Getting a track mastered can be a daunting experience if you’ve never done it before. You may be asking yourself, what file type should I send? How much headroom should I leave? How will I know when the mix is done? You will be your mastering engineer’s best friend if you spend a little time making sure your track is properly prepared for mastering – and this guide is here to help!
Be Happy with the Mix
Now, this may seem like an obvious one. But being happy with a mix doesn’t necessarily mean that you like the way it sounds. It needs to meet certain criteria so that your mastering engineer can work their magic. This could mean checking your mix in Mono and crossfading track edits if you hear any pops or artifacts. Also, check the levels on each individual channel and make sure they’re not too hot.
Label, Label, Label
It’s good practice to label your tracks correctly and to keep your mix organised. One example of doing it is TrackName_Artist Name_MixVersion.wav
How much Headroom?
This can sometimes depend on your engineer and what they would like. Some prefer working with no peaks over -3dB or -6dB and some ask for peaks to be below -1dB. The best thing to do is ask. If you can’t find the answer on their website, shoot them an email and ask what their preference for headroom would be.
It Will Sound Good In the Master.
Never subscribe to this way of thinking. Make sure you are as happy as can be with your mix, as mastering isn’t a quick fix to solve a bad-sounding mix. My general rule is if the mix is bad – the master will be also.
Metadata
Make sure you send your mastering engineer all of your Metadata that you would like embedded in the track. This can include correct spellings of your Artist Name, Track Name, Album Title, ISRC code (if you know it).
What to send
Send a .wav file with a sample rate of 44.1 or higher and the ideal bit rate of 24bit.
Notes are Your Friend
It’s good to give notes early in the process of what you want. I would also include some examples of songs that are similar to your track to give the engineer a clearer idea of what you want.
At the end of the day, it will make the mastering process a lot smoother if you have done the preparation work beforehand. This will lead to fewer issues and hopefully a wonderful experience for both engineer and artist.