recording

SERVICES

CD MASTERING

I once flippantly described the process of CD mastering as "taking the tapes which people think are finished, and finishing them". There is, of course, an element of truth to this but inevitably there is actually a lot more to it than that.

A finished CD master must obviously sound, and run, exactly the way that the final album or single should sound. This involves basic stuff like

• ensuring you have the right mix, version or edit of each track
• that there are no avoidable faults in the transfers
• that the gaps or transistions between the tracks all flow as intended
• that the overall sound of the album is consistent

There may be other issues too, for example, making sure that the record company / printers are supplied with the correct titles and timings and that the final master meets the specification laid down by the replication plant. Ideally a printout of the BLER error rates on the final master and the PQ timings should also be supplied to the replication plant.

Since I began CD mastering the preferred delivery format has changed a number of times. The Sony 1610/1630 format is now a thing of the past. These days we usually supply DDP image files on CD-ROM or Exabyte tape.

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