F.A.Q.

Why Master?

After an album has been recorded and mixed-down, most of the engineer’s sonic decisions have been solidified into a 2-track left/right mix. But it is not ready for pressing into a Glass Master at the CD production facility. It needs to be mastered by an engineer that specializes in the process of finalizing the mix to make it sonically or commercially viable and to tailor the mixes to perfection.

You might also want to read my blog for articles on the how and why of mastering.

 What happens in mastering? 

The first duty of the mastering engineer is to be an objective listener. The mastering engineer listens to the entire recording and takes notes about each track and decides what each song needs to make them come together as a unit that sounds like an “Album”.

Then the engineer applies compression, equalization and limiting to give the album the sound that the client needs to be competitive in the market.  Often people describe the final master to be more “Punchy”, “Louder”, “Brighter” or more “In your face.”  The mastering engineer has a wide range of tools, both digital and analog to get the album where it needs to be sonically.  Finally, the mastering engineer arranges the songs in the proper order, adds samples if needed, makes fade-ins or fade-outs which are appropriate, and places the songs together with proper spacings.  Finally, a CDR master is burned and delivered to the client, ready for the production house to make a Glass Master used in the replication process.

Does the band have to be present during mastering?

It’s really up to the band. If they live close enough to the mastering house or are willing to travel, it can be done. But since most bands don’t have a budget that allows this, more often than not, the band does not show up for the mastering session.  In fact, when the band is not present, this slows the mastering project from a one shot, one day process to a a several day process where the band has more of a chance to listen to the work and make sure everything is perfect before they commit to replication.  Mastering via the internet  can actually be a better way to go for this reason.

To make sure that the client gets exactly what they need, I keep in close contact with the band, engineer or label and send them test versions of one or two of the songs by internet upload. Clients with access to high speed Internet can receive files and communicate with me very efficiently about what needs to be tweaked to get them exactly what they want.

How long does the process take?

This depends on the complexity of the project and my schedule. But more often than not, your project gets sent out within several days.  Be sure to have me do a one song test master before you commit so you can hear the potential end result.

What kinds of bands master at Imperial?

All sorts of bands.  Imperial is the choice for a large number of metal and extreme metal bands, but folk, classical, blues, jazz, new age, techno and many other types of bands come through the doors at Imperial as well.  A competent mastering engineer is able to master many styles with confidence.  I have experience with all styles except Hip-Hop.