Sara Carter | Mixing And Mastering Engineer

7 Step Pre-Mastering Mix Guidebook

7 Step Pre-Mastering Guidebook

By Sara Carter

Hey there! Thank you so much for downloading this guide.

This guide will make your Mastering Engineer think you're
super switched on and they'll wish all their clients were just like
you!!

It'll provide you with:

-The best questions to ask yourself and your potential
Mastering Engineer before embarking on your mastering
journey to prevent wasted time and extra fees
-A heads up on which le formats you'll need
-Instructions on preparing your les  to make your Mastering
Engineer smile :)
-Everything you need to ask for to ensure you get the result you
want
-What metadata is and how to prepare it
-The consequences of having a very loud master

I imagine you're reading this because you're about to send a mix

or album off for mastering or you're searching Google to nd a
mastering engineer and have looked at a few websites and have
questions about the whole process. Hopefully, this guide will
answer some of those questions and more.

Sara Carter | Mixing & Mastering Engineer

 7 Step Pre-Mastering Mix Guidebook

If it doesn't I'd love to hear from you with any questions you have and
get you on your way to getting your music mastered trouble free!

For the sake of brevity, throughout this guide I'll refer to your Mastering
Engineer as "ME".

So, let’s dive in…

Step 1. Preparing Your Files
Your ME needs room to work. It's bene cial to leave plenty of
headroom when you're mixing. The earlier you can think of this
the better, so start the mix with headroom in mind by:
  eeping an eye on your mix bus metering as you progress through the mix
K
 Ensure peaks at the mix bus don't go any higher than -5dB
 Get clued up about gain staging (Google it) and don’t record too loudly
 Have a limiter on your mix bus and periodically check what roughly 6dB’s of
limiting does to your mix balance and tone. Change your mix accordingly

Bypass any mastering type plugins from your Mix bus:

  imiters
L
 Slate FG-X limiter/ clipper
 Multiband limiters

What about your beloved mix bus compressor?

Ask your ME what they'd prefer, on or off.
I personally don't mind it being left on but some might so ask.

Sara Carter | Mixing & Mastering Engineer

 7 Step Pre-Mastering Mix Guidebook

Your ME may prefer to compress the mix using her/ his own
compressors to get a better quality sound - they may have the
real thing, not a plugin!
Mix quality, the difference between an amateur and a pro mix
-Check your edits for clicks using headphones.
-Clicks can become obvious after mastering and can take some
time to x. Maybe incurring extra cost.
-Re-fade the cut points if needed to get rid of clicks.
-Choose a different spot in the waveform to make the edit.
-Make sure there are no unwanted hiss or noises in the mix by
tidying up your stems.
Tops and tails
-Don't edit the track too tightly, leave some space at the start &
end
-Don’t add track start and end fades - let your ME choose the
best fade length and type
-Useful ambience for noise reduction processing if needed
Exporting
-Keep the same bit depth and sample rate as your session
Higher bit rate is better because it gives your ME more
resolution when using plugins but it’s not a necessity. E.G. 24 bit
or 32 bit is best

Sara Carter | Mixing & Mastering Engineer

 7 Step Pre-Mastering Mix Guidebook

-Don’t change the sample rate. De nitely leave that to your ME

Safety rst! Zip your WAV les
  elps prevent errors during transfer over the internet
H
 Put all your songs in a folder and compress or “zip”
 Send stereo WAV les or AIFF, not MP3

MP3s have had chunks of frequencies removed, most

noticeably in the top and bottom frequency ranges - not the
best start!
Step 2. Choose Commercial References
Reference songs give your ME an idea of what you want your
mix to sound like after mastering. Well chosen references can
speed up the whole process.
Send your mixdown including the processing you bypassed
during le prep.
Suggest a commercial track that you think sounds awesome
everywhere it's played.
Provide more than one reference if you’d like to demonstrate a
speci c element in a song E.G. how the snare sits or the overall
frequency pro le.
Really take some time to listen to some of your favourite tracks
critically and decide what it is about them you’d like to hear in
your track.

Sara Carter | Mixing & Mastering Engineer

 7 Step Pre-Mastering Mix Guidebook

Step 3. Planning and Deliverables

Plan ahead of time, where and on what format you intend to
release your music. Vinyl, CDs, Digital only? Different methods
require different formats.
Which platform is your music destined for?
  isit your distributor's FAQ page and nd out if they accept 16-bit or 24-bit
V
WAVs
 Do you want MFiT? (Apple’s high-quality speci cation - not needed to get on
to iTunes)
 Check your ME can provide an MFiT tested le if you really want one - not all
can
 MFiT could cost you more
 Check which bit depth your ME provides as standard and go from there

Which format do you want or need your music to be on?

  igital les only (16-bit or 24-bit)
D
 CD (needs 16 bit)
 Vinyl (needs 24 bit and extra EQ and sequencing work)

Each format will usually incur another fee so ask your ME to

provide prices. Tell them what you will need upfront.
What’s a DDPi and do I need one?
It’s a digital le set of a Production Master CD that can be sent
to CD replication houses over the internet.
You’ll need one if you intend to get CD’s manufactured.
The best way to avoid getting 100’s of coasters instead of audio
CD’s.

Sara Carter | Mixing & Mastering Engineer

 7 Step Pre-Mastering Mix Guidebook

You need a special player to hear the audio and see the
metadata. Some provide this free, others charge a fee.
It’s the best way to listen to your album as if it were a CD and
check the audio, fades, gaps and text.
Do you need a radio edit or instrumental version mastering as
well?
These additional masters generally incur an extra charge so
again, check with your ME.

