By using high-end hardware, software, an acoustic optimized room as well as custom build monitors I aim to get a constant high quality. Keeping up with commercial trends, constant training and learning plays an important part too. And of course the love for music itself and getting the best out of it making you go ‘Wow!’ is the aim. What is most important is that I can give you the result you are looking for and walk the distance for that if I have to.

If you would like me to mix your entire song or songs that’s also possible as long as it’s clear what you expect from it and we look at it together. If need be the mix can be made in a 5.1 surround format since my studio is equipped for that as well. If you send me next to your separate audio tracks some reference tracks I can get started on getting the mix done. You then can listen to that result and decide if you want me to master that as well.

If you have your songs mixed and need to them get mastered into an album it’s a bit different than just a single song.
I usually start with the first single of that album and take that as an starting point for the rest of the songs. When all songs are done they have to be put in the right order with the right pauses between them. If needed adding ISRC codes and/or CD text as well and it can be written on a master CD or DDP file. These results then can be shipped to the plant for Vinyl, Casette and CD duplication.

For those who aren’t fully informed about mastering a quick explanation:

Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source (file) containing the final mix to a master (file). This end result can then be used for copying and distribution as vinyl, cassette, CD, streaming and other formats. If need be different versions can be made for different media.

As far as loudness goes personally I’m not in favor on getting it as loud as possible. I do know how to get a master loud and can use analog hardware and plugins to get crazy loud. If you are a DJ and want to keep up with the levels I can help you. But why bother putting all the work in and then end up destroying it by squeezing the life out of it?

There are plenty of online mastering services that offer decent quality for an affordable price. If you are happy with the results over there by all means. If you want to have a human touch an old fashioned mastering engineer is your best bet.

Most music nowadays is played as an audio stream by an online streaming service. For music producers, mixer- and mastering engineers it just means another media type. Every media type can have their specific need to process the music. Ideally a master should work for all media types. Still you can have tailored version for every media type.

You make my work harder if you put a master bus compressor on your end mix and use more than just a gentle glueing. Especially when you’re working for a longer time on your mix the ears get fatigued and you might end up making wrong decisions. You still can use that compressor on just your monitors and send me the clean end mix if you like if that helps you.

If you like to use a mastering limiter on your end bus as a safeguard it’s advisable it has to do as little as possible. Ideally a mix should be fine when it’s between -3dB and 0dB and not clipping. Exceptions are mixes that rely heavily on acoustic instruments and/or classical music. In those cases check the noise ceiling isn’t too high so it may need denoising and causing unwanted artifacts.

It helps when every song has enough room left in front and behind of the song so there is enough room to make the fades that are desirable.

When the song has a high level of noise it doesn’t hurt to leave some extra room in there to sample that noise for creating a noise reduction profile.

Every now and then the mixes I receive have been rushed and still contain errors. Or during creating the mix some equipment went haywire without you noticing it.
Myself I’m allergic to digital clicks and pops and know to get rid of them most of the times. But I prefer not to do that too often because it’s time consuming and often avoidable.

If you haven’t used any reference material during creating (which is advisable) your mixes I’d appreciate it when you send them to me along with your mix.
It explains a lot about the sound you’re looking for. And as well I’m always very open minded when people are taking the time to explain to me what they are looking for. To that extend it’s more efficient to spend time communicating about what needs to be done than having to redo a song and sending it again.
Not that I mind but from my experience you are usually the one that is pressed for time.

Every now and then somebody will send me their own masters with the mixes to indicated what they would like. I’m open to this because it can be very helpful but it’s not a must. I can use that master as a starting point and see where it goes from there.

Take some time away from your mixes and check them after a day or more time so you get a fresh listen to them once again. If you can you can use your car, an iPod or some crappy boom box. Creating your mixes under the influence of alcohol can degrade your auditory senses. And drunk people are easier satisfied.