What do you mean by “Fine Mixing”?
My mastering work has logically brought me to making adjustments further up the delivery chain: fine nudges at the stem level, as far as I’m concerned, are a necessary part of the modern mastering gig. I often feel I can craft the fine sonics better at the mix level, without disturbing the creative balances, and I also have some magic analog summing techniques which I apply when needed. Broadly speaking, I call this “fine-mixing and mastering”, where technical nudges and brush strokes on someone else’s creative mix bring the final to a shine.
More and more, the craft of technical polish on a mix has become my focus, with less interest in creative mix and choices. It’s where I feel I can contribute the most, by shining to final the creative mixes by industry greats. Of course if there is a need for a mix from scratch, I can provide that too, but filling the fine-mix niche has been my push these days.
This explanation will help navigate the pricing on the Rates page. If you are working with an existing budget plan, I’m happy to discuss it, to arrive at an arrangement.
What do you mean by “Stem Mastering”
Stem mastering, as I definite it, always includes analog summing, unless the project is of the type where that’s really the wrong choice. The assumption is that the song is well-mixed and I proceed to do fine-tweaks on the stems. The trick on my end is to avoid major mixing updates on the stems – where the goal is to NOT change the creative balances, etc. If all goes well, all stems will sit at 0VU, untouched. Inevitably, I have access to improving sonics on the way into the summing stage – this goes along way. The mix often (always) benefits heavily from these tweaks.
This is a significant difference from the way most mastering engineers work, where only a 2-track final submission is accepted. (Working with stems also allows for future options towards remastering for surround sound rebalancing.)
Making Music Sound Better – Mix & Master
Multibeat has no interest in changing your ideas, composition or even your creative mix. Creativity is the big time suck and frankly someone else can have it. Multibeat has worked like that in the past, and now our aim really is to shine up existing mix schemes and pre-master finals into gleaming gems, ready for the various formats and platforms of the world.
Really, the terms mix, re-mix and remix do not apply here. We take your existing leveled stems and simply shine. We allow the existing elements to speak more efficiently or effectively. This can be on the mix level, the mastering-from-stems level, or the mastering-from-final level. You want to take your creations in Maschine, Logic Pro, Pro Tools or other DAWs and have them polished up for the world. That’s where we shine. Ask us for references and please review our rate sheet which includes multi-song discounts.
Karl Mohr continues his deep abiding relationship with music mastering. He recently finished a mix/master job for longtime client Drums And Machines (Halifax) on their latest album, New Wild West. He is testing the waters with Matthew Maaskant and is working on the next Johnny Hollow album.
Making Music Sound Better – Mix & Master
The obsessive fine details is where Multibeat really shines – mastering, mastering including analog summing from provided stems, mixing from raw tracks, mixing and mastering all inclusive. Many people today are making music – it’s staggering – but few are able to take their music properly into the professional sphere because their knowledge and skills end at the DAW. Someone working in Logic or Maschine or Ableton might not be able to take their laptop creation to a professional mix and polished industry-ready master. For Multibeat, this is a labour of love.
Here are some albums that Karl Mohr mixed and/or mastered: [image roll TBA]
his fine-mixing and mastering services prepare music for interface with the public: exquisite fidelity is tested to adhere to the most demanding technical specifications.
Take your music to the world with confidence!
Your mixes will consistently shine and impress with professional quality mastering to exacting industry standards. Play that music in your living room, in a limousine, at a restaurant and thrill to the relief of hearing your music sound good EVERYWHERE.
Music can always be more perfect and polished towards public release – it’s the painful truth. (Even on the crustiest punk or grime.) The game is to make these improvements without losing energy, spirit or intent.
- Mastering music and audio for CD, vinyl, film/video, broadcast, internet.
- Experience with all genres of music.
- Accredited audio professional.
- PLEASE CALL FOR RATES/song basic rate
- PLEASE CALL FOR RATES/album bulk rate – SPECIAL.
- Other bulk discounts are available.
- Free evaluation of your songs beforehand – important for quoting.
