FAQ 2

Can I get my tracks both Mixed and Mastered by you?

Of course! If your tracks are already recorded but not Mixed yet, let us do the Mixing! Our excellence is in the Mastering, but we offer high quality Mixing Services as well, and taking both the Mixing and Mastering from us is a great way to ensure the maximum quality in both the process.

FAQ 3

Unsure If Your Mix Is Ready for Mastering?

Get free evaluation!

If you are unsure if your Final Mix is ready for Mastering, send us your Final Mix for a free evaluation. Just send the track via WeTransfer to our contact email and we will listen to the track. We will let you know if it is ready, and if it is not, we send you feedback with all the suggestions and changes we think you should apply to your Mix to make it ready for Mastering.

We really believe that one excellent Final Mix translates in an excellent Master.

FAQ 4

What is Included in Mastering & Mixing Services Online?

In the Mastering Service you will receive the Final Master which is one high quality WAW file at the resolution of 48 KHz, as well as Master for streaming and DDP Image for cd and vinyl. Our aim is to deliver your Mastering with the best possible quality and in the most demanded formats of this day.

In the case of the Mixing service we deliver you a single stereo track which is your Final Mix in a high quality WAW format at 48 KHz.

FAQ 7

How long does it take to have the Mixing and/or Mastering ready?

For Mastering up to three songs normally takes 1 to 3 days depending on the volume of the work and how complex the Mastering is for example in the case of an album or long productions. What also can happen is that the Final Mix is not ready for mastering or needs to be fixed because something is wrong (maybe its too loud and needs more headroom, maybe its very harsh in the high frequencies or the voice needs a de-esser). In that case we contact you and explain what is wrong with the Mix. We will send you a sheet via email with all the things that needs to be done or addressed in order to be ready for Mastering and achieve the best quality in your Master.

For individual tracks (1 song) the Mixing services take around 2 to 3 days. For mixing a project up to 8 tracks (an album) takes between 14 to 20 days if the tracks are well recorded (meaning that you can not hear weird noises or defects, clicks and pops etc, that would require a lot of editing to fix them) and the project has up to 24 tracks per song. The process of Mixing is longer than Mastering because there are much more tracks to deal with, and the balance, panning, gain staging, edition and automation are processes that require time to do the best way possible based on the characteristics, the genre and other key info about the Mixing Project itself.

The Mixing can take longer if for artistic or stylistic reasons the Mix needs additional analog gear that we don´t have already in the studio. In that case we can do it but we need to send the tracks in real time to another studio where we can use much more analog gear via Access Analog Technology and this additional service needs at least one day extra and we charge also an extra fee depending on the amount of the gear the project needs.

In case you need both Mixing and Mastering services from us, the entire process per 1 song takes between 2 to 5 days and between 14 to 20 days up to 8 songs if the tracks are well recorded and edited.

Our aim is to achieve your goals and your vision, and therefore you always have right to 2 free revisions for the Mixing and/or Mastering.

FAQ 8

How do I prepare my tracks for you to Master or Mix?

We provide you with a Mastering or Mixing checking list where you have all the important information in order to send your tracks the right way. You can see the list here below, but it is also included in the downloadable Guidance Folder.

Checklist for Mastering:

1. All files must be in at least 48 kHz format, and at least 24 bit.

2. All files must be WAV file format. No MP3s.

3. All reference mixes must be “high quality” MP3s.

4. All files must have at least -6db of headroom.

5. Please remove all limiters or compressors from your master buss.

6. Have all individual tracks edited with clean fades, as we aren’t responsible for any cuts or pops within the master when the problem exists in the individual track. Leave some room in the beginning & end of the song to give us some room to work with fades.

7. Do not send session files, only WAV files.

8. When all the files are ready to be sent, please compress the files into one single folder, and send using WeTransfer.com to our email contact@solarvoxstudio.com
   

Checklist for Mixing:

1. All tracks must be in at least 44.1 kHz format, and at least 24 bit.

2. All files must be WAV file format. No MP3s.

3. All reference mixes must be at least “high quality” MP3s or WAWs.

4. All tracks must have at least -6db of headroom.

5. Please remove all effects from the tracks before bouncing, its better for the mix and generates less problems such as phase issue, overlapping frequencies and poor quality sound. If you have any plugin preference or you want to use a specific plugin for a specific track please let us know on the Clients Notes Sheet and we are happy to help you with that.

