Price List £20 Per Track 4-7 day turnaround £50 per track 24hr Turnaround Stem mix and master from £85
THIS LOOKS LONG, WHICH BIT SHOULD I SKIP TO SO I CAN READ THE GOOD STUFF?
If you already know all about mastering then you probably don’t need to read this at all. The internet is your oyster, go look at a monkey peeing in its own mouth or something.
If you know absolutely nothing about mastering, and would like to know at least a little, then it would probably be a good idea to read all the information I’ve provided on this site. Yes, I know, it’s long winded, but you never know, you might learn something. Possibly even about mastering!.
However what I will explain is Warm Audio specialise in audio mastering services delivering the highest standards throughout that cannot be achieved in a traditional home studio environment. This is because I own a pair of fully trained ears and have a disturbing fetish for collecting expensive first class analogue equipment that will make your music compete against all the other releases out there.
WHAT IS MASTERING?
There are many definitions of audio mastering. Most commonly, though, the term mastering is used to refer to the process of taking an audio mix and preparing it for distribution. There are several considerations in this process: unifying the sound of a record, maintaining consistency across an album, and preparing for distribution.
The Sound of a Record
The goal of this step is to correct mix balance issues and enhance particular sonic characteristics, taking a good mix (usually in the form of a stereo file) and putting the final touches on it. This can involve adjusting levels and general “sweetening” of the mix. Think of it as the difference between a good-sounding mix and a professional-sounding, finished master..
Consistency Across an Album
Consideration also has to be made for how the individual tracks work together when played one after another in an album sequence. Is there a consistent sound? Are the levels matched? Does the collection have a common “character” and play back evenly so that the listener doesn’t have to adjust the volume?.
This process is generally included in the previous step, with the additional evaluation of how individual tracks sound in sequence and in relation to each other. This doesn’t mean that you simply make one preset and use it on all your tracks so that they have a consistent sound. Instead, the goal is to reconcile the differences between tracks while maintaining (or even enhancing) the character of each of them, which will most likely mean different settings for different tracks.
Preparation for Distribution
The final step usually involves preparing the song or sequence of songs for download, manufacturing and/or duplication/replication. This step varies depending on the intended delivery format. In the case of a CD, it can mean converting to 16 bit/44.1 kHz audio through resampling and/or dithering, and setting track indexes, track gaps, PQ codes, and other CD-specific markings. For web-centered distribution, you might need to adjust the levels to prepare for conversion to AAC, MP3 or hi-resolution files and include the required metadata.
OK, ALL VERY CLEVER,
BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR ME?
Let’s split this up into a list. I know everyone loves lists.
- Well mastered tracks sound better - bigger, clearer, wider, more coherent and, yes, louder (hopefully not too loud, but more on that later).
- Well mastered tracks are free from pops and clicks that may have slipped through the mixing process, as well as any noise that detracts from the music.
- Well mastered records have a track spacing that makes artistic sense, highlighting the contrast and flow of the music. Any fades at the beginning and end of the tracks sound natural and appropriate for the music.
- BADLY mastered records actually sound worse than the original, unmastered mixes.
WTF, SO MASTERING CAN ACTUALLY MAKE MY MUSIC SOUND WORSE?!
Yes, BAD mastering can do untold damage to your carefully crafted mixes; destroying balances, mangling high or low frequencies, and introducing horrible distortion through an over-use of brick wall limiters or clipping.
A good mastering engineer is like a good doctor, and the first rule of his oath is do no harm.
If something makes the mix sound worse, it should not be done. Of course, a bad mastering engineer would have no problem giving your delicately balanced mix an unwanted boob job and any amount of unneeded botox if it made his dick feel bigger (apologies to all the female mastering engineers out there, I’m sure you can think of a suitably disgusting replacement metaphor if you want to).
You can probably tell a bad mastering engineer when your master comes back and it sound nothing like the mix you sent in. If you wanted it to sound nothing like the mix you sent, you would have sent a different mix, right?
Once again, the number one rule for any good mastering engineer is do no harm. I cannot stress this enough. The ME should be enhancing the mix, not changing the mix.
That’s not to say that a good mastering engineer might not use certain trickery to alter internal balances a little for the benefit of the production, such as bringing the vocal to the fore with a little judicious use of EQ. The important thing is that any processing that is done to the mix should be in the spirit of what already exists.
SO, WHAT DO MASTERING ENGINEERS ACTUALLY DO?
The typical mastering process begins with simply listening to all the tracks that are to be included in the finished product and deciding whether there is anything that can be done at this stage to make them sound better. If the answer is no, congratulations, you have made an absolutely outstanding mix with perfect impact, tonal balance and coherence with the rest of the tracks around it. Of course, these situations are rare, and there will usually be something that can be done to improve matters. Things that can be done might include equalisation, compression, limiting and all other manner of techniques.
The important thing to understand is that each production, and each product, must be treated as an individual piece of sound (within the context of the tracks around it of course) and there is no one process that is applied to every master. Sure, I might use a certain, subtle amount of brick wall limiting 95% of the time, but knowing the 5% of the time not to use it is just as important. MASTERING CANNOT BE ACCOMPLISHED EFFECTIVELY USING PRESETS, whether they are on a plugin in your computer or simply a default idea in your mind. Could you imagine deciding what to wear for a day hiking outdoors without knowing anything about what the weather and conditions are likely to be? I wouldn’t want to be the guy who turns up to climb mount everest in swimming trunks and a vest. That would just be embarrassing.
Generally, the results speak for themselves. If it sounds better than before then it doesn’t really matter how the result is achieved. If it sounds worse than before then something has gone badly wrong and a change needs to be made.
CAN MASTERING MAKE MY TERRIBLE MIX SOUND GOOD?
Unfortunately not. Mastering can improve a terrible mix to an extent (and any good ME will absolutely try and improve it as much as they can while retaining the original spirit of the recording), and it can certainly take a mix from “good” to “great”, but there is a limit to what can be done. Think of mastering as a full wax and shine for your audio – a full wax and shine is not really going to help your battered 1978 Ford Escort in the same way it might your full on Jeremy Clarkson speed machine.
If in doubt, the old “roll a turd in glitter” analogy should suffice. Not that I just compared your music to a turd!
SHOULD I/MY FRIEND/THE MIX ENGINEER MASTER MY RECORD?
One of the main advantages of hiring a mastering engineer to master your record is the fresh perspective that he/she brings to proceedings. He/she can hear things in your mix that you can’t because he/she listens as a listener not as someone who has been mixing the song for 10 hours. If mastering is done by the mix engineer then the audio processing part of the mastering phase does not make sense – why weren’t those changes made during the mix if they were such obvious problems?
The other factor that comes into play is experience. Any given ME will have mastered many, many records. This is likely to be a significantly broader range of experience than anyone other than a dedicated ME. Mastering is like anything else – the more you do it the better you get.
Anyway, feel free to master your own record. You might do a stellar job. And I mean that sincerely, not as some kind of snide remark! Just bear in mind the potential pitfalls of doing so.
Pricing for single track only
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OTHER WAYS TO PAY INCLUDE REVOLUT.COM. I GENERATE A FAST AND SECURE PAYMENT LINK ON REQUEST AND YOU WONT INCUR PAYPAL FEES. EMAIL ME FOR DETAILS
ANYTHING ELSE I NEED TO KNOW BEFORE SENDING MY MASTERPIECE TO YOU?
The premasters sent at -6d or as close as you can get them so I have plenty of headroom for our outboard. Send tracks via any file transfer service to russ@warmaudiomastering.co.uk
Include a reference track so I can reference a true loudness reading of LUFS you wish to achieve. Try your best to send a track that is similar to your own. NOT a YOUTUBE or SOUNDCLOUD link, I need a physical mp3 or WAV file I can import into a session
Please also send one of your own tracks that has been previously mastered so I can reference for consistency and so I know how to improve or provide valid feedback. I ask many artists to consider having a stab at mastering the track / tracks they are sending me or using a service like Landr just so you can hear the improvements I make but more importantly you can understand in advance any glaring mix issues prior to sending including artefacts or distortion. I will not be able to remove these from your track without consequences.
Although I love what I do, to maintain my life style of fast women and lavish analogue gear your payment must be made in advance.
Turnaround can vary depending on the time of year, or I have been on an all night bender at one of Max Chapman’s gigs however the norm is usually between 5-7 days once payment and files are received
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