| |
| |
|
|
Music Information |
|
|
|
Prepare for the Master (CD Mastering)
Many artists are still confused as to what goes on during a mastering session. This article will try to shed some light on the last step before fame and riches (well, at least the last step before duplication), and help you with preparing your music before sending to a mastering studio. Mastering is the last stage of production, right before the master CD is sent for duplication. It is extremely important for your product and can dramatically improve the quality and consistency of your recordings. Since many musicians have home studios, it is more important than ever to get your final CD mastered properly. It will bring your home-recordings closer to a "radio ready" professional level. Some of the work done at the mastering stage include: -> Equalization and harmonic balancing for consistent sound throughout your entire album. -> Adjusting micro/macro-dynamics (volume changes) of your songs for consistency and loudness. -> Checking inter-channel phase and polarity for mono compatibility. -> Final CD layout with proper song spaces, segues, fades and crossfades snapped to CD frame boundaries. -> Sample and bit rate conversion with dither to Red Book CD Standard. It's amazing how a good mastering job can bring out the width, depth and dimension of a song. You'll hear sounds that used to be buried in the mix, the vocals will shine through, the reverb and effects will be heard, and the whole CD will be more enjoyable over a varying range of playback systems. At Digital Sound Magic Studios, we have a one-free song policy. Send us a song (usually through www.yousendit.com) and we master it for free. No catch, no obligation. But don't assume all the work lies on our shoulders! You have to do some legwork too by giving us the best source audio and as much information as possible. This will make the final mastering process run more smoothly and ensure that you get the absolute best master. Here is a list of things for you to check before you send out your songs for mastering: -> If your final product is an audio CD, most mastering engineers prefer to receive 44.1 kHz (24bit) data files on CD-ROM (wav, aiff). This gives us the best source material to work with. -> Include all ISRC codes along with your songs, we need these before we burn the final master disc. -> DO NOT add any processing to your main mix bus (ie: compression etc). Keep it natural and clean. -> Do not clip your files, keep your peaks somewhere around -6dB and you'll be safe. It's nearly impossible to remove distortion. -> Leave space before and after your music (ie: 2-3 sec at head and tail of each song) -> If you have one, include the UPC number of the disc. -> Make sure ALL your song names are in full. No abbreviations please! We need full names to add as CD-TEXT (which some CD players use to show your band name and song name). -> Include your CD album title. -> Give us a track list of the order you would like your songs to appear on the final CD. -> Include your FULL contact information (Band Name, Album Name, Contact Person, address, tel, fax, web, email etc). We use this information to print onto your duplication master disc. -> Send along a few of your favorite songs as reference. Rip a couple of songs from your favorite CD and add these in with your original files. This can do wonders in helping the mastering engineer understand the 'sound' you are striving for. It's always easier to 'hear' an example than it is for you to explain it! The absolute bottom-line in mastering is COMMUNICATION. Speak up if you have a concern. It's important that you get what you are paying for, and at Digital Sound Magic, we don't mind taking a little longer for a better product. �2005 Richard Dolmat (Digital Sound Magic) About The Author
MORE RESOURCES: Music’s Most Dangerous Immortal Rolling Stone Taylor Swift’s ‘Toy Story 5’ Song Will Bring Pop Superstar Back to Country & To Movie Music Billboard Trump to headline Great American State Fair after music acts cancel The Washington Post Trump suggests canceling Great American State Fair music performances after most artists drop out Yahoo In author’s debut novel, D.C.’s gritty music scene is a main character The Washington Post Modern Sound Worship Song Contest Returns with Support from Gospel Music Association Gospel Music Association On Juneteenth, I’ll Celebrate Black Music at Andrew Jackson’s Plantation Milwaukee Community Journal - A New Album of Latine Music, Anchored by Léon and Ortiz San Francisco Classical Voice The Music Man brings Broadway classic to Wilmington 6abc Philadelphia Charli XCX Reveals Next Album ‘Music, Fashion, Film’ The