Vinyl mastering is an artform. It is an all-analog format and it sounds great. But with that come some physical limitations. Digital formats like CD and MP3 can reproduce anything where as vinyl is more unforgiving. The last vinyl cutting lathes were produced in the early 80’s and it is impressive that we are still […]
Author Archive | Andrew Mitchell
RIAA Equalization
RIAA Equalization, there or Recording Industry Association of America, is a specification for the recording and playback of vinyl records (phonographs). In general terms, the recording is boosted in the high end and reduced in the low end for the recording and the reverse happens during playback. That is, the high-end is reduced and the low-end is […]
Producing Great Sounding Records
(Why Records Don’t Always Sound Like the Master Tape) BY: KEVIN GRAY 5/3/97 The following was written to aid engineers and producers who wish to release vinyl records. It is especially important for those who may be well versed in recording, but have not released vinyl records before. The paper is mainly about “pop” music […]
Mastering To Analog Tape (Tape Mastering)
About once a month I am asked to master an album that was recorded on a digital audio workstation, like most albums are these days, to analog tape. The idea is that recording the stereo mix to tape will saturate a mix with a sound that is consistent with a recording done entirely on 2″ analog […]
(Checklist) Preparing A Mix For Mastering
This post is a general checklist – preparing a mix for mastering. It is geared for engineers with some experience and assumes a basic level of mixing terms and concepts. File types: All files should be recorded as an uncompressed WAV or AIF file. MP3,WMP,mACC files are not acceptable. File size: The bigger the better! […]
Mastering a Mix for Radio Play
Mastering a mix for radio play: This post is written to clarify the compression process used by radio stations prior to airplay and discuss some mixing and mastering techniques to combat the unwanted effects broadcast compression. When a song is broadcast over FM airwaves it is first “run through” or processed with a transmission audio […]
Mixing Tips: Pay Attention to the Gain Structure of Your Session
This post is geared to all recording artists who own their own DAWs and mix their own material. It provides some insight into a commonly over-looked mixing issue which I refer to as “gain structure.” Gain structure is the amount of gain (volume increase) on a music track at each point it can be […]
New Release: Billy Currington – “We Are Tonight”
The Audio Bay’s Andrew Mitchell is credited as one of the engineers on Billy Currington’s latest album, “We Are Tonight,” which was released on Tuesday, September 17. Currington – who is sitting at No. 8 on Hot Country Songs with the set’s first single says Mercury gave him time to create on the album. “The album was […]
Grammy Nominated Battersby Duo voted Most Awesome in Kids Music category!
The Battersby Duo was voted the Most Awesome in the Kids Music Artists category. The Battersby Duo is an award winning musical comedy team for children and families. Their fun blend of country, bluegrass, and rock led to a Grammy win in 2010 and performances at The White House for President Clinton. They’ve produced 10 best […]
International Video Release
Poni, a well-known recording artist from Albania has recently released her latest video now available on youtube: http://youtu.be/koaAQU-1p14 Three of the songs from this latest album, including the track n the video, were mastered at Audio Bay. A pop music performer, her songs incorporate elements of local folk music traditions commonly associated with southern Albania. Including her latest release she […]