Mastering Studio

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

A: That we are capable of miracles, hehehe. As I always say: "We are Magicians... we can hide a lot of things out of sight (ears), but we are not God". As I said before, some things can not be done at the Mastering stage.

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

A: Difficult one... 1) Cranesong HEDD Quantum (one of the best converters ever, does both In/Out conversion plus outstanding Tape and Tube like emulations). 2) My moded Buzzaudio REQ2.2 ME. Possibly the best EQ I listened to - love inductors when they are well implemented! - and I have listened and worked with all the usual suspects, including Sontec, GML, Maselec, Millennia, Avalon and many of the newer ones. 3) Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor is really a great one, just because it is in fact 2 great compressors in 1 =)

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

A: I started at the age of 13, as a sound assistant to a covers band, so I have been doing sound actively and non-stop for 35 years!!!! But I started Mastering when I was 20, when Mastering was made only by a bunch of crazy freaks like me. That's almost 28 years ago =) At that time, I was already Producing, Recording and Mixing (mostly in analog!) and came across this weird "art and craft" that was Mastering... and fell in love. From there, it was a fast road, passing through a Bachelor of Arts in Recording Arts in London up to the year 2003, when I was getting so many Mastering gigs, that I decided to concentrate on that and left everything else - including my teaching lessons at SAE College, where I have entered a couple years before and had to teach almost anything and everything related to Audio and Music Production =) So it's been already 20 years Mastering EXCLUSIVELY!

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Communicative. Open minded. Always listening to the MUSIC first and foremost. Songs tells you what they need... And then taking the music where the client expects it to go. Specially with younger and/or more unexperienced clients - if they allow or are asking for it - I try to educate them on all sorts of audio-related issues and skills. I do not have secrets. Everything I do, I do it in the open and I explain the client what I am doing, how and why. The idea is that coming to Mastering with us, they also improve their Music Production skills - particularly Recording and Mixing -, so we can get a better sounding production in the end =)

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

A: Sooooo many! Music is my life and there's so many artists that made me who I am.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Many! I am happy to say that I have a Bachelor's Degree in Music Production and I did that before Mastering. 1) Don't let things to be solved in Mastering! Whatever you feel you can improve on Recording and Mixing: do it! 2) Try not to "mix" jobs. Mixing is a completely different animal than Mastering, needing different approaches, skills, times and ears. Preferrably, don't let the same Studio and Engineer do both. You want a specialist on every step of the way. 3) Complementing what I just said in 2: you NEED fresh ears and perspective. A good Mastering Engineer should offer you that and help you succeed. And of course, years of experience Mastering. 4) Don't process (or overprocess) the mixbuss, unless you are not hiring a Mastering Studio. 99% of the times, when we receive "pre-mastered" mixes, some or a lot of the qualities of the mix had gone under the heavy processing. We've got not only the fresh ears and experience, but also the most amazing array of top-notch gear to make exactly what your music is craving for, so we recommend you to let those final decisions and touches to the Mastering stage, where you could decide with us - together - what is best for a particular song.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Communication! I always state Communication is the most important skill on most everything one does for another person. For me, both listening to the client and then transmitting to him/her what we listen/need/feel is fundamental. It builds the strongest base for a fantastic job and job relationship.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: It is an extremely high quality setup, with a lot of options to do every single tasks with very different carachteristics, so we always have the right tool available for any type of processing needed on every kind of song and genre. 5 different analogue mastering EQs (2 of them modified to meet our specs) and the best digital EQ for extreme precision (Weiss EQ1-DYN/LP). 5 different analogue comp/limiters and the best digital dynamic processor (Weiss DS1-MK3) also for extreme precision when needed. The best tape machine simulation, the analogue AnaMod ATS-1 offering us the chance to add that extra touch of depth and warmth so needed on many productions. Kind of the same but in completely different flavours are our Whitestone P331 tube loading amplifier and Blackbox HG-2 tube harmonic generator. Recently we added SN001 of both Kahayan Solid 4000 and Vintage 80 Series Mixbuss Processors (Mastering Versions) which are two units that were designed after our recommendation to Kahayan that there was no unit designed exclusively for Mastering offering the exact same feel of the beloved Neve 80 Series and Solid State Logic 4000G+ consoles. Those are exactly that - one console sound each -, and are a pleasure to use. And on the digital chain, everything is clocked by the most accurate master clock in the Music Industry, the Antelope Atomic clock, 100.000 times more accurate than a regular crystal clock. All our work is mastered at 96k even if the original file is lower. We upsample using the fantastic Weiss SFC-2 and then use any digital process (if needed) and convert using the state of the art Lavry Gold DA-N5 Quintessence and Lavry Gold AD-122 MX converters at maximum bandwidth, letting all those digital processings occur at maximum quality, with the added depth and precision. Sometimes we prefer to switch to our beloved Crane Sond HEDD Quantum ADDA. On some songs, they are even more suitable than the Lavry! Which is big words =) EVERY single piece of gear we have is setup in a way that we can use it in normal L-R, stereo, but also in Middle and Side (M&S) mode and parallel mode, allowing us maximum flexibility to be able to do exactly what we feel it's needed, every single time =) Of course, our biggest jewell in the setup, is the near-to-perfection monitoring system, starting with the biggest mastering room in Europe (440m3 of area), built entirely from zero - we built the whole building with the geometry of the design! - and perfectly matched by our linear, high headroom, wide bandwidth monitor setup comprised by Lipinski Grands passive speakers, feed by Lipinski L-401 Monoblock amps and 2 JL Audio Fathom F112 v2 outstanding subwoofers (now set on stands at ear-level!), all crossed overed by the custom built MBakustik Cosinus Active Crossover and analogue filter. The room's response at our listening position is a staggering +- 0.5db between 25 Hz and 16 kHz, with +- 1db points in 170 Hz, 2.3 kHz and also 9.1 kHz.... more linear than anything we had heard of, allowing us very subtle modifications that make your sound go from good to outstanding =)

