What is mastering and why is it important?

Audio mastering is a vital part of the music making process and there are many different aspects to it, including:

‍Quality check - A professional mastering engineer will be listening for any unwanted clicks, pops, or any other type of error that are surprisingly common! They’ll be able to objectively determine whether your mix is all technically correct, as well as communicate with you about anything in the mix that may or may not be an error, based on your creative decisions (count-ins, bits of studio chat left in, etc)

‍Audio processing - the cool bit that everyone knows about! Making sure that your songs are sounding as great as they possibly can by enhancing their best features, using perhaps eq, compression, m/s processing and limiting.

Providing mix feedback if necessary - critical listening to evaluate the effectiveness of the music, liaising with the mix engineer / producer for any potential changes to the mix that may be beneficial to get a better sounding end product. I’m always open to a discussion about the creative vision of your music so we can all get on the same page.

Taking loudness into consideration - being sensitive to different styles without compromising quality for loudness.

Delivering high quality masters in required formats. This means any delivery format you or your label require to release your music in any way you plan to do so, be that digital files for streaming, masters optimised for vinyl, DDP Images for CD, even cassette sides. Your final masters will be delivered clearly labelled and ready for distribution.

Can I hear examples of some of your work?

Of course! Just click the ‘WORKS’ tab at the top and have a look through some previous masters.

How do I book in for mastering?

Easy! Just fill in the form at the bottom of this page. All bookings are managed by the wonderful Carla at Weird Jungle and we always endeavour to get back to you as soon as possible.

How long will it take for our tracks to be mastered?

It depends, but generally the more songs you have, the longer it will take. We aim to send back a first draft master for you to listen to by the end of the day on your booked mastering date, or the morning after if needed. Revisions can be done once any feedback has been provided.

Do I need to book in advance?

Yes, we do try to be as flexible as possible, but we do get booked up anywhere from 1 - 6 weeks in advance. We can sometimes fit in short notice work, but do check our availability first and get a date pinned down before sending over your music!

What is your studio like? What gear do you use?

My studio is situated in Liverpool UK, underneath an independent record store. I’m often accompanied by my dog, Pipe. I work in a hybrid way, which means I use a combination of analog hardware and digital plugins, depending on what is going to suit the music best. Sometimes that will be all analog, sometimes all plugins, but most of the time a bit of both. I don’t care for ‘analog vs digital’ snobbery, I just use the best tools I can to get the best out of the music.

Can I attend my mastering session in person?

Possibly, yeah! If you’re in the area and would like to come along, just ask! It may not always be possible, and I generally do the majority of my work remotely, but if you promise to bring me a good coffee then let’s talk.

Once you’ve sent me my final masters, what do I do with them?

Make sure you backup your masters in at least two different places! Your masters will be delivered clearly labelled and with information as to what has been included in the folder, but I don’t run an archiving service, and it is your responsibility to safely store your masters.