Why Your Recording Needs Mastering

For a complete list of mastering plants in the US go to:

http://www.recordlabelresource.com/list.php?catid=4


CD Mastering

Mastering is the final step in the 'production' process of a recording. The mastering house is the last place that you can make any adjustments, or 'fixes' to the material before it begins replication. The recording being mastered will be set to an appropriate volume level, to make it comparable with other commercial recordings of it's genre. The songs will be sequenced in the order they will appear on the CD, and the disc will be written with all the proper coding and information needed by the pressing plant.

Why does your record need mastering? If you plan on releasing your recorded material on CD, you will probably need to have it mastered. For some styles of music, all that will be needed is a level adjustment and sequencing for the final CD. Other material may require compression, equalization, reverb, and perhaps some editing. A good mastering house will be able to determine what kind of treatment the material may need, and have the equipment to apply that treatment, without damaging the quality of the sound. The most critical aspect in our eyes, is to insure that material will sound good when listened to through various playback systems, such as in the car, on the radio, off a boom box, and through a high quality speaker system.