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

A: We normally do audiophile quality Streaming, Vinyl, CD, DVD, MFiT and Radio Mastering, including: .Equalization (using M&S techniques, Dynamic Equalization and per Channel Equalization). .Dynamic Manipulation (including Expansion, Compression, Limiting, Leveling and De-Essing). .Micro and Macro Dynamic Optimization (using Expansion-Compression techniques, separated band work and Edition). .Stereo Image improvements (using M&S and Depth manipulation techniques). .Artistic Edition (including fade ins/outs, crossfades, spacing between songs, dynamic manipulation, radio edits, parts replacements, etc.). .Noise reduction, Cleaning and File restoration. .Mixing Consultancy Service (together with the Mixing Engineer, before Mastering stage). .Stems Mastering (Stems-Multilayer) .Mastering for Vinyl Cut. .Mastering dedicated to Radio and TV. .Mastering for Internet Delivery and Streaming. .DDP Masters (including PQ Codes, ISRC, UPC codes, CD Text and Log written with instructions for Replication Plant). We also offer ND® Mastering (Natural Dynamics) and Turn Me Up Mastering for prime clients asking for extended dyanmic content.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: For most things, ANALOG! Yes, there are a few selected digital processors that MUST be part of every pro Mastering studio and that I love and use... but sound wise, most everything is made using the finest Analog selected pieces - most of them custom modified for us =)

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm usually working at 3 or 4 different projects at a time, as mastering is not a long process (I'm a lucky guy =) In the last few weeks I have done projects or songs for Rubén Blades, Alejandro Sanz, Jorge Salán, Vetusta Morla, Antonio Carmona and Pepe Habichuela, among others.

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

A: I work with ALL types of music. It is my view that a great mastering engineer MUST know about music in general and feel confortable working with all genres. This said, most of our clients revolve around popular genres, like Rock, Pop, Electronic, Hip Hop, Trap, Reggaeton, Latin folklore in general, Reggae, Funk, R&B and Soul with just a few selected Jazz, Classical, Flamenco and Soundtrack clients.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Whatever that particular song transmits to me. I never put bricks on a wall. I LISTEN to your music with fresh ears and an open mind, and try to travel whatever the song takes me . That way I can deeply feel what the song tries to tell me and only after I have a clear view of what the song expresses - to me, at least -, I start processing to help the song emphasise the kind of sounds and colours that will make every listener feel what the artist is trying to say in the easiest, clearest and more natural way.

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

A: I will not talk about musicians, as there are soooo many who inspire me in my life and also in my work. I would only talk about a few professionals that I feel grateful for their friendship and their extensive knowledge, specially Bob Katz and Andreas Balaskas (Germany), but I also have to emphasise Bob Ludwig's work as a source of inspiration for certain aspects of the mastering process.