Frequently Asked Questions
Here you can find detailed answers for any question that may occur during our work together.
Business Side
This column describes the workflow and the processes of our business
Process of order
- Choose the service(s) from the shop and add to cart
- Checkout and pay by card
- Invoice and invite for studio booking along with our track submitting form will be sent to your mail after succesful payment, this may take some time as We do our time management manually in the office hours
- Book your studio session and fill the submit form, this is where you send in your audio files
- Receive confirmation of booking
- After the studio session you receive the processed audio materia by mail from our engineer
- If revisions needed you can reply to the engineer directly, revision numbers are not limited but the studio time is
- After finishing the project you will receive a feedback form
Revisions
When dealing with mixing and mastering tasks sometimes We don’t nail the perfect result You visioned for your art. Finetune our work in a second run is no problem, happens somtimes. That is what revisions are for.
We do not limit the number of revisions so to make sure our artists feel comfortable, but for obvoius reasons We limit the studio timeframe allocated to a project. This timeframe can be extended by as follows:
In the case of too many modifications you may run out of the allocated timeframe, when this happens the engineer will calculate further costs and send you a payment link.
After succesful payment you can continue the work, engineer will book you in as soon as possible
Engineers can also suggest a different processing type for better results
for example upgrading from mastering to stem mastering, if the option to deal with the bass elements separately could lift up the end results so far that it would be recommended to do so
Or the other way downgrade from mixing to mastering if your mix is already so good that there is no benefit of going for a more expensive service, this case you can receive store coupons.
Store coupons from engineers don’t expire, you may use them whenever you need them for any service you like, these coupons covers the price difference.
Coupons
We use coupons in our online store. There are multiple types, some can be used to only selected services, some can be used only by You, and there are types that can be freely used by anyone, You may give it to a friend or decide to keep it for yourself. Coupon codes can be entered at checkout.
Learn about the types of coupons:
- Marketing coupons have expire date as they are aimed to drive sales so after the campaign ends they can no longer be used. They can be earned by following our social media and finding them as easter eggs hidden in the content. You can also earn credits by feedback forms and by helping our business grow by recommending us to friends or giving a review.
- Engineer coupons do not have an expire date. You receive them if You and our engineer agree to choose a lower priced processing instead of the one already paid. In this case the engineer will give you a one time coupon that has no limitation, can be used anytime for any service. Engineers can also give coupons for talented artist who they want to support or if they are so used to their workflow that after several projects together the processing time is so fast that it takes noticeably less studio time.
Payment
We use card payment system in the webshop.
You may ask for bank transfer option if you’re planning a bigger payment in this case We can send you a proforma invoice that contains all the information.
Processing Time
Processing time is very fast, for most of our services it takes 1-2 days.
After succesful payment you receive a checklist to make sure you are well prepared and an invitation to book your studio session.Thanks to our advanced time management system you can actually see when our engineer will be sitting in the studio working on your music.
Subscription clients get’s an advatage as they have guaranteed studio time reservations. If you subscribe to any of our services you don’t have to book. We manage our bookings according to your needs.
For reference theese are estimated studio times for our services:
- Mastering – 1/2 hour
- Stem Mastering – 1 hour
- Mixing – 2 hours
- Retracking – 2 hours
- Analyzis – 1 hour
Data handling
We’d like to be 100% transparent with our data handling. First of all there is no need for registration to purchase any of our services. We don’t want you to remember another password on top of the countless ones you already have. Secondly as We must give you an invoice by order of law, please use your real name and data for invoices. Not only because DJ names looks funny on paper but if authorities see it they are going to fine our company for not compiling with the money laundering & finance terrorism rules. Thirdly We are never going to give your data to anyone outside our organisation. Your music is only heard by our engineer who communicates with you directly and handles your media confidentially.
Feedback system
We love to get feedback from our customers. It is essential to maintain a good service. You can help us by filling out the client satisfaction survey you receive at the end of a project. The survey functions for monitoring our engineers:
- processing quality
- communication
- delivery time
- revision numbers
We have forms aiming for product developement or market monitoring. These may be received by subscribing to our mailing list and are rewarded with special coupons when sucessfully submitted.
