Bartlett Recording studio in Weaverville, NC -- mastering

Digital editing and mastering of your songs

Suppose you have a CD-R or wave files of your songs. I can edit them into a CD master that is ready to duplicate on CD. I also master the recordings made at my studio. Your songs will be in the desired order, with a few seconds of silence between songs. I'll remove any noises before and after each song.

Also, I will match the song levels so that no song is too loud or too quiet relative to the others. This makes the collection of songs sound more uniform, like an album.

AUDIO ENHANCEMENTS
Other audio sweetening can be done, but should be done only if needed:

• Digital equalization to change the bass, mids, or treble of certain songs.
• Loudness maximizing to keep the overall level hot. This processing will not change the dynamics of your music unless you ask for that.
• Harmonic balancing to make the tonal balance like a commercial CD of your choice.
• Fade ins, fade outs, and cross-fades from one song to another.
• Cut and paste editing. For example, put the guitar solo from take 3 into the rest of take 1. Or use the intro from take 5, and the rest from take 2.
By splitting songs into segments, I can EQ the chorus differently from the verses, adjust overall level in spots, and so on.

CD-R OR WAVE FILE REQUIREMENTS
The ideal format is wave files on a data CD-R or USB thumb drive, 24-bit, 44.1K, 48K, or 96K sample rate, no dither. I can work with almost any other format. Your mix files should not be normalized, and should not have overall compression of the stereo mix.

Be sure to include a log that indicates what is on your CD-R. For example,

DATA CD LOG (EXAMPLE):
long_ride_blues-1.wav
long_ride_blues-2.wav
insta-flash.wav
on_the_way_home-1.wav
on_the_way_home-2.wav
stretchin_the_limit.wav

Also make a list of the desired order of songs as shown below. It's a good idea to change keys between songs, and to start with an uptempo, accessible song.

DESIRED SEQUENCE (EXAMPLE):
1. Long Ride Blues
2. On the Way Home
3. Stretching the Limit
4. Insta-flash
5. Get Ready to Stop
6. Have it Both Ways
7. Monk's Delight

Maximum program time for a CD is 78 minutes.
Be sure to clearly print or type detailed notes on any processing or special editing you want on each song. For example:

EDITING NOTES (EXAMPLE):
Song 2, "On the Way Home". Raise level of the intro 2 dB.
Song 4, "Insta-flash". Boost bass to match other songs.
Insert sax solo from "Have It Both Ways" take 3, into "Have It Both Ways" take 1.
Do a 4-second crossfade between songs 5 and 6.

ORDERING PROCEDURE
Now that you know what's needed, here's what to do:
1. Email me about your project. I'll reply with contact information.
2. Send me your finished mixes on CD-R, or upload wave files to www.yousendit.com. Also send your log, notes, your street address and phone number.
3. The fee for mastering is $200. Payment can be by check, money order or PayPal.
4. As soon as I receive your payment, I will send you the master CD. Or I can upload mastered song wave files to www.yousendit.com for you to download. Please allow 10 days for checks to clear.
5. Listen to the master CD all the way through to make sure all the edits were done as you wanted them. I'll make changes if needed.
6. When everything is okay, you can send the master CD to the CD duplicator. I'll hold onto a safety copy.
Looking forward to working with you!

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