Too Long; Didn’t Read

1. Listen to rendered mixes.

2. Love your mixes.

3. Leave some headroom.

4. Label files.

5. Communicate.

I have no specific requirement regarding the amount of headroom needed in your files. My only request is to keep true peaks below 0dBFS on the master fader.

• WAV/AIFF exports
• 32-Bit Float is preferred
• 24-Bit is ok
• Do not dither
• Avoid sample rate conversion
• Avoid wordlength reductions

Listen on one device or speaker system that you are most familiar with. If you listen on two different systems you will get two different results. The adage goes, “A person with one watch always knows what time it is; A person with two watches is never sure.”

Get it right with your mix engineer before it is sent to my desk. It’s rare a bad mix will become an good master.

Historically, it has been considered best practices to turn off all master buss or 2-buss plugins. However, this is not a hard and fast rule.

If you are using a compressor, EQ, or limiter on the mix buss to achieve the balance and glue desired and as an artistic choice, leave it on. Again, don’t over think this.

It’s crucial to meticulously check for any stray noises, pops, or clicks that might become more noticeable after the mastering process. Be sure to listen to the actual mix files you’ll send for mastering, as glitches or anomalies can sometimes occur during the rendering of the final stereo mix files.

For mixes on analog tape, please provide proper alignment tones (at least 100 Hz, 1kHz, & 10kHz at 0VU) and information about for tape speed, reference level, EQ standard, mix titles/timings, and location of tones.

The more communication, the better. Seriously. What helps me most as a mastering engineer is clear articulation of what you are going for as an artist or producer. Depending on the direction, these gestures may subtly massage the tone or it may have a significant impact on the sound of your song. You also may not have any specific direction or thoughts for mastering your record, and that’s ok too!

Strive for the best possible feeling, then print the mix. Over-scrutinizing waveforms and meters can distract from the actual process of making music. In other words, use your ears and not your eyes. Remember, part of the process is understanding when to let go, and trusting in the quality of your work.