International #1 Hit Mastering

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Since I work on a lot of projects, and am not free to talk about unreleased material, I would ask you to check out my webpage, social media channels (Facebook, Instagram and Youtube), and the Mastered by Ludwig Maier Playlist on Amazon Music, YouTube, Spotify. You can find thousands of songs I mastered there.

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: I love working on your music, bring a wealth of experience to the table, and will go to any length to deliver a perfect master. The Essence of Audio Mastering is in creating a track that is energetic and stable, and works perfectly on all platforms and formats. Creating and sustaining tension, minimizing the bounce rate and translating the intention of the music across all listening environments are crucial for engaging and mesmerizing the listener. This is what I reliably deliver in every project. I don't earn my customers trust and loyalty by the excellent quality of my masters alone, but by reliability and punctuality as well - even if it's a rush job. Many customers appreciate my goal oriented and detailed mix feedback, and the fast and thoughtful implementation of their revisions. Making my customers happy and delivering the highest possible quality in a master are always my top priorities.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Combining the best of both worlds is the key to solving complex situations. But don’t overestimate the tools, quality is a result of knowledge- not gear.

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

A: Only a small part of mastering can actually be considered a technical job, and it is incorrect that it’s all about making the music as loud as possible. The challenge is creating stability, emotion and focus, transcending the filter between conscious and subconscious, and translating the intention of the music in all individual formats, for all platforms.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Usually I don’t need any additional information along with the music to do my job. The question that always interests me the most is: are you missing anything in the mix? Does it transport the intention of the track?

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

A: Don’t be fooled by clever marketing, look at the hard facts. Listen to any reference tracks, and be wary of name dropping if the tracks are not immediately and clearly accessible. This is often used to deter from second rate work. Limiting the budget for this last, critical step in the production chain must be viewed with the utmost caution. A lot of passion, work and money has already been invested into the project… Using a second rate master can lead to immense losses in the impact and quality of the final result. Accepting such losses for a merely incremental financial gain is highly unwise- to say the least. Investing more time to acquire a budget, or requesting a later payment for the mastering bill (which I seldomly refuse) is a much more sound approach. Only the best products have a chance to prevail in this ultra-competitive and complex market, and low budget productions rarely succeed. Only a smart investment yields interesting results. You can browse through thousands of my masters on my homepage, and you can experience the maximum available sound quality on amazon music.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: After the first project meeting I load the mixes, all available information into the project management tool and begin listening to the music. At this point I offer some constructive mix feedback if the customer requests it. I have built many personal relationships around the world through this process, and it has helped many of my customers to grow, and become even better at what they love doing. Great teamwork is what creates musical masterpieces. As soon as the final mixes are ready and I have listened to all of the tracks, there is already a Vision of what I want to achieve. At this point I start making adjustments and working on details to implement it. I weave in a common thread between all tracks without compromising their individual character and every part is worked on individually as well as in context to uphold the tension in the tracks. As soon as I see no further potential and the track fully satisfies in both sound and functionality, I will record the master. If there are clicks or other undesirable noises, my specialist will remove them in the spectrum editor during the final quality control. The rendering of different formats is an frequently underestimated, but critical part of mastering. The ultimate standard of the music working as intended in all listening environments and formats, requires this stage of the process to be executed flawlessly. I have perfected a custom technique, which allows me to render any format natively, without conversion. The results are consistent with the master the artist and/or label cleared- in all formats. The format package I deliver includes everything necessary for uploading into digital distribution networks: High Resolution, Apple Digital Masters (ADM ex. MFiT), Standard resolution and MP3, so all Digital Platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Amazon, Tidal, Deezer etc. are covered. The last stages are the embedding of the metadata, and the quality control by my specialist.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Listening to music, talking to exceptional individuals about their Art, and focused work and development.

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: Every Mix and every production offer new and interesting insights one can learn and grow from. Every artist I have worked with has been inspiring through their music, identity, and way to communicate. With so much inspiration and input, the art is in sorting it all out and turning it into something unique and special.

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

A: This is easy: Masterpiece No.1 (DAW), RME ADI2-Pro, Main Monitors, Beach Chair, Sunglasses.

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

A: I have been making masters full time since 2007 and have worked on many different projects with love and passion every day since then. Thousands of songs have accumulated over the years. As is often the case, my career has taken a lot of hard work and dedication. I have worked every industry job from studio assistant, recording and mixing engineer to Production, to acquire a solid base and footing in the field. Psychoacoustics and Audio technology have always fascinated me as well, which has led to consulting jobs in the industrial sector, and additional ventures into programming and hard and software development. I have also worked as a lecturer in various institutions and take great pride in watching my pupils grow and succeed.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Using the same style across so many different types of music would not be beneficial, so I adapt to each individual artist, tune and give each track what it needs, musically and technically.

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: I look forward to working with all talented artists and creators. Status is secondary to me, but I love working in a team of dedicated people that are all highly motivated.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Generate stability and focus, and try to achieve a stress-free sound. Musicality is more important than technical details. Feel and create from your gut and then retrace and analyse the reasons for your decision and add them to your musical skill set.

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

A: I work on many different types of music of all genres on a daily basis. There are regularly Pop, Rap, Soundtrack, Schlager, Rock, Metal, Jazz and World Music projects, as well as many others. This diversity is what empowers my musical neutrality and balance. Of course I still listen to a lot of music privately, to always be able to deliver on the newest trends in the industry- or to create new ones with the production team.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Concentrating on the essence of the song, with a focus on stability, detail and love for the music. When the filter between conscious and subconscious in a listener is less active, they skip less in the track. I feel this filter work intensely and can adjust accordingly.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: The essence of every song is already contained in the mix. The focus, sound and the critical details are often just obscured. Stabilizing the focus, letting the sound shine and bringing out the details are handled with the utmost care and precision. Adding anything to the sound can easily drown the original concept, so this is only done sparingly and with the utmost care and respect. I have the possibility to add every desirable color and variation with a extensive outboard collection.