Mastering

I offer a discount to Pembrokeshire musicians and bands - please me contact for details

100% satisfaction guarantee or your money returned (except additional revisions)

" Bob,my friend, you made my day. It's like you put a fairy dust over the song. Thanks." Robert Vigas - Home Mastering Hub

"I just listened in the studio both quiet and really loud. IT SOUNDS AMAZING" - BENHLMS  (Did it Your Way - Spotify)

"Bob, your master of "Red Sun" is definitely in the same ball-park as mine" Ian Shepherd - Professional Mastering Engineer

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To me mastering is like taking the baked cake (mix) and decorating it (mastering) and if there are several cakes (EP or Album) making sure they are all part of the same box. The icing on the cake(s) - BUT - if the cake is so well baked and looks (sounds) great then I will do nothing except put it in a box (commercial level) but that is quite rare as there is nealry always somthing that can be added to help make your music the best it can be.

Another way to view it - mixing is balancing the tracks on the song and mastering is balancing the songs on the album/EP. It is also preparing tracks for CD and Online Streaming.

Below I give you an example mix that was delivered and the original stems(tracks) were no longer available so any issues could only be corrected in mastering. The main issue was I felt it needed a bit more low end so the difference is not night and day and that is true when something is well mixed.

Remember the quality of the mix is based on the quality of the recording and the quality of the master is based on the quality of the mix - it is rarely possible to rescue a poor recording.

Requirements for each mixed track:

• 32/24/16 bit 44.1/48/96 kHz stereo wave file NOT Mp3
• Level of loudest section in the mix about -18 LUFS (see video for LUFS explanation if you are new to this term)
• Preferably no Master Bus Plugins except a compressor if you have mixed into it.
• Name how you want it to appear on a CD player/Stream service eg My Song (ft. John Smith)
• Artist Name
• Songwriter Name
• ISRC if you have/want them embedded in a CD
• You suggest a reference track if you have a sound that you are trying to emulate
• Zip all files into one folder and send to me when we make contact via Contact Us - suggest MailBigFileFree or Dropbox

Service

• I master the tracks based on your brief to me
• You have three revisions eg I produce Master 1 (Mp3) - you send revision - Master 2/3 (Mp3) - send revision - Final Master (24/16 bit wav 44.1 kHz + Mp3 with overall level at about -14 to -12 LUFS Integrated) if you want it mastered much louder than -12LUFS Integrated then I suggest you seek a different mastering engineer - be aware that if they master it louder virtually all streaming services will turn it down (normalization) to about -14LUFS and it will reduce your muisc's dynamic range - hence my recommendation.
• If I master an album/EP the loudest/most energetic track will be mastered to about -14 to -12 LUFS Integrated and then the others will be balanced to that track. This balance will be maintained by TIDAL and I expect other streaming services to follow suit in the coming months/years. I have no intention of being part of the Loudness War - which is slowly ending anyway. Dynamics are the new loud!
• If I master your Album/EP (3 tracks or more) you will be provided with a DDP file for CD production
• If you are not satisfied after Master 3 then I will either give you the option to pay for a further revison or I will refund your money. If I refund your money you will not be given a wave file(s) or a DDP. Also if you pay for additional revisions and still not satisfied then these fees are not covered by "my money back" offer.

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Season3 Mastering Prices

Payment:

1. I will invoice you via PayPal and require 50% upfront and the balance to be paid upon your approval of the Final Master or

2. Pay 100% up front using the Season3 Shop

Notes.

1. Delivery time is working days and subject to holiday periods. 

2. Multiple track prices assume all are delivered at the same time.

3. If you become a regular customer I will provide you with a discount code.

4. Further revision after Master 3 is £25 per track

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Examples

Example 1. Good Mix  This is a well mixed track that just needed a bit more low end and as the original stem tracks were no longer avaiable this could only be fixed in mastering. Note the difference here is fairly subtle unless you are listening on a high quality sound system/headphones - as it will be if a track is well mixed.

Mastered track where in addition to more low end the drop was reduced in volume very slightly for more dynamic effect.  Love this track!

Track is called Running Scared by Paul Graves and is used with his kind permission. The music is copyrighted and if you would like to use it please go to Audio Jungle and the track is directly available here.  Season3 is stongly against using copyrighted music without the owners permission or not purchasing it. Please support artists as without them there is no new muisc.

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Example 2 Poor Live Recording This is a mono recording with no limiter in place so there is occasional distortion that I do not have the ability to repair yet.  This is a rescue master and can be best avoided by recording with a conservative headroom and a limiter set to -1 dB used for safety.

Mastered track where I have made it pseudo stereo and brought out the bass and detail of the guitar. It is louder but if you adjust the volume to to match the original you can still hear a big difference - in mastering you should not hear such a big difference. If a track is recorded and mixed well the master improvement will not sound so dramatic - which after all is the aim!

The track is Oh My Sweet Caroliner by Josh Beddis and is used by kind permission of Pure West Radio

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So if you would like me to master your music with a 100% satisfaction guarantee then please contact me and I look forward to making your music sound better. Regards Bob