Hollywood Reporter Miles Davis made changing music look easy Paste Magazine Live music calendar: June 5–14, 2026 Cascadia Daily News Ann Sowell Joins Quartz Hill Music Group MusicRow.com On Morgan Wallen’s Piano Flipping - Saving Country Music Charli XCX Announces New Album Music, Fashion, Film Consequence of Sound From Coding to Chords: Mr. Oommen’s Passion for Music readtheforum.org Levy Center to host 1920s music presentation from member Jan Perney on June 5 Evanston RoundTable ON Culture: Sailing Into Summer Reading, Lively Music and More! The Santa Barbara Independent California’s Ojai Music Festival Appoints New Music Director The Violin Channel LOCAL MUSIC SCENE keysnews.com ‘Black Swan’ as a musical? Harvard Gazette Beyond the Camera and the Books: The Musical Journey of Mr. Merritt and Mr. Duffy - readtheforum.org Album Review – Don Williams “Epilogue: The Cellar Tapes” - Saving Country Music ‘The Volunteers Are What Save Me And Bring Me Back’: Nelsonville Music Festival Celebrates 20 Years West Virginia Public Broadcasting From Proofs to Sheet Music, Ms. Swinson Can Do It All readtheforum.org Country music star to perform in Dubuque TelegraphHerald.com Universal Music Group N.V. Reports Weekly Transactions under its €500 Million Share Buyback Program PR Newswire Nintendo Music 1.6.0 update out now, patch notes – plus browser version live Nintendo Everything Commanday returns as CSO music director Current Publishing Students can learn from prestigious musicians, build skills during music institute this summer Big Island Now Salish Sea Early Music Festival Islands' Weekly Maya Hawke “hates putting out music”: When did art stop being fun? Far Out Magazine Panther Bands receive funding for unique learning experience Benzie County Record Patriot Barbara Hannigan and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Join Apple Music Classical's Album of the Week List The Violin Channel Two Bands Making Music on Their Own Terms The Source - Bend, Oregon Charli XCX announces new album 'Music, Fashion, Film' Paste Magazine Why your co-worker might be listening to music at 432 hertz San Mateo Daily Journal The Citizen Newspaper Group The Citizen Newspaper Group Roots of Music fox8live.com Pittsburgh local music releases for June 2026 TribLIVE.com In the Blue of the Sky: A Ukrainian classical music benefit concert comes to Lexington Nashua Ink Link Eddie Trunk Official Website eddietrunk.com Music Video Monday: Memphis Concréte Special Memphis Flyer Indominus Premiere New Single & Music Video "Black Lake" Metal Underground.com Live music to see in the Hudson Valley in June Times Union Can the Music Industry Beat AI’s War Chest? Anthropic Files Initial SEC Paperwork to Go Public Digital Music News A night of gene-defying music on final Friday of Folk Festival The Kerr County Lead Springs Scene – Music Colorado Springs Gazette Live Music at Lydia’s Shawangunk Journal New Music Mondays: 2BYG Brings Back The Boy Band Era With New Single Black America Web Music open thread: Fifth Symphonies Daily Kos Classical music, a fundraiser gala, and free concerts: Sunriver Music Festival returns Central Oregon Daily Pianist Michael Stephen Brown Spends a Summer Evening at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Playbill 19 Recordings Nashville Show Benefits Music Education. Country Insider |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Musicians Injuries: OUCH, It Hurts When I Play (But Please Dont Tell Me To Stop!) This article takes a look at musicians' injuries. For an expert perspective, I interviewed Dr. Learn to Read Music Online If you or anyone you know wants to learn to read music, it's a lot easier to do than it used to be. The Internet gives us all access to almost unlimited information, and can deliver an incredible array of products and tools right to our desktops. How to Remove DRM from WMA - Is It Legal and Worth the Effort? Technically, it's illegal to remove DRM from WMA protected music. Digital Rights Management (DRM) is part of the music industry's effort to curb piracy. Music Licensing: The Cold Cash Facts About Money for your Music Where music meets licensing, there's money to be made. How much money? "I have synched quite a few thousand songs into productions over the years," states Peter Jansson of Janssongs, Inc. A Dying Cat And A Nylon String Guitar "Music isn't just learning notes and playing them, you learn notes to play to the music of your soul" - Katie Greenwood.Why are you learning music anyway? Is it to pick up chicks? Is it to fulfill a void in your mundane life? Is it an indescribable calling?I always wanted to learn the drums. The Record Industry Continues Battle Against Free