Frequently Asked Questions

Yes!  I’ll be happy to make a free, no obligations mastering sample for one song in your new album.

Absolutely! I always welcome the opportunity to work with different music genres and further my mastering horizons.

Not at all! Mastering is my passion, and any subgenre of metal and heavy music is welcome! My preferences and taste as a metal fan and music consumer are completely independent to my work.

Yes, please! I’m a huge advocate of working with reference tracks. If you can’t find a suitable reference track or are unsure about which one to pick, I’ll help you find one or pick one for you.

Yes! Contact me to talk about your mixing project.

Yes and No. If you are in Toronto (GTHA), contact me and we’ll chat about the select recording services that I offer.

However, if you are looking for the “big studio” recording experience, contact me and I can refer you to some of my colleagues in the GTHA.

Typical turn-around times are as follow, starting the count on the firt scheduled day of your mastering session:

Singles, and EPs: 24 hrs
Full Lenghts: 48 hrs

If there are any revisions needed, the turn-around time for them can be up to the same stated above,

I recommend booking your mastering session AT LEAST 2 months in advance. However, please submit a quote request even if you are past that point. I’ll always be as acommodating as my schedule allows it.

Once you session is booked, I’ll set up a private and secure FPT server for large WAVE files transfer. And I’ll give you instructions on how to access it and upload your files.

In the meantime, you need to download any FTP client app. I recommend Filezilla (Link). It’s free!

The following methods of payment are acepted:

For clients in Canada: Credit Card, Debit card, Interact E-transfer, Paypal, and cash (in person).

For clients outisde Canada: Credit Card & Paypal.

Full payment is due on the first day of our mututally agreed mastering session booking.
Details of scheduling sessions will be discussed once yo’ve accepted your mastering quote.

Every project is different, and therefore, pricing changes based on a number of considerations. (project size, current availability, etc)

To get a personalized and tailored quote for your project, please use my “Request a Quote” form here (Link)

No. Instead, my goal is to achieve the best possible compromise between loudness and dynamics for your music. That is what I call the “dynamic sweet-spot”, and it’s different for every project.

The only scenario in which I would engange in the loudness war is if, and only if, you asked me to do so.

Ah! Good question!
I’ll let Mr. Ronan Chris Murphy explain this one: Link

And here is a more in-depth, technical explanation by Mr. Ian Shepherd: Link

A Mastering engineer will (among many other things) make sure that your mixes will translate well. That means that they will sound AMAZING in every stereo system in the world. Think of it as a QC stamp for your music. For that reason, I do recommend that you do get your project in the hands of a mastering engineer.

But ultimately, you are the director of your project. If you like how your mixes sound and don’t want them to change in any way, then that’s alright too.

Another great question.
Please read my mastering prep guide here: Link

Please contact me if you have any further questions.

A Disk Description Protocol, or DDP, image is a delivery format that has become the industry standard for reliable CD duplication.

This add-on format ensures that all the metadata in your album (e.g: song and album titles), and silences between songs are respected.

I highly recommend getting the DDP image add-on if you are planning on selling CD copies of your album. All you need to do is send the DDP image to the pressing plant. Easy!

“Mastering for Vinyl” is the process of making a separete master file that can be cut into a vinyl record without any unwanted distortion.

A separete master file is needed because the vinyl format, unfortunately, imposes some limitations into the audio file. This is due to the physical nature of the format.

A vinyl master add-on will sound a bit different than the digital master. However, this separete master will fit nicely into the vinyl cut and will make the job of the cutting engineer at the pressing plant easy.

Yes! Absolutely!

My vinyl master prints and DDP images are 100% guaranteed. If, for any reason, the pressing plant rejects them, please contact me and I will rectify the situation inmediately.

Nope! Not at all.

One single master file that sounds good and that hits the “dynamic sweet-spot” is all you need for ALL the digital streaming platforms.

Yes. If you are located in the Toronto area, contact me and we can chat about it!

I’m fine with most lyrics. However, I will NOT take on any projects with lyrics that promote any of the following:

• Racism
• White supremacy
• Fascism/National Socialism
• Intolerance, discrimination, or violence towards minorities.
• Homophobia or Transphobia

If you’re concerned you might fall on the edge of one of these categories, contact me and we can discuss it.

You can find my list of album credits here: Link