Step 4. Metadata and sequencing

Metadata is the text you see in iTunes etc or on the CD players
display and sequencing is placing the songs in the correct order
with beautifully timed gaps.
Some ME's have a form to make metadata easy (like me)
Or you can send a text doc or email:
  ith the tracks in order and numbered
w
 correct capitalisation
 correct spelling
 ISRC codes
 Album/ EP title
 genre
 composer

Artwork can also be embedded as a jpg.

ME's can set the gaps appropriately for long fade outs.
A slow song into a rockin' tune might need a longer gap.

Sara Carter | Mixing & Mastering Engineer

 7 Step Pre-Mastering Mix Guidebook

When auditioning, does the transition feel right or rushed? - Get

a DDP and player to audition your gaps properly before
manufacture.
Think about the transitions between songs, do you need any
crossfades for example?
Masters intended for vinyl need extra sequencing
consideration. You might have to change the sequence to t
the length limitations of 33RPM, side A and side B. Each side
of a 12-inch LP could play for about 22 minutes.
ISRC codes and how to get them
ISRC codes ensure you get royalties paid if your music gets
played on TV or radio. Read my blog post for more info HERE
Get them for free, in advance, from the PPL in the UK or when
you upload your mastered tracks to your distributor.
Some ME’s will provide them, free or paid.
ISRC codes must be encoded at the mastering stage before the
nal master CD is burnt or the master DDPi is created.

Step 5. Other things to think about - The Extra’s and their fees
As this guide has progressed, I’ve mentioned a few of the extra’s
you can expect to pay a fee for, that’s why it’s important to get
informed so you can make the right choices for your project and
budget. Beyond what I’ve already mentioned, here are a few
more facts:

Sara Carter | Mixing & Mastering Engineer

 7 Step Pre-Mastering Mix Guidebook

A basic (cheaper) mastering services will usually provide:

  6-bit 44.1k WAV les only
1
 Maybe embed your metadata, maybe not
 5-7 days turnaround

Anything over and above this will usually cost extra unless
you’re paying for an all-inclusive service or a higher priced ME.
Don’t expect the highest quality 320k mp3’s as standard either.
Need to change the mix? This could cost you extra.
Payment is usually all upfront but some ME’s will be open to
discuss a deposit to get the project started and the rest will be
due before they release your nal masters.
Step 6. Get a test master (free)
Many ME’s offer a free test mastering sample and you should
take the opportunity to get some samples done from a handful
of ME’s and compare.
Gives you an opportunity to change the mix before mastering
without any extra charges.
Many offer a mix consultation for free (like I do), could be by
email or video.
Get a feel for the ME and how she or he works, how well did
they interpret your instructions? How quickly did they respond
to emails and how helpful were they?

Sara Carter | Mixing & Mastering Engineer

 7 Step Pre-Mastering Mix Guidebook

Step 7. Finally, the “elephant in the room” - LOUDNESS!

There, I said it. I bet you were wondering why I hadn’t
mentioned it until now. Here’s the long and short of it.
Compromises have to be made if you want your song crazy
loud. Again, some facts for you to ponder:
Streaming services, including YouTube, will turn your track
down if it’s louder than their speci cation, and it will be too loud
because their specs are very quiet.
This applies to anyone who has the normalisation system
switched on in the platform preferences.
Some platforms have it switched on by default, some don’t so
for those who don’t have normalisation switched on, the levels
will be jumping all over the place, song to song which is why
people usually switch it on.
Having your song crazy loud means you’ve sacri ced a lot of its
dynamics, meaning, your music sounds one dimensional and
boring and can even be perceived quieter than a more dynamic
song once normalisation has levelled the volumes.

More dynamics equals more excitement, energy

and punch

If it’s going to CD, loudness doesn’t matter because people set

their volume knobs when they press play and forget about it -
unless they’re using a CD changer and who uses those
anymore?! Somebody does somewhere probably :)

Sara Carter | Mixing & Mastering Engineer

 7 Step Pre-Mastering Mix Guidebook

This topic again could ll a whole other guide so I’ve only given
you a brief overview of loudness. Talk to me more about
loudness by dropping me an email and I’ll do my best to help you
decide what’s best for your music.

Conclusion
You hopefully have a clearer picture of the options when it
comes to choosing your ME, the extra’s and preparing your mix
les for mastering. 

There are a lot of variables in choosing an online mastering

service but you should be savvier regarding what you get for
your money and you won't make the mistake of going with the
cheapest engineer only to nd out they fall short of your
expectations and you need to shell out more cash, leaving you
feeling cheated and out of pocket.
If you follow my guidelines, you’ll have a smooth and stress-free
mastering experience and might even nd a ME that you stick
with for life. A good ME will always be happy to help you with
your mixing and offer great free advice along the way.

If you liked this guide you can join my list of audio professionals
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Hope to see you on the inside! Sara.

Sara Carter | Mixing & Mastering Engineer

 7 Step Pre-Mastering Mix Guidebook

Who am I?

You can nd out more about my mixing service HERE which includes:

  ree mastering on every project
F
 Help preparing your session les
 3 rounds of revisions

You can nd out more about my mastering service HERE which includes:

  ree test masters
F
 Free mix consultations
 My pre-mastering discovery fact- nding call

And nally, you can nd out more about me HERE:

  y professional album credits
M
 My BBC Radio background and over 10 years professional experience
 Major artists, I’ve worked with
 Examples of my work
 Why I know so much about craft beer, cars, motorbikes and 70’s disco music!

Sara Carter | Mixing & Mastering Engineer