6. Have all individual tracks edited with clean fades, as we aren’t responsible for any cuts or pops within the mixing when the problem exists in theindividual track.

7. Do not send session files, only the all individual and consolidated tracks (all tracks from the project must have the same duration from beginning to end without leaving gaps or loose pieces of track, so that way the song/audio plays correctly).

8. When all the files are ready to be sent, please compress the files into one folder, and send using WeTransfer.com to us at our email contact@solarvoxstudio.com.

FAQ 9

Ok But… What Is Mastering? And What is Mixing? What´s the difference?

Mastering is the final process in the audio production. Its a process that is applied to a Final Mix once the artist or the Mixing Engineer has bounced all the different tracks of a mixing session to one only stereo track. This stereo track is the Final Mix that need to be Mastered to be released.

Mastering makes the Final Mix sound louder, clear and ready to be competitive with the commercial music or audio tracks you hear on the radio, Spotify, Youtube, CD´s, Vinyls and other supports you can find out there in the professional market. The Stereo Track that results from the Mastering process is called The Master and it is the track that is sent to the digital platforms, the radio or print into a CD or a Vinyl.

Mixing is the process of editing, cleaning, balancing, placing and distributing in the stereo image all the individual tracks contained in a mixing project. All this single tracks build together a song or a recording. Those individual tracks can be for example the kick, one voice, a guitar track, bass, piano etc. Once the Mixing Engineer and the people involved in the project are happy with the final result, they bounce all those individual tracks from the mixing project in one single stereo track that is called The Final Mix.

FAQ 10

Ok I got you! But more in detail… What exactly Mastering Can & Can not do to my “Final Mix” tracks?

What Mastering can do:

• Make your tracks sound louder

• Make your tracks sound clear and bright

• Emphasize and make shine the elements that are already great and beautiful on your mix

• Make several Final Mixes included in a project like a Music Album or an EP for example, sound with the same quality and coherence, volume and flow. Mastering creates that sense of glue and unity across all the Album or so.

• Prepare your track to be printed on a CD or a Vinyl, or to be streamed at online music platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora, and also for videos, cinema or advertising.

What Mastering can not do:

• Miracles!

  • If your Mix is poor in terms of quality, it is not well edited, you can hear pops and clicks, is distorted or is too loud with not enough headroom, the Mastering can´t make it sounds good. The popular expression “No worries, it can be fixed in the Mastering” is a myth, and actually more than 70% of the quality of the Mastering is related to the quality of the Final Mix.

• Totally Change The Sound Of Your Mix.

  • Mastering doesn´t completely change the sound of your Mix. Actually Mastering is not about that, its about reinforcing the elements that are already in your Mix that are absolutely beautiful and just need to be addressed and enhanced to polish and let shine on your tracks. Mastering makes up the little defects or minor problems on your Mix. In short, if your Mix is great the Mastering will make it excellent and superior. Mastering makes shine the diamond that was already there hidden in the Mix!

• Mastering doesn´t do Magic!

  • Mastering can not make a “garage band” sound like a professional band in a blink of an eye using some kind of a magic or a dark art. And nothing against garage band sound, I love it! Everyone, me included, once in life was part of a garage band. And proud of it! But what I want to explain with that, is that a Metal Band that recorded a track in a garage, with cheap mics, cheap instruments and cheap equipment, is never going to achieve the sound of Metallica or System Of A Down Masters! No Way! Being realistic, no magic on the Mastering process can do that. The great albums of bands we love, are made with a lot of time, money and resources to have the best instruments, the best musicians on the band, the best studios and engineers to sound great. The mastering engineers can achieve those stunning Masters, because the Final Mix and all the previous process on the music production where finished the best way.

You don´t have to spend millions like these bands, but you can make the same on your budget. Just put your best effort to record your tracks with the best quality you can afford and take care of your sound, the quality of your instruments and your performance. Try to have a great Final Mix and take care of every step of the production, this way the Mastering Engineer can get great Masters out of the tracks you send them.

Before putting all the effort on the Mastering process, start earlier, make your tracks from the beginning with the best quality you can. You will be very surprised on how good your Masters will sound this way!