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I have worked with clients ranging from a GRAMMY® winning, Emmy and Tony nominated composer whose
hit songs have sold over 50 million records, to the small "do it
yourselfer" in their bedroom. Most of my clients are
independent artists looking for quality work at a reasonable
price.
I studied CD Mastering under the supervision of Bob Dennis.
He's one of the founding fathers of Motown, with 37 gold records to
his name.
I master audio CDs because I love music. I'd do it for free
if I could. Music was my main emotional outlet and form of
self expression as I was growing up. It is still a very
important aspect of myself, influencing mood, emotion, perception,
outlook and general well being. My favorite groups/artists
are, in no particular order: George Winston, William Ackerman,
Erasure, Oingo Boingo, Thomas Dolby, Peter Gabriel, The The, Icicle
Works/Ian McNabb, Runrig, Simple Minds, XTC and others.
My goal is to get my clients songs and their CD sounding clean,
clear and not fatiguing to listen to. I like "open" and clear
sounding CDs without any clipping distortion, and prefer more
limiting over heavy compression. If you like REALLY LOUD
and compressed CDs I'll be honest and say I don't like listening
to them and probably will decline to master your project. I find CDs mastered like this irritating to listen
to for physiological reasons. I may like the songs, but
they make my ears hurt and give me a headache.
It is important that you "let go" of your CD at the mastering stage and have the ear of an objective professional make final adjustments. Years of experience and hundreds of albums give me the perspective necessary to master your CD.
Consider that you will be releasing your CD to the public where
"strangers" will judge it on many levels. You want to
present the best possible musical experience to them. Your
success depends on it.
I have been mastering audio CDs full time since 1999.
Most of my clients are not located nearby, and I've had clients
from all parts of the globe. Mastering a project usually works like this:
1) I receive the mixes and paperwork.
2) If I have any questions about the mixes or project, I ask for
more information.
3) I master the songs and post preview versions online.
4) The client downloads and listens to the preview versions.
5) Any adjustments the client wants after hearing the preview
versions are made.
6) Final versions of the songs are posted online for review and
approval.
7) After approval, I make the master CD and listening copy and
send them to the client. (If the client is replicating the CD
through me I only send the listening copy.)
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