MASTERING
Mastering is one of the most important steps in the chain of music production. Just like recording or mixing it can have a crucial impact on the end result.
There isn’t just one way to master an album. Each project is different. Years of practice and experience inform our creative approach and technical choices to make your music stand out.
Remember this is your last chance to make an artistic decision!
Besides our classic analog gear, high end digital processing and a perfectly balanced acoustical environment we mostly rely on our well trained sets of ears.
Of course critical listening is essential, but at Kevorkian Mastering we also make a priority to listen to you first.
MASTERING FOR iTunes
Since 2012 the AAC encoder for iTunes is accepting high resolution files for better fidelity reproduction.
In 2013 Kevorkian Mastering became an authorized site by Apple to generate these specific type of files.
We were provided with all the tools to encode and optimize the high resolution audio onto the final “Mastered for iTunes” format.
Also our clients can demo at anytime how their music will translate once available on the iTunes store.
MASTERING FOR VINYL
Mastering for vinyl is a very specific task. The format itself is a lot less forgiving than a compact disc or another digital format.
The quality of vinyl reproduction depends directly on many variables such as musical content, side length, low end information, high frequency level, average program… just to name a few.
Despite its limitations, we provide the experience and the right tools to generate the best possible cutting master.
In most cases we do not recommend to use the CD or the digital master as a source for the vinyl. Often these masters have been overlimited only to compete with the real world market. For vinyl it’s now a bit different.
Our customers are willing to sacrifice level for a better “audiophile” experience. For just a fraction of studio time, we will create a much more dynamic and musical master. Finally, these high resolution files will make the cutting process a lot easier and will translate beautifully onto your vinyl.
Remastering & Restoration
In the world of mastering, we sometimes have to work with older projects recorded, released or even just archived decades ago.
Before digital audio files, analog tape was definitely the mixing format of choice for years.
Different tape sizes, speeds and various kinds of noise reduction were used for all the final mixdowns.
Open reel digital tape started to be popular in the 80’s. Then this format quickly started to be overshadowed by the very attractive DAT tape introduced just a few years later. DAT totally exploded in the 90’s because of all the home studios blooming up at that time. Not only DAT decks were affordable but you could also record 2 hours of CD quality audio for about $15.00 per tape. No other format could even compete at this point!
In the mean time, even if analog tape wasn’t the most popular format, it wasn’t dead! Still recognized by the professionals as the best media available, it just seemed to be mostly reserved to the elite associated with higher recording budgets.
Unfortunately, no matter the budget, some of these formats didn’t always age very well. The brand, the year it was manufactured, and of course the storage conditions are usually the key factors on how these masters held up through the years.
At Kevorkian Mastering we have the experience, the knowledge and all the right tools to handle and safely playback all these materials. We also have the processing power to correct most recording issues and aging degradations.
To do so, we have baked countless analog reels and yes… believe it or not, we’ve also edited numerous cassettes and DAT tapes with razor blades in order to be able to transfer our clients precious program materials.
Mastering is not only synonymous with “EQ”, “Compression”, or “Loudness”. It goes way beyond that!
And this is why, the following major artists have trusted us to handle, restore and remaster their music to a new exciting level. Click here to read more...