve the best results. First, don’t normalize your mixes, we prefer that the music NOT go through any unnecessary processing. Over compression, limiting or excessive volume can degrade the signal. If you want to try some extra processing, make a second pass and submit both versions. It is best to leave 2 to 4 db of headroom on your mix, to allow our mastering engineers sufficient space to process your program.

Whenever possible, record with a 24 bit resolution. If you plan to submit high resolution mixes for mastering (24 bit), you must send them as data files. If you burn an audio CD, you will have a maximum resolution of 16 bit.  Data files can be encoded on CD discs, transferred via the internet by a service such as www.hightail.com, www.wetransfer.com or www.dropbox.com or you can copy the files to a Firewire or Thumb drive. Any of these formats will work well as a medium for us to master from and of course if you provide a Firewire or Thumb drive, we will return it once we have completed your project.

Please note, you must provide a two track mix, we do not accept stems.

Sampling Rates

44.1K, 48K, 88.2K, 96K, in general the higher the sampling rate, the better. Please note, the higher your sampling rate the more disc space you will need for your mixes. You can provide source masters with different sampling rates. A unique session will be created for each sampling rate prior to mastering.

Digital & File Formats

Broadcast wave files (.WAV), AIFF or SDII files, as well as CD audio formats are the most common.  To accommodate these various formats we utilize SoundBlade and Pro Tools systems, as well as file conversion software. If you are utilizing a format not listed here, let us know prior to the session so we can make arrangements to accommodate you.

ISRC Codes:

An ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) is a 12 character code embedded into each track as your master is created by Trutone. The code identifies the track as belonging to you and facilitates logging radio plays and royalty collection. To apply for ISRC registration codes visit: https://usisrc.org.  If you  require per track ISRC codes, please request this service when placing your mastering order and  clearly indicate each code next to the respective track on your track listing sheet.

CD Text:

CD Text is an extension of the standard audio CD (Red Book) that enables the mastering engineer to add graphical information to a CD, (such as album titles, artist names and song titles) that can be displayed on certain audio CD players and changers. If you would like Trutone to add text to your CD master, please request this service when placing your mastering order and clearly list desired text on your track listing sheet.

Adding CD text to your CD will not generate recognition of your music with iTunes. To have your CD recognized by ITunes, you must register with Gracenote and upload your information to their site in either an Excel or Word document.

For more information: http://www.gracenote.com/company/faq/

Analog Formats:

We accept ¼  inch and ½ inch analog reels. We love working with analog tape, utilizing our completely refurbished Ampex ATR-102 tape machine with switchable solid state and vacuum tube front end, as well as our Studer A80… they sound great! If mixing to tape is within your budget, (especially if you’re working with live drums and guitars) you should consider going this route.  As far as recording at 15ips or 30ips, great records have been recorded at both speeds. Please include a full set of tones on at least one of the reels.

If you have an older project that you would like to re-master or need archived, be it full track, 2 track, quarter track or even cassette, we can accommodate you. In addition, we have the equipment to properly decode Dolby A, Dolby SR and DBX Type I formats.  Be sure to store your analog tapes away from extreme heat or cold conditions and store tails out to prevent print through as well as edge damage. If tape baking is required, this service is available at additional cost.

Documentation

Please be as clear as possible when submitting your source masters, especially if you are not attending the session. Be sure to include a clear, concise, track listing, with accompanying ISRC codes if applicable (see ISRC Codes below). Your data files should also be clearly labeled with the song titles (which matches the track listing) so that we are clear as to which mix to use.

If you are supplying more than one source master, indicate on your track list which source master contains the track /tracks you wish to use.  If there is more than one version of the track, please notate the  difference and which one you prefer we use for the final master. For example: “Johnny Be Good” Mix #2 vocal up or Guitar solo +1db. These notes are invaluable. Sometimes long intervals  may elapse between recording, mixing and mastering and you may forget the differences between mix #1 and mix #2, or why you chose the particular mix in the first place.

If you have specific sequencing ideas, please note them. We suggest you do a mock sequence so that you can hear the way the songs transition from one to the other.  When it comes to supplying notes with your project, always err on the side of too much information.

The Attended Mastering Session:

We always encourage our clients to personally attend the mastering session as it is always preferable for the producer, artist or engineer to have direct interaction and dialog with the mastering engineer. While each project is different, in general, an album project takes a full 7-9 hour day, depending on the number of songs, edits, master formats, etc. The more we know about your project prior to the session, the better we can estimate the time frame necessary. A minimum of one hour must be booked for an attended session.

It is extremely important that the client leave the session with a reference copy for approval purposes. Upon receipt of a reference approval, we will prepare the final master.

Archives:

As a service to our clients, all projects are archived.  However, Trutone Mastering Labs is not liable for the perpetual storage and safe keeping of mastered files. This being the case, please order a backup or file copy of your mastered tracks.