- Samples during the process.
- I work closely with the artist throughout and request reference music.
The bottom line is that you can easily get your EP mastered for $500 locally – sit down for an in-studio session and bang out an EP in a few hours. I take a different approach than most – I often spend upwards of 20-30 hours per song, working in isolation, with rigorous testing against references and meters and on multiple setups/rooms. I offer rounds of feedback for tweaking fixes – the tracks need to be bulletproof and world-class. I compete with quality rather than cost. I understand the great investment of time and often money that goes into a project, and so my aim is to treat every microsecond of the program with love and care. Currently $170/song is the very lowest I can charge for this passion. I would tell anyone that care in mastering their song is worth the cost of throwing a party. You’ve spent solid efforts on your work and my challenge is to exceed commercial standards.
Contact Me
Please contact me via email first and we’ll set up a listening session!
References
The project most dear to my heart is Johnny Hollow – the songs of Old Gods Of New Berlin are quite incredible. I did good work there. Also, Collection of Creatures. I also mastered the remix album.
I do all of Brian Asha’s mastering, as well as production and mix.
This song from Double Eyelid was a recent success.
A recent release was DI Auger’s Songs For The Sinister, which is on the raunchy/intense side of things.
HD references are available upon request. Alas I include 96kHz 24bit HD masters on all my work, I don’t have the Mastered For iTunes certificate on my wall, but I do keep up on all the required specifications for today’s delivery platforms.
Music Mastering – How It Works
Bring your music in for a free evaluation, we’ll look at how it sounds and what it might need to go to final. I take a 50% deposit up front. As the mastering work unfolds, you will get samples to evaluate on your own. When everyone involved has agreed that it is a gorgeous, mastered product, files are delivered to the manufacturer and/or a pre-master CD-R is generated. I take final 50% payment on delivery of the master.
I realize that mastering is a painful, but necessary, cost to the artist – and I spend countless hours tweaking, monitoring, checking (including field trips) to make sure your record sounds great.
I specialize in the warm, organic and “analog”-sounding treatment of electronic and digital productions. I master all genres of music and multimedia – in many formats.
I have the technical knowledge about frequency/amplitude relationships that gives Multibeat the edge.
Music Mastering – Before/After Examples
HTML5 music player coming soon.
Multibeat Music – Mastering Credits
Some clients that Multibeat has mastered over the years:
- Hawksley Workman
- Ruth Cassie
- Sarah Jerrom
- Matthew Maaskant
- Cryptomnesia
- Laugh Out Loud
- Best Friends With Wolves Club
- Konsorten
- Istvan Kantor
- Vialka
- Kristin Dalziel
- Releveler – many vinyl & CD releases
- Jazmine Morningstar
- Theatre Ov Idiots
- Minefield – vinyl & CD
- Blue Mars
- Dead Poets Society
- Ingrown
- Soviet Radio
- Synthetic Dream Foundation
- Spectre VII
- Soy Futura
- Drums and Machines – many CDs & film sound
- Misty Pratt
- Gunz & Burnz
- Ephemeral Green
- Rachel Thomas Smith
- Landscape Body Machine
- Me Boss Inc. (hypnosis CD)
- Ray Mulry (relaxation therapy CD)
- Double Eyelid
- Lighthouse
- Johnny Hollow
- Brian West
- (Blue Visions)
- (Spannhaken)
- (Droid Charge)
- (Dead Red Velvet)
Timelines for Mixing & Mastering
Multibeat’s quality is high and rates are more than competitive, but as a result of this fastidiousness, project duration and scheduling can be somewhat indeterminate, requiring careful planning and communication.
In-studio sessions with the client are possible, but very rare. The typical work done a song is 5-10 times what would be normally done in such a session. We compete with quality. The aim is a higher than world class product.
Important note: if there is any physical manufacturing/printing to be done, it’s vital to schedule that setup and manufacturing time as well. Consult with your broker about seasonal turn-around times.
Technical Specifications
Please call to discuss any questions/concerns about our specs.