Services
Vinyl Mastering
Vinyl mastering is my specialty. Anything from 7″ singles to triple albums. Focus is always on dynamics and sound quality, not just crazy loud volume. Next to mastering itself, I can also run your tracks through one of several vintage analogue tape recorders, listen to/ approve your test pressings, etc.. Most at no extra costs.
Always have test pressings made when you do a release! It can save you a lot of trouble…
Digital/ CD Mastering
If you want digital masters for Bandcamp, Spotify, etc., or masters for a cd, that is also possible. These can be combined with vinyl masters in a package deal. I also do mastering for cassettes.
Tape/ Cassette/ Vinyl transfer and Restoration
If you only have an analogue source, i can do transfers to digital formats. I have a DAT recorder to play tapes, a Minidisc player, cassette decks, various formats of reel-to-reel machines and I can do HQ vinyl transfers if this is the only source left of a certain track. That happens more than you think, because especially in the DIY genre of music, master tapes were not always saved, or ended up in leaky basements or hot attics to rot away.
These transfers can then be restored and (re) mastered. I do remasters of vintage material, but always with the sound of the original recording in mind. With modern digital techniques, it’s amazing what you sometimes find on tapes. I have recovered whole instrument tracks that no one remembered even being present on the recordings…
A word about Equipment
Most mastering websites will have a huge list of all the expensive gear that’s available. While I love talking about gear, I don’t do that here because in my experience it says nothing about the final results. Sometimes a free plugin gets a better result than a 6000 dollar custom built hand wired limiter.
I have collected studio equipment since the 1980’s. So while there are plenty of cool and rare vintage EQ’s, compressors, recorders, etc. available in my mastering room, these may not always be the best tools for a specific job. So I also use software and plugins.
One thing I will mention: my main monitor system is made by PMC.