By Craig Anderton
Make very small changes when EQing, because an increase or decrease in one frequency range has repercussions elsewhere. For example, if you boost the treble, the bass becomes less prominent. It’s amazing how even a 0.5dB change can make a noticeable difference. Adjust EQ to what sounds right, then halve the amount of boost or cut you added. This gives your ear a chance to get acclimated to the change in sound. You can decide later whether you want something more drastic.
Always save and back up your original unmastered, 2-track or surround mix before you start mastering, and work on a copy.
Duplicators will often reject CDs if the level hits 0 for several samples in a row. Yet these very short overloads may not be objectionable to the listener. To get around this problem, after assembling the entire CD, normalize it to -0.1 dB. This leaves just enough headroom that the CD won’t be rejected for “overs.”
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One of the “latest techniques” used in mastering today is the use of “stems” during mastering. Stems are really sub-mixes of instruments used in a mixdown. To make stems the mixing engineer will first mix the tune. The mixing engineer will then turn off all channels except for the one’s that would be used for the stem that was being created. For instance, to record a “Drums” stem, the mixing engineer would mute any channel that didn’t have drums and record the stem.
The engineer then may turn off all channels that don’t have lead or background vocal parts to make a “Vocals” stem. The engineer would repeat this technique until there were four to six stereo stem tracks that, when combined at the same level, would make the mix that the mixing engineer wanted.
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by Jack Patti
Few engineers would disagree about the benefits of sending their DAW mixdowns back into the analog domain for final CD mastering. Analog EQ and compression effects the music in a more natural and pleasant manner than any digital signal processing (DSP) can. At Cave Audio Productions we utilize an Avalon AD2055 Mastering Equalizer and two Avalon Vt737Sps in conjunction with two Apogee PSX-100s to create a pristine analog mastering chain. One Apogee converts the digital L and R to analog L and R. Each are then processed by the Avalons.
The compressors are stereo linked and the EQ is switched before the compression keeping us in alignment with traditional mastering protocol. The analog L and R is then brought back into the Apogee which converts it to 16bit digital using the world renowned Apogee UV22 bit depth reduction*. This final mastering signal is recorded onto the VS-2480 and monitored with the remaining Apogee D/A. Analog mastering is more time consuming than digital mastering and therefore requires an additional fee.
Prices range from $300 to $500 for a full CD which includes two gold Red Book masters and 4 additional Red Book masters. Singles can be mastered for $60 a song. Out-of-town clients can be mailed a free mastered sample of their music before committing. (Clients outside the U.S. may have to pay return shipping)
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by Jack Patti
Due to the portability of the Roland VS-2480, Cave Audio Productions is able to offer high quality live recordings at a very competitive price. If you do not have live sound and lighting available I can provide that as well.
To get the best live recordings you need the best live sound. I have a P.A. and lighting solution for any venue up to about 500 people. From earth-shattering bass to crystal clear/feedback free monitors, every stage in the live setup is critical to inspiring the performance you will want to keep for a lifetime.
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As a musician myself, I find it extremely difficult to achieve a quality product when recording on an hourly basis. That $50+/hr hanging over my head never allows me to fully concentrate on what I am there to do; record great music. Recording is an artistic process which, if rushed, only distorts and diminishes the artist’s intended vision. At Cave Audio Productions we record every project for one fixed price.
Whether it is a singer’s vocal demo or a band’s full length CD, the artist need not worry about exceeding their budget because it will have already been established prior to the session. This is made possible due to the fact that I absolutely love what I do. Working in music production has been a lifelong dream of mine, so after college I began working and attended 12 months of hands-on training at StudioChicago.
This was an incredible experience which allowed me direct access to the operations of a commercial recording/mastering facility. The ’secrets’ I learned from the pros have been invaluable to my recordings, and since becoming certified I feel it is my obligation to make professional recordings accessible to students and working people.
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