Digital Precision / Analog Sensability Create Audio for your Real Estate needs David Truran, MPA REALTOR® 6138 Bayou Bridge Dr. Houston, Texas 77096 713-628-6879

SACD DVD-A, surround sound Preparing for Mastering SACD, DVD-A, audio for film and video

You have spent countless hours working on your songs, recording and mixing them so they musically accomplish what you want. As the last step in the creative process, there are many issues to consider prior to mastering. The following items are intended to aid this process - someone will ultimately make these decisions and your direction is appreciated. If you like, print this out and use it as a worksheet.

1. Work with your mixes to make them as close to the way you ultimately want them. Back them up.

2. If you are mixing to a digital medium, work to have each song peak between -1.0dB (for 16 bit) and -3.0dB (for 20-24 bit) on the digital meters. As you work, consider the song sequence and timing between songs. No matter the relative levels on your final master, you want each song to peak high on digital to increase resolution and signal to noise ratios. If you mix to 1/2" or 1/4" tape, keep the level saturation where you want it (hot levels to tape create an analog compression that many find desirable - this can also be done digitally - see #9 below).Transfer to DAT or to other digital media from the source reel to reel, if possible, or make arrangements with the mastering studio to do the transfers.

3. Slate your final sequence and map each song to its source. (For example: 1. Being Free - ID 4 on DAT #3; or, 2. Flying - fly.wav on CD-R #2; or 3. Soaring - soar.aif on CD-R #5) Your mastering engineer can come up with the sequence, but this will greatly expand time and therefore cost. It is easy, though, to run a couple of different "test" sequences before final mastering, and this is relatively inexpensive. Send your final mixes to the mastering studio. Listen carefully to the mixes to make sure there are no errors on them and that they are really done.

4. Consider how you would like the relative loudness of songs to be adjusted. Usually, an album is mastered so the listener will not be inclined to reach for the volume knob once it is set on the first song, but there are definitely exceptions to this so you should note them.

Respond to the following and communicate the results to the mastering engineer:

5. __ My mixes are great sonically; little, if any, EQ is needed. Clarify: _____

6. __ I like the dynamics of my mixes, please use compression or limiting sparingly. Clarify: _____

7. __ Please make my album as loud as possible minimally effecting the dynamic range and sonics using subtle EQ, compression and/or limiting. Clarify: _____

8. __ Please make my album sound as loud as possible any way you can. Justify: _____

9. __ Please try and give my album warmth and sparkle like high-end analog recordings.

10. The spirit, or overall feel, of what I am trying to achieve is: __________ (communicate this any way you want)

11. The target sound for my album is: ____________________ (list artists and albums)

12. __ Noise reduction needed (hiss, rumble, click, pop, including tape flaws and digital errors) Specify: _____

13. We had a problem with _______ . Can you do anything about it?

Once you have worked through all of these issues, and others you may bring to the table, get in touch and we'll do the best we can to get your album done in a way that actualizes your music's full potential. If you'd like to talk about it ...

... Email ...

... or call at the numbers above.

CD Mastering - Audio Mastering - Vinyl Restoration - Audio Recording - Audio Editing - Audio for Video - PMCD - SACD - Digital Audio - Sugarhill - Houston Sound