Analogue Audio Mastering at FMP Newcastle upon Tyne UK email: mastering@fmprecords.co.uk
How to prepare and submit your material for mastering
If you're just entering the mixing stage of your project, please ask your mixing engineer to avoid the use of any loudness or 'mastering' plugins, and leave us 3 or 4dB of headroom to work with. Please also avoid down-sampling or reducing the bit-depth during the mixing process. In other words, if you've tracked your project at 88.2KHz/24 bit, create mix files at 88.2KHz/24 bit, and don't apply dither.
Standard Red Book Audio CDs can only carry audio at 44.1KHz/16 bit, and so if you recorded and mixed at a higher resolution, they are not the most ideal delivery format for mastering. Be sure to differentiate between the CD 'listening copy' your studio may have given you, and what may be a similar looking data disc containing the higher resolution files. Only send us a standard Audio CD if it's the best you have.
On occasions, we may ask if you can also supply alternative 'Vocal 2dB up' mixes. While not always necessary, sometimes they can be real life-savers during mastering, so it makes sense - once you're happy with your final mix - to ask your engineer to run another pass with the main vocal(s) tweaked up 2dB in level.
[Artists with publishing deals may be familiar with a similar requirement to create 'Vocal-less' mixes (ie the precise same mix but with the vocals completely muted) for film/TV 'sync' potential. If you're mixing entirely in the digital domain, these additional mixes can also sometimes be useful to us, allowing us invaluable extra flexibility.]
We can accept material submitted in the following formats:
¼" Analogue tape*, all common tape speeds but preferably either 15 ips or 30 ips. Ideally tapes will have reference line-up tones at 100Hz, 1KHz and 10KHz, and the tape boxes will be marked accordingly. (* We're hoping to add ½" tape capability soon.)
Digital files (all common formats, sample rates and bit depths) via data CD/DVD, USB Memory Stick, Hard Disc Drive, or web delivery (eg Dropbox, WeTransfer, YouSendIt, etc)
Red Book Audio CD
DAT tape
Sony F1/PCM701 (Betamax Cassette) Digital tape. It was common during the late 80s/early 90s (before DATs became popular). We've still got the machine.
At a pinch, we can also master from Cassette and Vinyl record (we actually have mastered from both cassette and vinyl before...!)
We haven't yet been asked to master from wax cylinder, but we're always up for a new challenge...!
Please get in touch using the email link below if you need any more specific info re submission.
mastering@fmprecords.co.uk