Song Sequencing—This is putting songs or tracks in the order you specified on your Producers Log, which is also where you tell us how much time you want between tracks.
Top & Tail Editing—An important step to making a good CD master is detailing the beginning (top) and end (tail) of each song. At the top we delete any audio content or noise before the start of the song, and at the end we will make a smooth transition from the very last sound down to digital black silence. If you haven't already made the final fades on your songs, good. Leave the fade or final note ring of your songs 2 seconds longer than you want and we will create really nice fades for you!
Precise CD Track Starts—As obvious as this sounds, we have run into many so called master CDs with 2 or more seconds of silence after the start of track (very DJ unfriendly!) We put our start flags precisely at the start of each song, including tracks that run or segue together and “recorded live” tracks.
Track Volume Balancing—Maintaining a uniform volume level from song to song in almost all instances is a very practical idea, classical music perhaps being one exception. This process does involve some loss of dynamics. But the losses, practically speaking, are undetectable and the benefit is that the listener won't have to adjust their volume control from song to song.
Custom EQ & Compression—These are the big players of "Radio Ready" and
" Major Label Quality" mastering. About EQ (equalization): Almost everyone is familiar with bass and treble, which are examples of fairly broad range type EQ filter controls. At Suite Audio, our mastering tools offer an infinite number of EQ filters that can be adjusted for the application needed. In practice this includes bringing out certain instruments or aspects of music, or conversely, to calm down components of music that are too prominent. It's quite common to use several filters at once to achieve a good tonal balance.
Compression is used to control dynamic range. Dynamic range can be described as the volume difference between the loudest to the quietest sound within a song. A common practical use of compression is to achieve a playback volume equal to that of other CDs of the same or similar music type. By applying compression and thereby reducing the dynamic range of a song, the “whole” song can then be turned up by the same amount, resulting in a louder song. That's a bit of a simplified explanation, but conveys the general idea. Compression at more radical settings is sometimes used for effect, much like reverberation or distortion. Depending on the type of music, small or large amounts of compression may be chosen.
Classical music would typically have very little compression, so as to preserve the dynamic range. Pop, Country, Rap and Rock among others usually require a generous amount.
It's the combination of EQ and compression that give an album or song it's unique character. By all means, if you have a description as to what you want, include it in your Producers Log. We get some interesting words describing what customers seeking radio play want; “slammin'” seems to be particularly in vogue at the moment; it is a neat word! Others include “fat, warm, rich, loud, really LOUD, subtle” and so on. Use whatever words you want. If we're not sure what you mean, well ask! If you want to leave it up to us , that's fine too.
There's been a lot written about both EQ and compression. If you're technically inclined, you might enjoy learning more about these electronic tweakers. We suggest a visit to the WAVES site for starters.
Reference CD—The Reference CD is a test CD of what your master will sound like. The real advantage of the reference CD is that you get to hear how your CD will sound on the same gear you listen to, not in a studio with a big impressive monitors, but in real world environments. Reference CD's ship prepaid by Priority Mail. Reference CD's do require a timely response from you.
Gold PMCD Real Time Master—We master to the best quality gold CDRs currently available. PMCD stands for Pre Master CD. Pre because replication houses have to make a glass master and in turn stampers for their machines, so to them it's a pre master. Real Time is the speed at which we transfer your mastered digital audio to CDR. We believe there is less of a chance of errors being introduced when recording to CDR at real time than would be the case at higher record speeds.
Master Track Log—When you send your PMCD off to a replication house, they will likely request P&Q log. That is what the Master Track Log is. Basically it tells the track count, track locations and other information. The P and Q are the two sub codes that apply to the Audio CD standard (known as the Red Book Standard).
Priority Mail Delivery—Wherever you see this as part of a package it means we will return ship by US Priority Mail up to one pound to any continental USA address as part of the package price. For customers outside the continental USA, or for weight in excess of one pound or if you want to ship using a different shipper/carrier, additional fees will be charged.
Archive CD—This is our safety net. Whenever we send you a Reference or Master CD, we make a first generation CD and keep it here. Should something happen to the Reference or Master CD we sent you, we have a safety back up. We will ship any reference safety CDs we made while working on your project when we ship the Master, and hold the Archive Master here up to 90 days after completing your project. If you need the Archive Master we will send it to you USPS Priority Mail for $25, the same price we charge for a duplicate first generation master.