Q. Can you make my CD louder than everybody else’s?
A. Probably, but it won’t necessarily sound very good. (see the article on “ loudness” here).

Q. What if I’m after a particular type of sound?
A. We encourage all our clients, especially new ones who we don’t know well, to talk to us about their aspirations and the sound they’re after. A reference recording (perhaps a track from a CD you particularly admire) is always welcome to help us identify what you’re hoping to achieve.

Q. How long does it take to master a track?
A. On average, about an hour for a single song or track to do the actual mastering. Allow 24 to 48 hours when ordering online for your track to be available though.

Q. Can you advise us on our mix?
A. Yes we can. If you would like an independent pre-mastering evaluation of your mix, we would be happy to do that and make suggestions.

Q. Can you provide a free sample of our mastered track?
A. Not exactly free, no. But for those new customers who might have doubts, we are happy to upload a sample of the results of our work to your folder for evaluation at a cost of $15 to cover some of the costs associated with it and, sadly, to deter the ever increasing number of mischievous time wasters out there.

Q. Are the results with online mastering as good as a normal studio mastering service?
A. Absolutely. At , we take the same care and utilize the same equipment and processes no matter how you get your material to us.

Q. Can mastering fix problems with our mix?
A. Yes, to some extent, but the overall result ultimately depends on the quality of the recording and the mix as delivered to us. (see the article on ‘The Mix’ here)

Q. What if I don’t like the mastered result?
A. If we don’t achieve what you’re looking for the first time round, we’ll happily talk it through and do it again free of charge.

Q. Which equipment is best for mastering, analogue or digital?
A. Neither is best, but they’re both indispensable in their own various ways. Monitoring is essentially analogue by nature, and good monitoring is the heart of the mastering process. We’re also going to finish up with a result on a CD (16 bit at 44.1kHz) so, sooner or later, we’ll be going digital anyway which means we need excellent digital converters and processors. Good analogue processing equipment (compressors/limiters, EQ’s etc) can achieve very desirable results in a mastering environment too, so in short, we’ll almost certainly be using a combination of both.

Q. Why don’t I just normalise my wave file and whack it through a proprietary “finalizer” or a “mastering” compressor/limiter on my PC?
A. No reason at all, beyond the fact that it still won’t sound truly professional and as good as it could or should. (Ah, … if only life was that easy!) Good mastering requires considerable skill and experience using high end monitoring and state of the art equipment.

Q. Should we normalise the wave files of the final mix before mastering?
A. Most definitely not. That’s best left for the mastering process. Any kind of normalising, finalizing or dithering should be avoided. Just get the mix as good as it can be without unnecessary “overall” processing

Q. Should we “top and tail” or fade out the final mix before mastering?
A. Again, ideally no. Best leave it to the mastering stage. There are sometimes very good reasons to analyse the “silence” before or after the music in a track, for example to identify a noise print or reverb tail.

Q. Should we deliver the mix on a CD or a DAT or Tape or what?
A. Whatever you feel gives you the best sounding results for your style of music, and given the gear you have available. We can deal with most professional formats. Ideally, we like to see ‘Interleaved Stereo wave files at 24 bit and 44.1kHz’ when using digital. We love mixes on tape too! Just don’t bring it on a cassette or give us an mp3 file if you’re serious about the results! (see the page on “Delivery formats” here)

Q. Can you make a crap song into a hit?
A. Err, … no

Q. Bugger
A. That’s not a question

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Restoration

Q. Can you restore any old recording?
A. Pretty much, yes. It does need to be on a format that we’re able to playback though. We can deal with most vinyl and most tape formats. If we can play it, we can improve it.

Q. I have a record that skips a groove when played. Can you fix that?
A. Sometimes yes, but we need to be able to play back the entire length of the recording somehow. If that particular section is unplayable but repeated exactly somewhere else in the recording (for example, in a repeating chorus) then we may be able to use that to replace the damaged section and get a complete result.

Q. I have a very old and fragile tape recording that sheds oxide when played. Can you restore that?
A. We can only restore what can be retrieved from a recording. Some old tapes shed oxide so badly that the heads clog during playback and the tape is completely ruined in the process. Under these circumstances, it may be possible to “bake” the tapes in a controlled and precise way to harden the oxides enough in order to allow one single pass playback, but this is never guaranteed, and it needs to be understood that the tapes are invariably irretrievably damaged in the process.

Q. I have an old “78” record that has been cracked through/smashed. Can records be stuck together and restored
A. It is theoretically possible, but very unlikely. It’s even more unlikely with a 33 rpm LP.

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Artist Promotion Packages

Q. How much will it cost?
A. From as little as AUS$550 for for a very ‘basic’ package. The more time spent on recording etc, the higher the costs will become. Again, we are happy to discuss your needs and the best combination of inclusions for your package within the available budget.

Q. How long does it take to complete a promotion package
A. Depends on what’s in it! Basic kits would have a turn round time of about 3 days to a week. More sophisticated packages need to be assessed individually

Q. Can you advise me on the best song or songs to record for my package?
A. Once we have heard your voice and assessed your image and musical direction, we would be in a better position to advise you on this all important choice. There are hundreds of songs from which you could choose but only a few that might show off your voice to its full potential.
It may be that an original work would be strong enough to demonstrate what and who you are, and may be a wise inclusion

Q. What preparations do I need to make before coming to record?
A. Whatever song(s) you choose to record, it is vital that you are completely familiar with it (or them). You must know the words and the arrangement off by heart and be able to sing the song as if by second nature. This will cut down the time taken, and the costs involved, but more importantly, it will result in a classy performance — and that always shines through.

Q. Can you do video clips?
A. has full broadcast quality video recording and editing capabilities available for those who need a professional video clip made.

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