What is mastering?

 

 

In short, mastering is the final stage of the music production / creative process before your music reaches the ears of the outside world. Without it, your music could sound substandard and flawed with technical defects.  It really is your last chance to make your music sound as good as possible on a wide range of playback systems as mastering is final quality control, objective listening, fine-tuning, and enhancement, and where sonic problems that may have occurred during the recording process are fixed. By a mastering engineer who actually knows what your mix should sound like. This ensures your music sounds as good as possible when it's released on Vinyl, CD, or via digital platforms online by way of digital downloads.

 

 Using equalization, compression, limiting, and other audio outboard equipment your mixes are treated individually but also collectively in respect of an album. Often, this involves making sure that a selection of tracks, either recorded in the same way or made using a few different studios and/or engineers all work together as a consistent body of work to create a final audio master.

 

A lot of people mistakenly think that mastering is all about "making it really loud" -- While the mastering phase is the "right time" for such things, it's pretty low on the list of priorities. The first is to bring out the best qualities and minimize the worst qualities of the recordings. Getting them "loud" is an afterthought.

 

 

Why Choose Us?

 

 

- Our custom-built precision studio will ensure your music has our full attention in every detail.

- Well over 10 years of experience, our pro-engineers will provide a fresh set of ears. Essential to providing peace of mind.

- An extensive portfolio of past clients leaving amazing reviews endorses our goal of providing outstanding customer service.

 

In addition, what distinguishes CONNECTED Mastering from other studios is our readiness to work ''with you', making your music unique to you. You can stamp your own individual style on a project, while still taking advantage of our technical expertise. A great way to do this is through our Mix Analysis options, providing valuable insight into your mix-down and allowing time for you to make changes before we schedule your mastering.

 

Mix Analysis is available with any mastering.

 

 

 

What is Apple's ADM (formerly MFiT - Mastered for iTunes) format ?

 

 

CONNECTED Mastering is one of the few specialists in Mastering services officially authorized by Apple to provide ADM (Apple Digital Masters) material. When the ADM option is selected from our service options, you received additional masters that qualify your release to hold the special ADM badge in the iTunes store. This badge of honor highlights your music to the fact that it has guaranteed compatibility across all of Apple’s audio reproduction systems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How do I send You my files?

 

 

If you're sending us physical masters, such as tape, data discs, or hard discs, you can send them directly to the studio address. If you're sending digital files over the internet and have an FTP server you can send us the login details, and we can download the files directly from you. Alternatively, you can also use file transfer services like:

weTransfer, DropBox or shared folder on Dropbox

If you use these services, please use studio@connectedmastering.com as the recipient.

 

 

Do You provide ‘FREE’ demo masters?

 

 

Yes, we do, however, due to time constraints and a usually full schedule this is only available to clients looking for an exclusive deal, such as established record labels or artists.

 

To discuss sending a song for us to demo master please feel free to email us:

 

studio@connectedmastering.com

 

 

 

I need a loud master, can You do this?

 

 

While we believe dynamic music provides a more exciting listening experience, it’s your music! We work with all types of commercial electronic/rock/hip hop etc. music and know the importance that an artist/label can feel towards having a comparable level to other releases. Final-level requests can be made by contacting us.

 

 

 

How long will my order take?

 

 

You'll receive a current estimate at the time of your order confirmation. Working days are Mon-Fri (not including the day of order confirmation, bank holidays, weekends, or scheduled holidays) studio hours are 10-20 (GMT+01), and estimated return dates are based upon the current workload, if you require your order by a specific deadline please contact us immediately for availability.

 

 

 

Will You make revisions?

 

 

Yes absolutely, we’re always happy to make any adjustments that you may require once you've had a chance to evaluate your song on a number of systems. References & style requests are appreciated upfront when placing your order, this will give us a clear idea of the sound you’re aiming to achieve and the best possible chance of having everything the perfect first time around. We may still ask you to change the mix if this is beneficial to the adjustments required.

 

 

What are ISRC codes and, how do I register for them?

 

 

The International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) is the international identification system for sound recordings and music video recordings. Each ISRC is a unique and permanent identifier for a specific recording which can be permanently encoded into a product as its digital fingerprint. The ISRC provides the means to automatically identify recordings for royalty payments and, in many territories, is increasingly becoming a tool in the fight against piracy. By identifying all sound and music video recordings that are released, regardless of the format that they are released in, the ISRC enables the tracking and tracing of these recordings through the music value chain. You need to register yourself for ISRC codes and all the information you require can be found by following these links:

https://usisrc.org/

http://www.ppluk.com/

http://isrc.ifpi.org/en

http://www.aria.com.au/pages/isrc.htm

 

Credits

 

At CONNECTED Mastering we are honored that we are chosen to personally take care of your mastering requirements. We realize you know how important mastering is and how it can have a massive effect on the end result of your project. As your music becomes part of us we always feel extremely connected to the work we're doing and are proud to put our name to your product. If you feel you can make room for us in the artwork or credit listing of your release we really would appreciate it. Most of our business is generated by word of mouth and by engineers / artists and producers reading the liner notes and credits associated with the release of a project.

 

The correct credit should read:

Mastered by Damian Handzlik at CONNECTED Mastering, Wroclaw.