Step 1
Have a way to send your music to me. You’ll need a fast broadband connection or a nearby post office.
Step 2
Prepare your project files.
-2 track stereo masters:
For sending 2 track masters where your song has been mixed down already and you want the final mix mastered, send the song in .wav for mat (16 bit or 24 bit 44.1 or 48 khz). Be sure no compression was added to the final mix, and that the levels sit below the -1 peak mark. Audio spikes are a no no.
-Full mixdown and then master:
For sending the entire song to be mixed down and mastered, the trick here is to get all the individual tracks that make up the song rendered from the start of the song to the end. The result will be all your individual tracks having the same length and file size. Your studio engineer or recording DAW program will have an option to do this. It might be called something different, like merge, render or bounce. Another way to do it is to render the song by muting all the tracks you don’t want to hear and leaving the one you want un-muted.
For example to render the kick drum in a program like Reason, you would mute all the other channels other than the kick drum and select render song just like if you were going to mix the whole song down. The end result will be just the kick drum, with no other instruments in the mix. You would simply repeat this process to each individual part until you have a bunch of .wav’s which will all be the same size. When these wav’s are opened in a studio they will automatically line up with everything in time. The same is for the vocals.
There are 2 ways to deliver full mix down & master projects. You can send the project dry, meaning all the audio has no effects on it (dry) and effects will be added in the mix down process. The other method is rendering both dry audio and wet audio. This way the song can be mixed down with the original effects you had in mind. The way this works is that you follow the steps to render individual audio parts like described above, only this time you will do the render twice. Once with no effects, the other with the effects turned on. This is very important that the dry track is included in your project package.
Be sure all files are recorded and rendered at the same sample rate or they won’t line up. Naming each part will be extremely helpful as well. When your working with 6- to 80 tracks of audio, labeling comes in handy. If you have multiple parts that make up a song, like keyboards, synths, drums, guitars, ect…they can be put in correctly labeled folders.
OMF (version 2) files can be sents as well.
Step 3
Send your project.
For 2 track stereo masters and full mix down and masters you can use a archiving program like 7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/) or Winrar (http://www.rarlab.com/). Winrar is highly recommended because it can compress .wav files to 50 to 70% of their original size without any loss of audio data or quality (be sure to set it to ‘best’ compression in options). I have received audio projects that are 6gb in total size which winrar compressed to 450mb which is a easy upload with a broadband connection. Once you archive your project then your ready to send. Instead of trying to send 50 individual tracks as separate uploads, with archiving you send the whole project as 1 .zip or .rar file.
The most common way of sending large file via the internet is by using a upload service. There are several, the most common one’s are:
Each service has it’s limitations when you use it for free. If you have large projects which amount to 100mb or more you may have to join one of these services or use WinRar or 7-zip to break up archives into parts. By doing this you can send 6 100MB parts for a 600MB project.
If all this uploading stuff is beyond you connection or patience you can always send you project by mail on CD or DVD. My mailing address is here.
Step 4
Prepare to be a finicky customer. I will usually do 2 final masters. 1 being the master we have both worked on via your input and suggestions after receiving the initial test master. The other will be my take of your song or track ‘as is’ which your free to use or discard. Most customers prefer ‘my take’ on the song, but remember this is your music. If you hear that a piano riff is to low in the mix for your liking, then speak up and let me know. I’m here to deliver what you want first and foremost.
Step 5
Step 5 is all on me. I will work up a 1 minute sample mix and master of your project and send it to you as a cd quality mp3. Upon your approval and payment I will complete the project and send you the first test mix and master, and we will repeat this process until the mix is perfected. After getting your input I will deliver a final mix as two masters (one our take, one my take), which will be sent as a 24bit 48khz .wav file.
Be assured you can contact me about your project any time any day. If you need any of the above steps explained to you do not hesitate to get in touch.
FAQ's
1.) Can I send mp3s? - yes, for the 1 minute sample only. For doing final master only .wav files are accepted. If you need to make mp3s you can try this free program.
2.Will you critique my song? - Usually I like to stay neutral when it comes to opinion, no randy jackon or simon. I'm here to make your music sound better. Besides, you wouldn't send your music to be mastered if it sucked right?
3.) Can you make my songs sound Timbaland ot Dr Dre hot? -Yes and no. Yes I can make a moderately recorded song snap and pop like those mentioned producers, but a lot of music out there doesn't require that extreme level of sound. Dre and Timbaland make hot tracks for sure, but they are only 5% of the music being listened to by people with radio's & mp3 players. Dynamics are the most important element of a song, and they can get lost slamming everything into a limiter trying to push the level to 0. Let your song breathe.
4. Do you analog equipment? - Yes. The analog sound is to me, the most pleasing sound when it comes to music. Excessive digital highs and over blaring midrange will make me hit the 'next' button when listening to music. I have vintage analog gear I run instruments and mixes thru to achieve that warm fuzzy sound and smooth high end. Rest assured your music will not sound digital, harsh and cold.
5.) How do I pay you? -
PAYMENT
METHODS:
| PayPal: |
A fast and secure way to send money.
You can use credit cards or echecks. |
| Money Order: |
United States Postal Money Orders recommended. These are same as cash. |
6.) When do I pay you, when do I get my master? - I prefer to be paid for the project after you agree the sample mix or master is to your liking.
7.) Do you do installment payments? - For LARGE projects maybe, otherwise no.
8.) Do you do anything other than mastering? - Yes, I have a variety of services:
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