About the service

What is mastering and why is it important?

Mastering is the final step in the production process. It aims to ensure that there is a consistency of overall volume and tonality not only across your own tracks but with other commercial tracks. The objective view of a mastering engineer is key in ensuring compatibility of playback across devices and platforms.  Sonic quality, and clarity can all be enhanced during this process. For album projects the file types and metadata involved are also something that is not addressed at the mixing stage.

What types of music do you master?

Ste is experienced across most genres of music and has worked on successful music from pop, rock, folk, jazz, metal, EDM and many musical theatre productions.

What is the turnaround time for mastering projects?

The turnaround time will be noted on enquiry but for single tracks the aim is to meet a 48-hour turnaround. For more significant projects please enquire when submitting the tracks.

What file formats do you accept for mastering?

WAV/AIFF are the requested file types.

Is there a preferred sample rate or bit depth for submitted tracks?

The sample rate should be the same as the track has been mixed at. There should be no sample rate conversion done prior to sending the files. If there are other sample rates required that is better dealt with during the mastering process. The bit depth should be a minimum of 24-bit. If only a 16-bit file is available, it can still be worked on, but the result may be compromised.  Mastered files will be returned at 24 bit. 16 bit files are available upon request at no extra charge. 

What is stem mastering and is this something that you offer?

As standard, stem mastering is not something that is offered. Stem mastering involves combining the component parts of the track as opposed to working on the stereo mix file. For example, a stereo drum track, stereo instrumental track, stereo vocal track etc. There are certain genres where this can be preferable and if this is the case there may be the option to do this, but generally it is better for the mix to be sent as a stereo file in the way that the mix engineer/producer intended.

Can you work from lossy formats such as MP3?

It is not ideal to work from lossy formats as a lot of information within the file is already removed making the result significantly compromised. If there is no option, then mastering a lossy file is possible but every effort to submit the lossless file should be attempted.

What happens if I am not happy with the master? Do you offer revisions?

If for whatever reason the master is not in keeping with what is expected, then revisions are done without an additional charge. Minor changes to the mix after the mastering process based on how the track is responding are not an issue however the mastering process should not be used as a trial-and-error process to further mix your track.  

Pricing

Do you offer free test masters?

No. If there is a larger project then there is the ability to master one track first to ensure you are happy with the result before commencing on the rest of the project.

How much do you charge for mastering?

Currently prices start from £60 per track for independent artists. International rates may vary. Please enquire for major label artists. 

Are there any additional fees I should be aware of?

If there are alternate versions of the submitted files such as instrumental versions or clean edits for radio, then there is a fee of half the master rate per additional master.

Do you offer mastering for CD duplication and Vinyl?

Yes. For albums and Eps that will be going to CD then a DDP file is required for the process. This is an individual charge of £60 for the DDP file of the whole record.

For vinyl mastering, there are two options. It is possible to create a vinyl delivery from the mastered files and this is charged at an individual cost of £60. For the best result then the tracks would all be processed separately and fine-tuned for vinyl in which case they would be priced at the alt rate per track. Please enquire if you would like to discuss this further.

Are you accredited to offer MFIT/Apple Digital Masters?

Yes. These would be classed as an alternate version in terms of pricing.

Do you offer discounts for bulk orders?

No. The prices are calculated on a per track basis.

How do I pay and when is payment due?

Upon completion and approval of the work an invoice will be sent with bank details for payment. If there is the requirement to use another method of payment this can be arranged. 

The Process

How do I submit a track to be mastered?

Files can be sent using any files sharing platform such as WeTransfer, Dropbox, Google drive etc. Please ensure labelling of files is instructive of what the files are.

How should the submitted track(s) be prepared for mastering?

The track(s) should be submitted without the use of a limiter on the file. If the mix engineer has used a limiter in the process, this should be removed before the file is submitted making sure that the final level of the track is not exceeding the output of the system/clipping. Between -1dBFS and -6dBFS is a good place to aim at.  Any other processing used on the mix bus should remain in place. If there is the requirement for any of this to be removed, it will be discussed during the process but generally it is better left active.  

Please ensure that the start and the end of the track are padded to not cut off any of the required audio, this will also allow for fades at the end of the track to be better controlled at the mastering stage.

If there has been a limited/louder version of the track approved this should be submitted as a ref mix file in additional to the mix for mastering.

How will I receive the completed masters?

The completed masters will be sent to you in the requested formats via email using a Dropbox link.