Georgetown Masters
One of the key elements of the mastering process is to gather all the source mixes and combine them into one complete, cohesive album. In order to make this process go smoothly and to save time and money during a mastering session, it is imperative that the source mixes are clearly labeled and well organized. With unattended sessions this becomes even more important as someone is not present to answer questions.

We can work with almost any format you may choose to provide, however the most common formats are digital .wav or .aiff files or 2 track analog tapes. We can accept PCM or DSD digital files on data CDs, audio CDs, DVDs, Masterlink discs, PC and Mac hard drives, or via electronic delivery (i.e. FTP, DigiDelivery), etc. Here are some tips for submitting and labeling your mixes that will be very helpful to us.

Please clearly label ALL discs, tapes, hard drives, etc. with the following information:

1. Artist name (with correct spelling!)
2. Client name
3. Record Label (if applicable)
4. Project name/album title (if applicable)
5. Date
6. COMPLETE track titles (not abbreviated) of all songs on media
7. Mix version names (i.e. master, vocal up, vocal down, etc.)
8. Sample rate and bit depth (if digital)
9. Producer name
10. Mix engineer/assistant(s) name and contact number

  • When submitting discs and hard drives, please label the above info on the disc’s J card or the drive’s box in order to save time by not having to mount the media in order to see what's on it. At the very least, please make sure that the artist’s name is physically labeled on every disc and hard drive.

  • When delivering files via FTP, DigiDelivery, etc., please send an email or include a text file with all the appropriate information you would normally include on labels for physical media. If you choose to zip your files into one single .zip file before sending, please make sure that there is NO data compression applied.

  • When supplying multiple mix versions for songs, ALWAYS note which mix version is the version approved for mastering.

  • If possible, always provide the project’s song sequence at the time of delivering sources. Please either provide a sheet with the sequence or a text file with the sequence included on the source media. (Keep in mind that when you deliver a data CD, DVD, or a hard drive, files do not stay in a user defined sequence, but rather get sorted alphabetically, by date, etc. )
GUIDELINES FOR DIGITAL MIXES
  • Please print your two channel PCM mixes as .wav or .aiff files. We can accept both, however we prefer .wav files. If it makes no difference to the mix engineer, please print to .wavs when possible.

  • We can accept any sample rate or bit depth, but it is best to provide us with files at 24 bit and at the sample rate used during mixing.

  • We accept stereo interleaved or multiple mono files. While we prefer stereo interleaved files, please feel free to deliver whatever format is best for you. If you choose to deliver multiple mono files, the files MUST be labeled with .L and .R in the file names and the two files must be identical in length/size.

  • Make sure your audio file names are clear and specify the song title and mix version. If you must abbreviate the song title or mix version, please avoid cryptic abbreviations and make sure you include notes explaining all file names.

  • Please make file names as short as possible without becoming confusing. The most desirable file name is simply the song title and mix version (if applicable). Please remove any information not relevant for mastering, such as extraneous numbers (i.e. _01, _02, etc.).

  • When providing mixes on multiple discs (data CDs/DVDs), please label each disc with the songs on that particular disc.

GUIDELINES FOR ANALOG MIXES
  • When providing analog tapes, always include the following details on each tape box:

    • Tape speed (30 IPS, 15 IPS, etc.)

    • Noise reduction used (if any) (i.e. Dolby SR, Dolby A)

    • Record level (+3, +6, etc.)

    • Reel # (if part of a set of reels)

    • Tones included on the reel

    • Song names and versions on reel (in the order they are on the tape)

  • When printing mixes to tape, always provide at least 30 seconds of the following tones at 0 VU on at least one reel of a set of reels for a project: 1K, 10K, 100 Hz.

  • Make sure to provide plenty of leader at head of tape and between each song.

By following these guidelines and being careful to properly label all sources, much time (and money) can be saved by avoiding file conversions, deciphering poor labels, calling producers/engineers with questions, etc. This allows the time spent in mastering to focus on what’s really important - the music!