Mastering

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: I mastered a record, Creatures of Culture for a local Nashville band called, The Minks. The band had a specific vision for how each song would flow into the next, and they wanted to layer in some additional interlude material. With the help of the band, I was able to perfectly sequence the record, so listening top down is seamless, sonic journey. Definitely check it out!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love that I never know when I'll be introduced to my new, favorite song. It's a luxury to get to hear so many talented artists across multiple genres.

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

A: I mostly get asked about different file formats. 96/24 WAV files are considered "high resolution, lossless" files. If whatever distribution service you're using accepts these files, make sure to submit these files. These are large files. 44/16 WAV files are CD quality. It became the standard in 1987, and it is a much smaller file format. Some distribution services only accept CD quality files. It's also easier to share these in emails and playback on phones. In practice, you shouldn't hear a difference between the 96/24 and the 44/16 files. mp3 files are "compressed, lossy" files. This is the smallest file format, and these files are suitable for email attachments, sharing songs via text, or playback on phones. Never submit these files for digital distribution.

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

A: A lot of people still view mastering as a bit of a mystery. One of the biggest misconceptions is that every master needs to be obvious and heavy handed. If the artist, producer, and mixer really go above and beyond, the differences between the mixes and resulting masters can be incredibly subtle.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring my years of experience as a music professional, but more importantly, I bring my desire to make each song sound the absolute best it can before other people hear it.

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

A: I primarily create digital masters for distribution on platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, and TIDAL. I also do pre-vinyl mastering and DDP creation.