General Information About Master Services Online

If you're interested in having your audio mastered and released on to CD or Vinyl for example, there are a few sites online that you should check out! Did you know there are actual firms online that will master your audio for you over the Internet? This is pretty amazing but we shouldn't be too surprised considering technology is constantly moving at the speed of light when it comes to producing new products and services for both entertainment purposes as well as business purposes. The audio mastering companies are involved in things such as music for artists and singers, to soundtracks for movies and video games.

"Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device. The master; is the source from which all copies will be produced."

Just recently I got a taste of some audio and media tracks before they were mastered and after they were mastered. I have to say, there is a large difference not only with the actual tone of the voices and instruments, but its also clearer and less crackly. Here is a sample list of the steps that are taken in order to master your audio (typically):

Transfer recorded audio tracks into the digital audio workstation.
Sequence to separate songs or tracks that they will appear on the final product such as an audio CD
Process the audio to maximize the quality
Transfer the audio to the final master format

When the mastering process happens they use things such as equalization, compression and noise reduction in order to make the end product have a much higher quality than it would if it wasn't mastered. Here are a few examples of some more processes they use:

Edit flaws
Add ambiance
Adjust volumes
Dynamic expansion & Dynamic compression

As a side note, if you are going to get someone such as a company or firm to master your audio for you, make sure they have an actual Mastering Engineer that takes care of the process. Not just anyone is capable if producing a great master, as Bob Katz a published author and mastering engineer says "mastering is an art form and it should be relegated to a mastering engineer." You also might want to make sure they have a audio mastering studio or at least audio mastering equipment and not a normal recording studio. Apparently there is a large difference between the two when it comes to the equipment and such. If you would like more information, please visit your favorite search engine!