Not only our engineers get reviewed by clients, as customers are also reviewed by the engineers. This feedback systems allows us to see the work We do together from both points of view. The main goal is to provide a longterm partnership with active attention to details thus preventing any complaints and make sure to show mutual respect. Clients get rated by:
- communication
- revision numbers
- difficulty of process
- loyalty ( No. of sessions )
Clients rated best gets benefits, like special offers our coupons.
Basic Audio Terms
RMS
This is a value that determines the loudness with a negative number, the higher the number the louder the track will be, for example -10 RMS is louder than -12 RMS. Most electronic music is aiming at -6 RMS for best ratio between loudness and dynamics. RMS refers to “root mean square”. The RMS value defines the average signal level measured under the given timeframe. This duration is used to be around 300ms.
Peak
This is a value that determines the maximum momentary signal level of the audio. It can range from 0 dB to – 3 dB. The final medium should be capable of handling the signal level presented in the audio materia, so for example vinyls prefer a lower peak value because they need more headroom while digital formats like streaming platforms are better with higher values closer to zero. Zero is the loudest setting. Any attempt to go below the loudest setting is originated from intersample peaks as they may occur in conversion like when uploading to streaming platforms, so a -0.1 dB or -0.3 dB setting would be used in cases where We aim for the cleanest possible distortion free results. In electronic music We often use limiters saturation and even clipping to give the loudest possible signal without softening the sound so in this scenario there is no need to be lower the max peak value, but the artistic choice is always yours. We recommend -0.1 dB setting as an industry standard.
Mono compatiblity
This parameter is very important in club music as most clubs/venues/shopping centers playback audio in mono. So it is essential to nail mono compatibility. The term means that the track won’t produce such errors when summed to mono like phase canceling that causes parts of the sound to dissapear, or won’t shift too much in tonal balance because too much elements depend on the stereo image.
Tonal Balance
Bass tilt
If we were to draw a line on the top of the frequency spectrum analyzer it would be tilting up at the bass section where the most energy used to happen in electronic music, if you ask for this you’ll have the bass section in priority for maximum punch
Airy
It is the opposite of the bass heavy setting and the imagineary line would tilt up towards the high frequencies so the basses would be present only at a very lightweight in the mix, ambient and softer genres would prefer this
Mid focused
This used to be called as the radio safe setting, where We focus on the mids as they are the most important range because this is what every speaker can easily reproduce, so making a fatter mid section or simply drop the lows and the highs a little can make sense, used to do this with pop songs, punch and clarity still remains but does not have extended regions.
Disco Smile
It is the exact opposite of the mid focused method, We could call it mid scooped setting, but We aim to have properly mixed mids as they are very important, but give the whole track a nice lift by extending the lows and making the highs really shine, if you check it on a spectrum analyzer you would see a smile curve that’s why the expression is disco smile, and as the name says it is used for club music, where the bass and the precise hihats dictates the well known “four to the floor”
Vintage Warmth
This is a so overused term, to get things clear it means that the high frequency section gets an attenuation by applying vintage equalisers, that also intoduces some harmonics to the sound thus giving it a fatter vibe and also means a little bump at around 100hz-300hz where the tape machines used to inject their own sound signature to the records, We have our own tape technolgy as well combined with vintage analog eq and console sound by using the API 550b and the Neve 542 and those serve this exact approach of mixing and mastering
Clean&Clear
We love vintage gear but with all these beautiful options the important part is to know when to use them, and in a lot of cases, the music We get is already made with good taste and style so We only need to work on the essentials of mixing but not on the sound design. Now this is where our clean sounding gear comes really handy, like our class A Elysia VCA compressors and Bettermaker Mastering Limiter, paired with the ultra clean Kush Equalisers. The benefit is that We leave your own sound untouched and apply only an invisible yet very powerful processing that brings out the best of your music and still gives you that analog feel that instatly reveals itself as the edge of the contour and the space of the image is unmistakeable compared to plugins.
