Audio CD Mastering

Take your mix to the next level!

Your recording should sound great whether it's played on a boom box, headphones, computer speakers, home stereo or a P.A. system... period.

The mastering engineer, through skillful use of EQ, multi-band compression, and stereo phasing techniques, will add a great amount of clarity and can actually bring out subtleties in your mix.  The mastering process also includes song sequencing and spacing, level matching, fades, noise reduction (if necessary), and raising the overall level to commercial standards ("radio ready").  Mastering is the most under-rated step in the recording process, and when done with care, it can give your music the finishing touch it deserves.

Provide us with...

Digital Sources:

Please provide Blue Sky with a hard drive, thumb drive, data disc or DAT containing the highest quality files possible of your final mixes.

• Preferably 32 Bit, 96k, 48k, or 44.1k .WAV but any uncompressed file (.wav, .aiff, etc.) will work.  Please provide files with the highest bit depth possible.
• Preferably not Audio CD’s (which are 44.1k, 16 bit)
• We can master anything, but if possible, do not provide compressed file-types such as .mp3
• The less audio compression, the better.  If possible, leave about 3dB of headroom in your mixes (we can’t un-compress over-compressed mixes!)

Analog Sources:

Do you have an old master on tape or even vinyl that you'd like mastered to modern standards?  We can greatly improve the sound of your old cassette, reel to reel or vinyl record!

Information:

• We can embed song titles, songwriters and arrangers into the master for CD players that display that information. If you would like this info embedded, please provide it to us.

• note - software such as iTunes do not get their information from an uploaded CD - they use gracenote data to gather information about audio CDs.

• Reference CD’s/Songs - Also feel free to bring CD’s that you like the sound of as a reference to guide the outcome of your mastered project.

A bit about ISRC codes & Copyrights...

ISRC Codes:

What is an ISRC Code?  ISRC stands for International Standard Recording Code.  An ISRC Code is a unique 12 digit code assigned to a sound recording or music video and is widely used in digital commerce by download sites and collecting societies to identify that particular recording or video.  It is encoded into the final master of your recording to help track things such as radio play, sales and downloads.

How do I get ISRC Codes? You can get ISRC Codes for your project directly from the RIAA website www.usirsc.org . You must pay a one-time fee (currently $95.00) for which you will receive a registrant code which will allow you up to 100,000 ISRC’s per year.

For more information, visit www.usirsc.org

Copyright:

Why Do I Need to Copyright My Music?  To protect your work against unlawful use or reproduction, you must register it with the copyright office. Copyright of your work will grant you the exclusive rights to make copies and duplicate your CD, to distribute your music, prepare derivative works, to perform the songs publicly and to display your product publicly.

How Do I Copyright My Music?  You can find all the information you need to copyright your work at the U.S. Copyright Office website www.copyright.gov. Registration can be done electronically using the eCO Registration System www.copyright.gov/eco.