Making a Booking and Reserving Studio Time for a Session

Most enquiries for making a booking are made via email, although you can discuss complicated session requirements by telephone if you wish. Enquiries made via email will usually be answered the same working day.

At the time of you making an initial enquiry to book a mastering session, it would be useful to know the nature of your project. For example, are you looking to reserve time for just one track, multiple tracks or maybe an album? Once we have an idea of the required studio time necessary for your session, you will be offered the next available appointment in the diary, or, a specific date if you have suggested working to a timescale of your choice.

Once a booking has been confirmed, you will be asked to supply various requested information via return email and provide links / supply audio by 4PM UK TIME, the day before the scheduled date of your session.

We reserve the right to cancel sessions or move bookings to an alternative date, without notice, for any of the following reasons:

•    Missing / Incomplete requested information relating to the Mastering Booking that has 

      been confirmed

•    Late delivery of Audio Files

•    Technical issues with any supplied audio (for example, clipped files, incorrect mixes)

Digital Mastering and Supply of Individual Mastered Files

You will be expected to indicate the final resolution and bit depth of the mastered files that you wish to receive, at the time of booking a mastering session. As standard, we carry out our mastering at 44.1kHz / 24 Bit. You can specify for us to carry out mastering at different sample rates, provided we receive this information at the time of the session.

When mastering at 44kHz / 24 Bit, it is common for us to also provided dithered files at 44kHz / 16 Bit. These additional files can be provided at the time of the session.

If you require mastering at higher sample rates (i.e: 96kHz / 48 kHz) we will provide mastered audio at this native resolution and we can also provide sample rate converted files (48/24, 48/16, 44/24, 44/16) from your higher resolution Masters. In the instance of higher resolution mastering, we MUST be informed of your requirements at the time of booking your session.

Revision Policy:

If, for any reason, you are unhappy with your mastered files, we will carry out ONE free revision, included within the cost of your mastering session. We always strive to get everything right first time, but we understand that sonics are a very personal thing and we aim to make sure you are fully satisfied with your end-result. In the instance where you provide new or alternative mixes, there will be additional charges to accommodate these.

We will always aim to fix any mix issues in order to get the very best out of your production, but if revision requests are made where original mixes have flaws or technical issues that are prone to be difficult to fix at the mastering stage, then further charges will apply.

Digital Mastering and Supply of Production Masters for Manufacture

We can supply Production Masters for manufacture for your specific project. This may be for a Single, an EP or a Full-Length Album.

Production masters can be delivered in the form of either a physical PMCD (Pre-Mastered Compact Disc) or, more commonly now, as a DDPi Fileset, which can be uploaded online to the Manufacturer of your choice.

In addition, if you choose to have ISRC information and CD Text included within your master, you MUST check the attached PQ Sheet that will be sent to you via email and verify that all text data, spelling and characters are correct before committing to signing off your Production Master. Errors can only be rectified before manufacture.

Auditioning Your Masters Before production:

You will be sent audio files to verify and check, once your project is ready to go to production. It is vital that you CHECK THIS AUDIO thoroughly to confirm you are happy with the results. Please take time to listen to these files for sonic integrity and other issues such as ID Points (particularly where cross-fades might be involved), gaps between tracks, fadeouts applied where applicable and that the running order is correct!

It is vital you do this, as what you are listening to is an exact representation of how your finished product will sound.

Disclaimer:

Mike Marsh Mastering Limited cannot be held responsible for any production runs and/or manufacturing costs beyond this approval files stage. It is your responsibility to check that the Production Parts sent to manufacture sound exactly how you want them to.

(In the same way that you would expect to approve a Test Pressing if you were committing to a Vinyl Release before a main pressing run, the same mindset should be applied when engaging in a Digital / CD Production run).

Vinyl Mastering and Supply of Master lacquers for Manufacture

When booking a Vinyl Mastering session, we always need to know how many tracks will be included on your release as well as the correct track titles and running order(s).

We will also need to know the Catalogue Number for your release as well as the preferred cutting speed for your project (45RPM / 33RPM).

(You will be advised if your nominated choice of speed is likely to be detrimental to your Vinyl release, in the instance of long running times of a particular side of vinyl.)

Master Lacquers are cut at the studio and then very carefully boxed securely for despatch to your nominated pressing plant. We advise contacting a pressing plant to check their production lead times, in order to avoid delay in receiving your final product. 

We also advise, it is not a good idea to have Lacquer Masters sat around for weeks before they reach the processing and metalwork stage. We would normally expect to despatch your Lacquer Masters via courier, to your nominated pressing plant within a few days of disc cutting session taking place.

Disclaimer:

Clients and Manufacturers are advised to evaluate a Test Pressing before committing to any Production Run. Mike Marsh Mastering will NOT accept responsibility for any product beyond the Test Pressing stage.

Download a PDF version of our Terms and Conditions here