Wide Imaged
When mixing for headphones in mind, one could extend the stereo image further thus creating beautiful sound scapes and even risk the fact that mono compatibility may suffer some loss. Altough We see this trend not only on materia that is aimed for headphones or typical stereo systems like home HIFI but with club anthems too, for example a lot of trance track gets pretty wide in the stereo image that leads to some loss of the feeling when played back in mono but gives breathtaking atmosphere in stereo
Club Safe
Clubs in mind when dealing with the stereo image aka checking the mono compatibilty and taking care not go above safe limits
Technical Side
This column gives all the details on how to send your audio files
Mastering
Format: 16/24 bit depth 44.1 / 48 kHz
What to send: Stereo track + reference track(s) + your mastered version
How to send: Leave headroom for processing by removing all master bus processing that is not part of the mixing process, for example limiters/clippers/saturation
Workflow: By sending the reference track and your mastered version of the submitted track along with the unmastered version We will 100% sure to see your vision and the engineer knows exactly what to aim for. Please be sure to determine the requested technical parameters for the audio processing by using our submitting form at the booking site. Loudness is determined by the RMS value. This is an average signal level measured in dB. The higher the number the louder your track will be. For example -6 RMS is louder than -8 RMS. Maximum signal level must be determined too. We define it as Max Peak Value. This is the absolute highest signal level the audio can reach up to. Usually We keep 0.1 dB headroom just be sure, but this can bigger for extra safety, commonly used values are -0.1, -0.3, -1.0, -3.0. The lowest -3 dB is for vinlys as they need more headroom, all digital formats can be between zero and your desired value. It is a matter of philosophy. Intersample peaks could happen if the track gets converted like when uploaded for streaming platforms. This is why some likes to leave -0.3 dB or even -1 dB of headroom just be sure. Our experience is that in electronic music this shouldn’t be considered as a highly important aspect. Altough you may factor in that if you aim for a really loud master for example -3 RMS than you shouldn’t use -1.0 dB max peak as this would be an unnecessary big headroom that is lowering the RMS value by a lot. Another worth mention parameter is the crest factor. This is used to determine how dynamic are the elements like snappy transients on the drums or if they feel soft and liquid. Beaware that loudness and crest factor is fighting with each other, our job is to find the perfect balance. Make it loud but retain dynamics where needed and cut the unwanted peaks so it could be played easily on every speaker system.
Mixing
Format: 16/24 bit depth 44.1 / 48 kHz
What to send: Channels up to max 24 + reference track(s) + your mixed version
How to send: All audio files should be exported from the same starting point to the same ending point thus every audio file must be equal lenght. This is very important to maintain syncronisation between the channels. All tracks should be sent without effects like delay reverb and those effect should be sent on a separated FX / AUX channel so We’ll have the option to dial in the right amount of the effects. If this is not possible, just export the tracks as they are but bypassing the delay/reverb effects, and send a version of the channles where the effects are on so We can combine the two together if needed. Also please take care of bypassing all the effects that are considered as mixing tools, but leave the ones that are part of your sound design. For example low cut on a lead is a mixing tool , but the saturation on it is a sound design element.
Dealing with layers: if you have a group of layers that are forming one musical element and that group has bus processing that glues them together or puts and eq on top of the summed audio for example, than We need you to export that group as a stem too. Because by hearing how you merged those layers will help us determine if any processing needed in the merging process. For us to be able to replicate your recepie and see any potentional misconception in it please include a description of that process so We can recreate and than modify where it may needs to be. Documentation on EQ settings is enough with printscreens but We have to see every step so please be precise.
Naming your channels is essential. Please name your channels systematicly so if our engineer drags and drops them in to the project everything will be recogniseable from the name. Naming pattern examples: Lead / Bass / Sub / Pads / Atmos / Vocal / BG Vocal / Perc01 / Perc02 / etc… Please keep the names short but self-explanatory. So if you have like multiple “Lead” channels, make a role order like “Main Lead” “Basic Lead” etc…
Channel configurations. We can work with stereo or mono channels. If you have a lot of mono elements and you prefer to export everything in stereo it is no problem. If you export your mono materia in stereo to have the panned configuration heard on the submitted channels that is more than welcomed as the engineer don’t have to start from scratch, and still able do a correction if needed.
