Messier Mastering

Listening Through a New Perspective

Professional audio mastering services to bring your music to life with clarity, depth, and impact

Where Mixing Meets Mastering

Welcome to Messier Mastering. We specialize in providing professional audio mastering services that elevate your music to industry standards. Our approach combines technical expertise with artistic vision to ensure your final mix translates perfectly across all playback systems and streaming platforms.

What is Audio Mastering?

Mastering is simply quality control. Back in the day, this profession was executed by "transfer operators" where music from a tape reel was passed through a transfer console, and sonic aspects of the music were adjusted so that the final product could be sold and distributed through radio.

This principle still holds up to this day despite the evolution in technology. We are making sure that what you did can be reproduced in all scenarios possible: loudspeakers, headphones, hi-end HIFI systems, streaming, etc.

Your work (final mix) is probably in great shape and all that it needs is some quality control so that your music becomes more audible so that people can listen to it and enjoy it without any discomfort. This is the process where Mixing Meets Mastering!

The Importance of Professional Mastering

If you're new to music production, mastering is the last step in the audio production chain. It involves critical listening to diagnose the technical quality of the music, then critical decisions are made like tone and level adjustments to optimize the sound for better playback and distribution.

One of the biggest benefits of hiring a mastering engineer is getting a fresh, neutral set of ears. You might have been working on your production for a long time, which means your ears and brain are totally familiar with it. A mastering engineer can provide insights and feedback about details that may pass you by, ensuring consistency and quality control.

Services

Audio Mastering

Audio Mastering

This is the final step in the music production chain, where we optimize the sound for best playback and determine the format or medium. We work in the digital domain with formats like .mp3, .AAC, .WAV, and can accommodate your desired format.

Where is your audio going?

We ask where the audio will be played: streaming, download, radio, club, or festival? All these scenarios inform the mastering treatment depending on the musical genre and destination.

What you receive:

  • 24bit 44.1kHz .WAV file
  • 16bit 44.1kHz .WAV file with limiter ceiling to -1.0dB (for CD replication and streaming)
  • Recall sheet with all parameters and tools used
  • QC document explaining any technical considerations
Audio Repair

Audio Repair & Restoration

This is a subdiscipline of audio engineering that describes various processes and techniques used to remove noise and other imperfections from recordings. When used correctly, these techniques can alleviate problems including:

  • Environmental background noise
  • Magnetic tape hiss
  • Electrical interference and hums
  • Background noise elements (coughing, footsteps, phone rings)
  • Digital clicks or artifacts
  • Mouth noises
  • Any artifact that is not part of the intended program

Music Restoration

This service includes music restoration, not necessarily within the mastering framework. The restoration process is also ideal for people who want to restore audio from CDs or other formats like vinyl records that they have owned for a long time and want to listen to without needing an analog player.

Note: The restoration procedure is based on literally listening to the audio in question in a silent environment with specialized monitor systems that allow hearing everything present in the frequency spectrum.

Stem Mastering

Stem Mastering

Stem mastering provides more control when there are issues with the spectrum. If your monitoring environment lacks full frequency response, this might create translation issues.

For example, if you're having issues with the low end, we might ask you to stem your mix to help achieve a more consistent result. We only offer stem mastering when requested by the customer or when there are monitoring issues.

Audio Examples

Listen to before and after examples of our mastering and restoration services. Each example includes multiple versions to demonstrate the true impact of professional mastering.

Mastering Examples

Each mastering example includes three audio files:

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Mastering Examples

  • Final Mix: The original unprocessed mix
  • Mastered: The professionally mastered version
  • Unmastered (Level Matched): The original mix with gain matched to the mastered version

This approach eliminates the deceptive volume difference, allowing you to hear exactly what mastering does to your music.

Audio Restoration Examples

Listen to our audio restoration work with before and after comparisons.

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Restoration Examples

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I bring the project already in sequence?

Yes, the artist or production team should specify the order of songs from the start of the project. Once the songs hit the mastering desk, we only need to set them in the correct order. Please leave some margin at the beginning and end of each song for implementing fades if necessary.

Should I do fades and clean up beginnings before mastering?

Almost never. If there's a tricky fade you want to do at a beginning or end, feel free, but in general you should leave the trimming and fading for the mastering session.

What sampling rate should I use for my mixes?

The answer depends on your project and where the audio will be uploaded. Usually, the higher the sampling rate, the better the sound will be. If possible, recording your mixes at 88.2 or 96 kHz will yield better results, though there are instances where 44.1 kHz will sound at least as good as 48 kHz.

What bit resolution should I use?

If possible, always mix to a 24-bit medium for the best quality and headroom.

What's the best format for mastering?

We currently accept digital files only. Always bring the finished mix, first generation when possible: 24-bit .aiff or .wav files, or 16-bit 'red-book' CD.

Should I 'normalize' tracks before mastering?

NO, NO and NO. This will only have a negative effect on the fidelity of the project and will not help in mastering in ANY way. You'll leave no headroom because the normalize function will scale everything to 0dB.

What is ideal headroom for mastering?

There's no magic number like -6dB or -4dB. The baseline advice is not to go over 0dB. The headroom we're looking for has more to do with the average level (RMS) of the program. You want your peak-to-average level to reflect exactly what the music is. Feel free to send your levels where you see fit - the lower the levels up to standard operating point, the better the results.

Can I process my master bus before mastering?

It depends on your experience. If you're an experienced mixing engineer and know exactly what you're looking for, go for it, but always send two versions: one with no processing and one with your processing so we can compare. If you have little experience, leave your stereo output clear to avoid unintended side effects.

The Studio

Messier Mastering Studio

Collaborations

Explore some of the musical projects I've had the privilege to work on as a mastering engineer. Each video represents a collaboration where professional mastering played a key role in bringing the artist's vision to life.

Playlist

Mastering

Watch examples of our mastering process in action. These videos showcase the technical aspects and attention to detail that goes into every mastering session.

Mastering Examples

Audio Restoration

See our audio restoration techniques in practice. These videos demonstrate how we repair and enhance damaged or degraded audio recordings.

Restoration Examples

Get In Touch

Ready to take your music to the next level? Let's discuss your project and how we can help bring your vision to life. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.