Overview - What is Mastering? - Mastering is usually the final step in the recording process. The mastered version becomes "The Master" which usually becomes the final version of a song or release that's then used to make copies of the recording (for vinyl, CDs EPs) and/or provided for digital releases, streaming, downloads etc. However, vinyl may have a specific master that's different than the one used for either CDs or digital releases. Usually the general process of a release goes from recording stage to mixing to mastering. Whereas, during mixing specific adjustments can be made on individual instruments/tracks in a mix (instrument EQ changes or volume changes for balancing mix, frequency adjustments between various instruments for mix clarity), during Mastering it's more of a global "sweetening" or "final sheen" on the overall mix. However, some even more detailed enhancements can be made to mixes that are provided to a Mastering Engineer as STEMS (individual parts of the mix such as all Drum elements as a single WAV file, all Vocal elements as a WAV file, all Guitars as a WAV file, etc). STEMS can allow the Mastering Engineer to further enhance certain elements of the mix without those adjusments changing other parts of the mix. Basically, STEM Mastering is a process that offers greater overall control over the sonic shape and balance of your music. Our personal preference for Mastering at Wonderland Studios is to work with STEMS provided from a client, or if it's a project we've mixed we'll often bounce down STEMS for our mastering process. However, we have certainly done a ton of Mastering from just the stereo mix as well.

Mastering with Wonderland Studios - After many years of being a part of countless mastering sessions and learning many tips and techniques from some of the best Mastering Engineers in the business, Wonderland Studios started offering mastering to select clients at a very competitive price (our standard $30/hr rate), saving many of our clients hundreds of dollars. Therefore, we've been the Mastering Engineer for many of our clients for over 20+ years now (since 2001). Almost every song you hear on the radio has been mastered. Mastering requires exactitude, confidence, knowledge of music in general and of various styles and the ability to adapt for each song and client. Your CD/EP/Single just isn't ready for release or ready for radio until it's been properly mastered. Mastering adds such important items as increased overall volume, clarity and punch, improved stereo image, balanced EQ to help your mixes translate better across various "real-world" speakers and systems, more consistent volume from song to song, cohesiveness to the whole project to help all mixes fit together on a given release, spacing and/or cross-fades from one song to the next, and even metadata embedded into the music files etc. Mastering a music release is especially important now that people listen on a myriad of devices (stereos, cars, phones, computers, earbuds etc).

We often deliver the final mastered product as WAV or AIFF directly to a client and/or via DDP files to your preferred manufacturer such as DiscMakers, CD Baby etc and/or directly to the client. DDP stands for "Disc Description Protocol", a proprietary format developed by DCA, Inc. DDP files are often used when sending music to a CD manufacturer because they have a significant amount of error correction built in which helps prevent errors from making it to the final product (CD masters can contain burn/write data errors due to physical CD). DDP files allow you to set all of the parameters for the CD such as the exact gap between each song, the cross fades and other information such as metadata. A DDP file allows the producer and mastering engineer to have complete control over all parameters for the CD, therefore it is recommended for critical applications when you have very specific artistic needs for the production.

See Our Team link for further information about available mastering engineers for your project.

Email: WonderlandStudios@gmail.com

Phone: 512-587-5823 (Phone off during sessions, please email for fastest response)