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Black Dog Mastering Studio Faqs
1. Why does my audio need Mastering?
2. What is your turnaround time?
3. Should I put a compressor or limiter on the Master output/Master bus?
4. Should I normalize the stereo track before sending to be Mastered?
5. Can I have a single song Mastered?
6. How long will you keep my project "on file" ?
7. What types of payment do you accept?
8. Can Mastering fix musical mistakes or remove distortion?
9. What is CD-text? Can I use it?
10. Do you have an online demo to compare "before Mastering" and "after Mastering" to hear the differences?
11. How do I go about ordering Mastering for my CD?
12. Who pays the shipping charge back to me?
13. Can I get Mp3s of my music?
14. How do I prepare my audio tracks for Mastering?
15. How do I prepare my audio tracks for Mixing?
16. What media formats do you accept for Mastering and/or Mixing?
17. How do I send my files via FTP?
1. Mastering is the final step before Duplication or Radio Play. It is important to ensure that your music will be competitive and consistent throughout the entire album. It is also important to get a new prospective on your project.
2. 3 to 10 days. We can usually accommodate clients that need quicker turnaround, just ask.
3. Do not use any effects on the Master bus. You can however use the necessary effects on the individual tracks while mixing.
4. NO
5. Yes. We have no minimum or maximum limits on songs for Mixing or Mastering.
6. We have studio archives that have been here since we opened and will be here as long as we are.
7. We accept Visa, Master Card, Paypal, Check or Money Order. We can also work with you on payment/layaway plans.
8. We do have the ability to fix Mixing mistakes such as level adjustment and eq, but it is recommended to fix these problems during Mixing if at all possible. We offer mixing services as well if you need a professional Mixing engineer.
Distortion can not be fixed during Mastering or Mixing. It can however be masked if another take in the recording studio is out of the question.
9. CD-Text enables the display of artist, track, and release information on the CD player. Signature Mastering is equipped to embed CD-Text information into your master and is included in the mastering price.
10. Yes. You can find them on the Mastering Page about half way down. We have automated our samples to switch from before and after samples every 10 seconds. You will hear a single or double beep every time it changes. Double beeps = before Mastering and single beeps = after Mastering.
11. Give us a call at 1-800-283-0410, email us at info@blackdogmastering.com or you can fill out our Client Form located on the Booking Projects page of our site.
12. Standard shipping charges back to you are included in our prices.
13. Yes. Upon request we include Mp3s at no additional charge.
14. If sending to us through the mail you need to burn your songs onto a CD or DVD. If sending to us via FTP you need to have each song saved as a separate .wav or .aif file on your computer. Be sure that the audio is the same bit and sample rate that it was recorded at, (24 bit 44.1khz, 16 bit 44.1 khz, 24 bit 88.2 khz etc...) be sure that you do not dither down the audio from the recorded format.
Please also be sure that there are no effects on the Master bus and that the audio is not clipping. It is better to have the volume a little low than too high. We will make sure it is loud enough.
Please note: If saving to cd at any other bit or sample rate than 16 bit and 44.1 khz you will need to burn the cd as a data file instead of an audio file.
15. If sending to us through the mail you need to burn the tracks of each song onto CDs or DVDs. Each song needs to have the separated tracks (vocals, guitar, drums etc...). If sending to us via FTP you need to have each separated track saved as .wav or .aif file on your computer. Please be sure to organize your data by putting tracks in the appropriate folders for each song.
Be sure that all tracks for each song are the same in length, this will ensure that we can import into our workstation and everything will line up correctly.
You may also send us your Pro Tools or Cubase SX session files.
16. CD, CD-R, DVD, DVD-R, DAT Tapes, Pro Tools session files, and Cubase SX session files.
17. You can find our FTP tutorial Here.
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