Pre-mastering

[Lute]

Hypothetically: I've mixed my songs, what does the mastering engineer expect me to deliver to him/her? Is there a checklist somewhere?
Bob Katz, is this topic covered in your book?
Cheers
Phil


PS I do: rock music, synth music, classical music, and a spot of acoustic stuff too.

[dhiltonlittle]

it is covered in a lot of different threads. here is a more recent and help link.


check the download mixdown for mastering pdf.


Mastering FAQ | Download Mixing Tips PDF. Red Book, ISRC

[wado1942]

I like complete mixes in at least 24-bit 44.1KHz format without any trimming done to the beginning or end of each mix. It should be free of buss processing, especially compression & limiting for the sake of loudness and have at least 3dB headroom above the highest normal peaks.
I also like the song order (if completed) and any additional notes on issues or desired outcome.
Slightly different mixes, such as a mix with slightly higher or lower vocal level is also desirable.
Mixes can be sent to me through FTP or on DVD. I'll accept CD-R if that's all that's available. There should be a track sheet in paper form or on disk with the names of each song. Files on disks should be named according to song with mix revisions at the end like "bubbagump_mix3_vocaldown.wav" 1/4" & 1/2" tape mixes are my favorite though and I REALLY like the tape to be sent played to the end (without being rewound) and at least three test tones should be recorded at the beginning of each tape. 100Hz, 1KHz and 10KHz are the minimum. 16KHz/50Hz and or sweep tones are also nice to have. The track sheet should also say what kind of tape it is, format & forumation, reference fluxivity, EQ standard etc.

Most important of all is your name, phone number, E-mail address, mailing address and the name of the project. I remember getting sent a 1" 16-track tape to re-archive to WAV format and I still don't know the real name of the client. Yeah, he got his materials back fine & I got paid but my backup disks have 2 or 3 different possible names on it. That can mean trouble down the road. For instance, I did a mastering job a number of years ago and the plant lost the master. If I hadn't kept backup disks of the project with the correct names on them, they would have been screwed.

[bob katz]

Originally Posted by Lute

Hypothetically: I've mixed my songs, what does the mastering engineer expect me to deliver to him/her? Is there a checklist somewhere?
Bob Katz, is this topic covered in your book?
Cheers
Phil


PS I do: rock music, synth music, classical music, and a spot of acoustic stuff too.

A very good question to ask! The answer is "yup"! I have some clients who anally prepare their material and cover every single recommended thing when preparing their mix files. It's an amazing thing to behold. Even if you only manage to do half of the recommended things it's a great help for us mastering engineers, and for the storage of your files later.

There is a good guide at our site at Delivery & FTP And click on "preparing tapes and files".

And I'm sure all the good mastering houses have similar guides as there are so many nice things to think about that will help speed up and make the mastering process more efficient (and therefore cheaper for you). One of the nicest and most useful recommendations is to name your files starting with a number that represents what will become the final order on the master CD. E.g. "1 Love Me Do.wav" "5 Can't Buy Me Love.aif".

BK

[Adam Dempsey]

Originally Posted by bob katz

One of the nicest and most useful recommendations is to name your files starting with a number that represents what will become the final order on the master CD. E.g. "1 Love Me Do.wav" "5 Can't Buy Me Love.aif".

BK

Or better still: 01_title_mix version (eg voxup1dB, solodown1dB), etc.
Oh and a preferred return postal address if you're a non-attendee.
fyi.. our to-be-updated FAQ page here.

[lucey]

1 the tracks, no limiter, at the sample/bit rate of your mix session
2 a song order is nice
3 any notes, or refs can be helpful
4 your schedule needs are good to know
5 a deposit or full payment

I think that's about it ...

[Lute]

Great help guys, many thanks
Phil