Mastering Your Music

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: I got my dad's old Jedson Telecaster for Christmas when I was 11 years old. I didn't expect to make it as a musician so I made the conscious decision to devote my life to making others sound the best they can. With that year's Xmas money, I bought my first mixing desk. A Spirit Folio Notepad. 25 years and 2 degrees later, I now work as a Mastering Engineer, Sound Technician and a part-time Lecturer in further education.

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: Audio mastering, restoration, repair and re-mastering. I also have over 20 years of experience in other areas including studio sound, production, classical recording and live sound.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: You'd have to listen. Modern and clinical editing but with a nice rounded off, warm, classic tone.

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: I work with any genre. I've worked on rock, pop, hip-hop, metal, folk, classical, choral, dance, electro, musical theatre, experimental, voice & dialogue...

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: OCD... I am very obsessive and show great attention to detail. I won't let anything go if it's not ready. As a musician, I bring a musical understanding to mastering. This is evident in my approach to dynamics and tonal balance throughout a song. I don't just make the loudest master I can, I make all my decisions based on the music.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My DAW of choice is Cubase. I also use Sound Forge for quick edits & file format changes and Sonoris DDP for my CD images. I have a vast range of plugins and other software at my disposal. I have an acoustically treated room with a mixture of digital and analogue equipment, including a pair of Pultec EQ clones, a stereo tube compressor, an exciter/sub synth and passive monitor control. I also have an Akai reel-to-reel that I can add into the signal path for some extra warmth, depending on the style.

Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

A: People think that mastering is about making everything louder and making bad mixes sound good. Whilst there's an element of truth to this, that's not all the mastering engineer does. Think quality control. The mastering engineer is the last person in the chain before release. As such, it's up to us to scrutinise your mixes for anything that may need tweaking. But we also check to see what's good, the things that don't need changing. We want to retain as much of your hard work as possible.

Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A: The intros and verses are too quiet compared to the chorus. Can you fix this? Yes. Can you send me final masters as mp3s as well as wavs? Yes. Can you embed ISRC codes into the wavs if I have them? Yes. I've read about streaming LUFS targets. Can you explain? Yes, I have put together an info sheet for clients, available upon request.

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: Contact me! Really good mixes equal really good masters. If you think you've got a good mix and its 24-bit, 44.1KHz, then you're on to a winner! I'm not a magician, but if you have a really bad mix that you absolutely can't change and want it salvaged and restored, then lets talk anyway!

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: A solar generator, a laptop, headphones, satellite router and a fridge full of English Cider!

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Are you happy with a 7-10 day turnaround? Many online mastering services offer a 24 hour turnaround. You've spent the best part of a year writing and recording your new album, do you really want your mastering engineer to rush the job and send it back to you within 24 hours? In my opinion, mastering engineers need time to rest their ears, sleep on things and come back to check the work before final delivery.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both have their place. It's not for me to say. I'll use whichever gives the best result for each individual project.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Listening... Not only do I listen to the music I am mastering, but I listen to my clients. If they want something a certain way, I listen. I listen to reference material suggested by the client as well as material I already know very well. I also listen using trusted monitors that I have owned for 18 years.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Yes! Please let your cymbals and guitars ring out at the end. I'm always having to repair tails for people. Oh, and stop compressing & EQ'ing your stereo output bus. That's my job!