Preparing your source files to send for mastering…

The audio files of your final mixes that you submit for Mastering, should be the same resolution as your recorded tracks…(sample bit size and sample rate). Unless of course you run analog in your mix chain to a new A-D conversion, then it can be what you like. However, it is highly recommended to use at least 24 bit/44.1khz (or higher) in interleaved and uncompressed as a .WAV or .AIFF file format. This should be considered as the minimum resolution. In this day and age, there is really no reason to work at 16 bits until making your master for CD duplication. Also, please include 2 seconds of blank space (silence) at the beginning and end of each song.

To Fade or not…to fade

If you are using fades, please let them tail off extra long, or leave fades to us in mastering. The proper stage to add fade-ins and fade-outs is actually during the mastering process. This allows the mastering engineer to properly adjust the fades in conjunction with any refinements made to the music, ensuring continuity of the entire song, so you don’t hear the fade You created being cut off because it wasn’t long enough. If you have a specific requirement for a fade, please include that in any notes.

Headroom and Master Bus Compression/Limiting…

If master bus processing, like compression, is necessary in your mix, then we ask you to please supply a flat version (no active processing on the mix bus) along with your bus compression version.   Ideally, digital audio levels should be between -18 dBFS and -3 dBFS, with peaks no higher than  -2dBFS (dBFS is decibel at Full Scale to zero on your digital meter). Also let us know if you mastered using K-scale and which on (k20, k14, k12, etc). This will allow the mastering engineer to maximize the dynamic range without the occasional adverse affects of compression or limiting that can possibly occur during mastering.

A dynamic mix will be easier to master than a squashed version, as it will have much more room for adjustments than a squashed version. Also, please make sure that the master channel does not clip (go over ‘0’ dBFS), as to retain all of the dynamics and transients of the mix.

Titles, Artist Information, Track Names and Track Order

The administrative tasks for final master delivery, will include embedding all track titles and authors, artist information and album title, into the final master CD-R and/or DDP Image as CD Text. This is the information you see displayed in compatible CD players. Then numerically ordering of each track, for CD duplication. 

Of note, when people play the music from a computer or newer Blue Ray or DVD/CD players, the device will pull in information about the song, artist, and track info. This information is coming from an online source known as Gracenote. Now, as the artist,  you can submit the track titles to Gracenote, or even freedb.org all from within iTunes, yourself.

To do this, insert your newly pressed CD you received from the replicator, then open iTunes. When you CD is recognized, you click on each track name and fill in all necessary information about that track, and then the information is automatically submitted to Gracenote. You can also use freedb.org for the same process.

How are Sales tracked and are ISRC codes related?

An ISRC (International Standard Recording Code), is a 12 digit code (alpha numeric) used to identify a sound recording when it is played/streamed from sources such as iTunes, Pandora, Spotify, TIDAL, or another streaming platform. They are used to track the number of plays and sales for which to collect royalty payments from, and are embedded into the metadata of the music file.

In order to embed them into your file, you must obtain these 12 digit codes from either your record label, distributor such as CDBaby.com, or directly from ISRC.org for a small fee.

Once you have obtained this code, we will enter it into the metadata part of your song, so it can be tracked each time it is played.

What is a Barcode and do I need one?

Yes. A barcode is required for being able to sell your CD’s through any retail sellers. The barcode is used to track CD sales from these retailers. This code can be obtained from your distributor, such as CD baby, or from any of these online locations…IMAAI.orgNationwide Barcode, Simply Barcodes

Once your barcode is obtained, please let us know as we will insert it into your project. If you purchase it yourself, you can also give/upload it to your distributor, such CDBaby.com.

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