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Mastering is the art & science of transforming "final mixes" into "Final Masters" suitable for commercial distribution. Without it, your music will not achieve its full potential and will struggle to compete in today's competitive environment. We use both analog and digital processing to create masters you'll be proud of and confident they'll sound as good as any playback system is able to reproduce them.

While mastering can be dramatic in its effect, it is limited in its ability to change the balance between instruments and to correct major sonic issues without effecting other elements in the mix. So, if you're not satisfied with your mixes, or you're not confident in your mixing abilities, you may want to consider stem mastering.

What is Stem Mastering? It is simply mastering with sub mixes, which are referred to as stems or separations. In other words, instead of mastering a traditional two channel stereo mix we would use multiple two channel sub mixes. These stems usually consist of something like the following: drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, lead vocals, backing vocals, etc. but can also consist of as little as vocals and instruments. 

By separating your mix into these separate stems each stem can be processed more according to it's own needs and not effect the other stems as much as may occur in traditional mastering. While the results are impressive it cannot replace remixing if that is what is ultimately needed, it can however help in resolving discrepancies with mixing judgments and ease the frustration of doing countless versions. Since it is sort of a hybrid process of mixing and mastering it also offers the opportunity to rebalance the mix, if desired, and to have your mix processed with equipment and techniques that you may not have access to.

Restoration is the process of cleaning up artifacts in a source audio file. We do this using iZotope RX software. It enables us to remove excessive noise, hum, hiss, inadvertent or unwanted noises, clicks, pops and ticks as well as precision De-Essing. 

Mixing has long been a passion of Mike's for most of his career. His style focuses on creating organic drum sounds and a wide, enveloping sound field that remains true to the vibe and arrangement you have created. He has been strongly influenced by mixers such as Brendan O'Brien, Chris Lord Alge, Bob Clearmountain, Ben Grosse and Jack Joseph Puig. His mixing style is best for suited for Rock, Blues, Jazz and Country. 

He can help you mix just your drum tracks or any other element that you are having difficulties with or he can mix the entire song. We are also available for a listening evaluation consultation to provide you with a second, professional opinion with recommendations and technique suggestions on how to improve your mixes. This evaluation along with separation mastering can yield results that you may have thought you could not achieve on your own and can be a great way to stay within your budget.

If you're interested in having Mike do any mixing or to set up a complimentary listening consultation please Contact Us to discuss the details of your project.