Music Downloads Movie and record producers alike are saying file-sharing networks that permit its users the ability to make copies from other network member's computers are infringing on the copyright laws and costing billions of dollars in lost revenue.The recording industry claims to have lost 25% of it's revenues since computer, so called thieves, have been using peer-to-peer file-sharing networks to obtain free music downloads. Is it Possible to Download Music Legally Anymore? Throughout the past few years downloading music on the internet has increased in popularity. At the same time though, it has become illegal through many companies to download music as musicians and artists have been losing money on their CD sales. Music: Uniting Nations, Dividing Generations Cultures around the world since the beginning of time have appreciated, enjoyed, and incorporated some form of music in their everyday lives. However, just as one man's trash is another man's treasure, one man's music can often be another man's noise, and vice versa. Arranging for New Age Piano A while back, I wrote an article that compared flower arranging to music arranging. While this may seem a world apart, it really isn't. Greg Koch Fender Guitar History The Greg Koch Fender guitar began to take shape all the way back when Greg Koch was in the third grade. Greg cut out cardboard Fender Stratocaster guitars, then Koch used his sisters sewing machine pedal as a wah-wah. Creating Stark Atmospheres One of the things New Age pianist George Winston is known for is what he can do with just a few notes. In fact, in his piece Colors/Dance from the CD "Autumn" he uses an ostinato pattern in his left hand to create a wonderful stark mood. Does Your CD Cover $ell (Or Suck)? Oh, I know the last part of the title (Suck) isn't a very pleasant description to apply to anyone's CD cover. But, in the interest of plain old honesty, and to face our demons head on, I wanted to (again) utilize a worst case scenario that we can only improve from. Music For Self Improvement Would you like to pop in a CD and have a better quality of life, and even self improvement? There are three ways you can use music to accomplish this.Music For MotivationPut on energetic music, and even doing housework seems less like work. How to Make State-of-the-Art Video Singles Cheaply When it comes to promoting their new music releases, I have found that most musicians only consider radio as the vehicle for exposing their music to the public.Rarely do they consider publicity, in the form of print media, i. Music and Healing: The Power of Meaningful Words and Music We All Have a Favorite Piece of Music that Moves Us to a Special Place in Our Hearts. A Conversion About the Music We Love and How It Colors Our Lives. CD Review: Amber - My Kind of World Pop/Rock Recording Artist Amber, who has scored seven #1 Billboard Hits (and 3 more Top Tens) in her Career, including "If You Could Read My Mind", "This is Your Night" and "Sexual (Li Da Di)", is back! And she does not disappoint! "My Kind of World" marks the beginning of a new stage in Amber's career. Like Janet Jackson before her, Amber has taken complete creative "control" on this new project and the result is an artistic triumph with huge commercial appeal!The first Single "You Move Me" hit #1 on Satellite Radio Stateside and went Top Ten on the Billboard Dance Club Play Chart. Interested in Improving the Sound of Your Stereo? Consider Records Introduced in 1982, the compact disc was intended to provide better sound than the 40-year-old long-play record album, popularly known as the LP. Using a laser rather than a diamond needle for playback the compact disc was smaller, more convenient to use, and less susceptible to damage than the LP. Musicians: What Chords Do You Absolutely, Positively Have To Know? As you probably know, there are thousands and thousands of different chords in music - everything from basic major chords to minor 7ths to 13ths to suspensions to poly-chords. Someday, you might want to learn all those chords if you don't already know them. Is Rhapsody Music Downloads Service Getting A Good Rhap? Rhapsody music, from RealNetworks is one of several reputable legal digital services for legal music downloads. In order to download online music or hear songs from them you have to pay for them first. MP3 Music Subscription Services. A Good Deal? There's a reason Apple Computer dominates the legal 99-cents-a-download digital music scene: It does it right. Apple's iPods set the style and ease-of-use standards that other portable music players must try (so far unsuccessfully) to match.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |