The Mastering Procedure.

1 1. If there’s time I’ll listen to all the songs to get a feel for the
1 1. album. Also to hear what song sounds the loudest of them all.
1 1. I will try to bring the rest of the songs to that loudness.

1 2. Then I’ll rip or record them into my PC. Sometimes I will EQ and
1 3. compress them on the way in but it works better for consistency 1 3. to do the do the processing later.

1 3. I will put the songs in the order that you gave me on the PC. If
1 3. you haven’t got a song order by then we can work one out or I
1 3. can carry on with the processing. It is best that I have the order
1 3. before processing, because the song levels, fades and gaps
1 3. influence each other.

1 4. After the order of the songs is sorted I start with the EQ and
1 4. Compression process.

1 5. With that process finished we start with the fades and cleaning
1 5. up of the songs. If you want any editing done on the songs this
1 5. is where I do it.

1 6. After the editing, fading and gaps are done I will do the PQ
1 6. coding. Placing the ID’s and naming the songs for the CD. Also
1 6. filling in the ISRC codes (If provided) at this point.

1 7. Then I will burn a listening copy to check if everything is fine.
1 7. You can also have a listening copy to take home and listen to. 1 1 7. The listening copy is normally burned at a faster speed and
1 7. might have some errors on. The reason for burning the listening
1 7. copy faster is to save my time and your money, however I can
1 7. write it at 1x speed if you have the budget. For a nominal fee I
1 7. will print more listening copies if required.

1 8. If you are satisfied with the mastering, I will burn the master
1 7. copy for the printing plant. NEVER SEND THE LISTEN COPY TO
1 7. THE PRINTING PLANT.

1 9. Remember the procedure might change slightly, as I handle
1 7. each project on it’s own merit. Fades can be made longer or
1 7. shorter. Certain parts of the song can be copied to other parts.
1 7. Songs can be edited shorter or longer. We can blend vocals in
1 7. more or the bass can be brought out more. The mixes can be
1 7. made brighter or bass heavier or lighter. Lots of changes can
1 7. be made up to a point.

Also check out : What to expect from mastering

Also check out : Preparation for mastering