Frequently Asked Questions
I uploaded my song(s). Now what?
You can expect an email from me soon. I’ll give your music a listen first, and in the rare case that there are any issues that might be better solved in the mixing phase I’ll send you notes or suggestions. (No charge for that!) However, if you can’t really revisit the mix at this point, no problem. We’ll keep things going and master it, applying correction as best as possible, and a lot is possible. In the email, I’ll ask you for a song reference or two. Then, if your mix is ready to go, I’ll get to work mastering your music!
What format/quality should I send you?
Please send WAV or AIFF files at the highest quality you recorded, at least 24-bit 44.1 khz. 32-bit floating 96khz would be great, but if you recorded at 24-bit 44.1, 48, or 88.2, leave it at that. Don’t upsample when you bounce it down- that doesn’t add quality and may actual decrease it in the process!
What format/quality will you be sending me and when?
I’ll be sending you three files per track:
One 24-bit file at the highest quality possible (the sample rate you sent me) suitable for most distribution services (excluding CD Baby), and/or vinyl release.
One 16-bit 44.1 khz file suitable for CD printing and CD Baby distribution.
An mp3 or m4a file you can use as an email attachment for friends, venues, or whatever else might need a smaller, lower-quality file.
Turnaround is usually within a few days and I will be communicating with you along the way.
P.S. Always check with the distributor that you’ll be using to see what file quality and format they expect.
How do I choose a reference?
Simply choosing a song from your favorite artist may not necessarily be the right move if your favorite artist is a classic band and the recording sounds dated. It’s often better to choose a song from within your genre that you might hope to have your song played alongside in a Spotify playlist, for example. This is probably going to be a fairly recent release, unless you really are deliberately creating a nostalgia project. Don’t get me wrong- I love the classics, but definitely be thinking about who’s going to be listening to your new music and who else they might be listening to on their playlists. If that really is Pink Floyd, then sure, that’s a valid reference in this case! Either way, pick a song you like, preferably one that has similar instrumentation, and certainly something that you like the production and sound of. One song will be enough, but two songs are always welcome.
Tell me about ‘free revisions”.
“Unlimited free revisions” means that if you think you’d like your master sounding a little different than what I delivered you the first time- a little warmer, or a little less bright, or little more mid-scooped, for example- I’ve got you covered and we’ll get it to where you want it.
Unlimited revisions doesn’t mean unlimited versions. If you want a version with more bass and one with less bass, for example, for releasing in different ways or as a variant, that’s a different version, not a revision and would therefore incur an additional cost that we can talk about.
What about instrumental or vinyl-specific masters?
Instrumental tracks are an additional $5 USD per song.
The 24-bit master I send you will be fine for vinyl releases, UNLESS you’re requiring excessive bass frequency content or excessive loudness in your digital masters. If you really do need a vinyl-specific master (and some people do), it’s an additional $10 per song to modify the bass content and limiting.
As a rule, I don’t obliterate the dynamics of your music leaving you with something that won’t translate well to vinyl.
What loudness level or LUFS do you master at?
Short answer: The best sounding loudness level! It really depends on the genre and the song, but it’s usually lands somewhere around -10 LUFS. But, since streaming services by default normalize all songs (bring them all to the same perceived volume level), it’s really better to master for sound quality- to an appropriate and competitive loudness level, and not an inappropriate, destroyed one.
As a side note, if you’re curious, I typically master to around -1 db true peak level to reduce digital distortion whenever your song is played back online at a lower, unnormalized streaming quality, or reduced from CD quality to mp3 or m4a.
Yeah, but what about Spotify’s -14db LUFS recommendation?
-14db LUFS may sound great for some jazz or classical music, but very rarely for pop, hip-hop, rock, or anything else. Listeners expect to be able to listen to songs within these genres while they’re driving, doing chores around the house, dancing, or whatever, without turning the volume up or down to compensate for the soft and loud parts. So yes, Spotify will turn down a song that reads -10db LUFS while they’re turning down everyone else in your genre as well. That’s completely fine and normal. If the music sounds good, then it is good.