First there is the recording and then there is the mixing (actually, first should come the rehearsing and arranging because you don’t really want to be doing too much of that in a studio – time is money in a studio). But there is a step after those which many people aren’t aware of and that is mastering.
Mastering is bringing together the mixed output of the studio sessions and making it ready for its final use – frequently but not exclusively a CD. The sort of issues that are addressed include consistent volume across the whole CD (most noticeable if not done when going from a loud to a quiet track), length of silence between tracks, CD text entry etc. If not a CD then other issues relating to the destination platform (Youtube, iTunes etc) can be addressed. Nowadays with the ending of the “loudness wars” loudness metering and control is important and our TC Clarity M meter supports that well.
We can produce a mastered CD to Red Book standards, i.e, ready to play or to duplicate, if you wish. If required we can produce and validate DDP files. Alternatively if you wish to have your material mastered elsewhere we will be happy to provide it in the required format – usually 24 bit 44.1k WAV files.
We have an ISRC registrant code and so can assign ISRC codes to your recordings (if you want to know what ISRC codes are and why you might want them then click here). Alternatively if you have your own ISRC codes for your tracks then we will use those if you wish.