SERVING WORLDWIDE
from Hampton Falls New Hampshire USA
603.944.6710

BRIAN JAMES
OWNER and ENGINEER

AUDIO MASTERING, RESTORATION, PRESERVATION and PRODUCTION

CONTACT @ CARDINALMASTERING.COM

WHAT TO PROVIDE / WHAT I ACCEPT

I accept digital, stereo or mono mix-downs for mastering + vinyl and various tape formats (both audio and video) for restoration, remastering and forensic work. At this time I cannot master surround material though I certainly hope to in the future. Audio from 44.1k - 192k is suggested.

PRE-PRODUCTION NOTES, FORMATS & AUDIO QUALITY

If you have not yet begun recording and will be recording digitally (as most will) please record at the highest bit depth and sample rate your system / processing power will afford. If your DAW supports floating point (32 or 64 bit) always use it. Floating point eliminates many potential issues because it is impossible to clip (though you'd still want to stage levels thoughtfully). A best-case scenario is audio recorded, processed and mixed-down at 192k, 64-bit floating point. 96k or 192k will easily tax many systems and not all hardware is capable of these rates so it is in no way mandatory but you should be able to record minimally at 48k, 32fp or 64fp with any modern hardware / DAW. Please do not record below 16-bit, 44.1k - this is what I consider mastering-ready audio.

Final mixes should be sent as WAV or AIFF formats, with sample rate and bit depth unaltered. Lossy formats (MP3, WMA, etc.) are in no way ideal - however, if you have no other format available (as could be the case with restoration or remastering) they can still be worked with in a pinch.

HEALTHY LEVELS - WHAT TO AIM FOR

If you have worked in floating point then most anything will be fine - floating point audio remains flexible and cannot be clipped digitally. If you worked in fixed point bit-depth (16 / 24) please keep the highest peak per track below -2dBFS - that's it!

TRACK ORDER & ADDITIONAL PROJECT NOTES

Please supply notes about track order - this is very helpful to have up-front. If there are specific notes on tracks please send them along in an email or give a call. Examples of this would be something that could be mistaken as a flaw (a background noise or series of clicks) when, in fact, it was desired and intentional. Such instances are rare, but it has happened in the past! If I am ever in doubt, I will ask - better still if it's explained up-front.

PROCESSING TO LIMIT OR FOREGO

Though you may apply compression to individual parts and to a lesser degree buses (drums, for example) please avoid any dynamics processing on the master bus - this includes compressing, limiting (especially) and processing that intrinsically compresses when driven (tape simulation, etc.). Broad dynamic control is best left for the mastering stage, as is bus saturation, corrective and broad EQ. While you may set up your own master bus, for a quick and dirty master, please remember to bypass this processing in the mix you'll be submitting.

ROOM SILENCE and LEAD-IN / OUT TIME

If any of your recording was done in an open space please send along 10 seconds or more of room silence - that is, the sound of the space you record in without a single thing going on (do this when the space is most likely to be at its quietest) - this can be very useful to have on-hand. Also, if possible leave at least a few seconds of lead-in when recording tracks. Do not cut tracks short at the end or trim them tightly in most cases, please leave ample lead-out time for the best possible fades, timing and flexibility during mastering.

BEATS-PER-MINUTE

For tracks with a set BPM that were recorded to a click, please note the BPM used. Though I can discover this on my own if necessary it's easiest to have this info up-front and it can be very helpful when timing certain mastering processing or treating sections differently.

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? FEEL FREE TO EMAIL OR CALL

NOTE:  If you do not currently use a DAW of choice, I highly recommend REAPER - it is an exceptional program and has been at the heart of all my audio productions and mastering since 2005 - the price, too, is unbeatable.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Please use the full form on the contact page to submit project details & the submission page to upload files