Workflow: We will make your track fairly loud as the mixing process includes a bus compression as a final touch, but doesn’t include the mastering process, yet still able to reach for 0 dB max peak if desired. Please make notes to the engineer on headroom requirements if you aim to add mastering process to the mixed track later so We can calculate that into the processing. Stylistic notes are always welcome as the mixing stage is where We used to apply most of the changes to the track and are multiple ways to do so in terms of tonal properties and preferences. Make sure you give all the detail at submitting form.
Tonal options
Bass Tilt means the spectrum will have more energy in the lowend domain , it is a well known character among techno tracks where the energy is obviosly focused on the deep basses.
Linear means We will distribute the energy equally on the whole spectrum, this is the key to achive high loundness levels.
Mid Focus is a light attenuation in both ends of the freqs to give a smooth feeling leaving the mids intact and standout a little more, think about max 2 dB attenuations, it is good for softer music but for raging loud materia too as it needs to drop some energy for more loundess like D&B. Think of it as the exact opposite of the disco smile EQ.
High Tilt gives a very lite lift resulting in an airy sound focused on clarity and the upper mid and higher sections. Not recommended for club music at all.
Stem Mastering
Format: 16/24 bit depth 44.1 / 48 kHz
What to send: Stems max 12 + reference track(s) + your mastered version
How to send: Divide your project into layers aka stems. The goal is to have control over every important element. In electronic music this means the kick and the clap/ snare needs its own channels as they are key elements. Sub and bass should be separated on their own stems too but it is not necessary, it will depend on your sound design. Vocal and the chorus should be separated as well as lead pads too. Background elements even if they are not present only on some spots should come on a stem. Effects must be on their own stem too. Drums are a bit harder to decide, but the basic layout used to be closed hihats/ percs/ loops and the openhat is on its own. Don’t worry if We need you to do one more separation for better results our engineer will ask you to do so, even if it is above the max 12 stems. The aim is to keep it organised and simple. Most of our electronic music producers used to send 8 stems like this:
- Kick
- Clap/Snare
- Openhat
- Percussions
- Bass
- Lead
- Pads
- Effects
- Vocal
- Chorus
- Vocal Fx
- Chorus Fx
Workflow: We’ll apply analog processing on every stem and than add the mastering chain on top of them, having stems instead of a lot of channels helps a lot when revisions needed to finetune your track to perfection.
Retracking
Format: 16/24 bit depth 44.1 / 48 kHz
What to send: Midi + Audio
How to send: We need the whole track to see the exact role of the channel We are going to redesign/update. Need the track divided into stems so We can play with it and show you the results like a before/after method. Mastered version of your track is only included if you use the bundled service. You may use retracking on its own and you may send only one audio file with the midi to hear for example what an analog synth can do against a VST. It is highly recommended to use this service with conception in mind so that you can present the recording engineer what you are aming for. You may send reference tracks as well. We are opened to any task, from simple copycat to creative sound design / redesign for your track. Most often the latter used to happen. In this case all rights including melody variations is 100% transfered to you and We will never ask for copyrights. Retracking process may include modification in your midi pattern if our engineer feels like it suits the conception. Please advise if you would be open for this or not at the submitting form.
Workflow: We record our analog synthesizers thru our analog channelstrip. Any combination can be used as our custom designed patching system let us connect anything to anywhere, for example you can specially ask for a fat bassline that is recorded from the Moog Minitaur directly connected into the API550b that goes to the Neve 542 tape emulator so in such a fashion having enourmus sound stage with added harmonics. For detailed equipment list check our studio page, you can find it in the main menu.
Analyzis
Format: 16/24 bit depth 44.1 / 48 kHz
What to send: Anything
How to send: We’re open for any question you could send a track and ask how did they mastered it, with what techniques for example, or to give you an idea what to do if you aim for that kind of results. Be sure to include your audio files too, so We can make modifications on your materia as it is necessary to present you a solution in a specific task like this.
Workflow: Any question is welcomed, think of it like a one on one consultation, We can do this offline by You sending in tracks or audio files and ask for advice, or We could have a chat on messenger. If you choose online chat or voice call, the consultation time is approximately 1 hour. You may add to your cart more than one analyzis service if you aim for a longer session and expect a deeper tech talk. Please keep in mind that there is student plan which is very good if you’re hungry for knowledge!