1. Not sending a mix at the highest possible resolution. Some people even send MP3s—and no, converting an MP3 to a WAV or AIF file is not the same as mixing to a WAV or AIF file in the first place! (You must have an MP3 uploaded to your account to complete the submission, but after completing payment Craig will contact you within three business days to obtain the WAV or AIF file.)
2. Adding compression to the mix bus. What you’re basically doing is putting the mastering engineer in a straight jacket, because once something is compressed, it can’t be uncompressed very well.
3. Adding EQ to the mix bus. This might not seem like as big a problem, because you can “undo” EQ to some extent. But if the EQ is combined with compression, it’s a disaster because now the EQ has become entwined with the dynamics.
4. Normalizing the file. Mastering engineers prefer some headroom to work with; what’s worse is that a normalized file may have intersample distortion that doesn’t show up on meters, but is impossible to remove during the mastering process. Leave at least 3, and more like 6-10dB, of headroom when mixing.
5. Adding a fade out. The shape of a fade is crucial, and people who’ve mastered a zillion cuts know how to do it right. It’s better to include a note that says “start the fade at this time, and have the music hit silence at this time.”
6. Trimming right up to the beginning and end of the file. Leave some “air.” A few dozen milliseconds of fade-from-zero to audio never hurt, and besides, if noise reduction is necessary you’ll need a sample of pure noise (as typically found at the beginning of a mix, before the audio comes in).
7. Sending a mix where instruments are out of tune. Mastering enhances a mix in many ways, making good stuff sound great. But the process of “putting audio under the microscope” has a flip side: Mistakes will be emphasized too.
8. Not including notes about what you want. I recently received a file where the client said the “balance between guitar and voice is off.” But did he mean the guitar was too loud, or the voice was too loud? Be as specific as possible, and write copious notes.
9. Don’t assume that making a track sound great is the end of the mastering process. If the track is going to be part of a CD or other collection of music, then its average level will need to be balanced with that of other cuts.
10. With CD projects, provide all information needed for CD-Text. This includes title and artist for each cut, and for the album as a whole. Double-check for typos; mastering engineers aren’t spell-checkers.
Over the years, Craig Anderton has amassed an incredible amount of experience with recording and recording technology, including the process of mastering. He began his recording career as a teenager in 1967 with the Philadelphia-based group “Mandrake Memorial” – the same year his professional writing career got started by being published in Popular Electronics magazine. Working with producer/engineers such as Tony Bongiovi (who engineered for Jimi Hendrix), Brooks Arthur (Neil Diamond), and Shel Talmy (Kinks, The Who), Craig learned much about recording while composing songs for, and playing guitar and/or synthesizer on, all three Mandrake albums.
During the early 70s he played sessions on both guitar and synthesizer for Epic, Metromedia, Columbia, RCA, United Artists, and other labels, working with R&B/jazz session players such as Airto Moreira, Gordon Edwards, and Cornell Dupree. He has also produced three albums by classical guitarist Linda Cohen, was mixdown/production consultant on Valley in the Clouds by David Arkenstone, and mixed several cuts on Emerald. More recently, he has found success in the European dance music scene, with cuts on several compilation CDs.
From 1995 to 1998, Craig started and maintained the Sound, Studio, and Stage site on AOL.com. Its combination of forums and instructional materials made it one of the first commercially successful online sites for musicians. In 2000, the SSS forums moved to the web as part of MusicPlayer.com, a division of United Entertainment Media (the same group that publishes Guitar Player, EQ, Keyboard, and several other magazines). Anderton began partnering with Broadjam.com in 2009.
Mastering (a form of audio post-production) is the process of preparing and transferring audio recorded from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master).
The master is the source from which all copies will be produced (via methods such as pressing, duplication or replication). The format of choice these days is digital masters, although analog masters, such as audio tapes, are still being used by the manufacturing industry and a few engineers who specialize in analog mastering.
First, login to your account. Place your cursor over “Music Services” in the navigation menu and click on “Mastering Service.” Some details about the service (including some track examples) will be provided on the following page. You’re welcome to read through it or just scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Continue.” Check the boxes next to the songs you’d like to have mastered. Specify your preferences in the “Artistic Questions” section and also provide any further detail about the song that you’d like. Enter your contact information (so the mastering engineer can contact you), agree to the terms and conditions and proceed to the checkout.
*Please note – after you send in your songs, Craig Anderton (the mastering engineer) will contact you to request .wav files of your songs.
