Send an email or submit this form to get a quote or to book a mastering session.
Credits include releases by Room40, Deutsche Grammophon, No Quarter, Thrill Jockey, Western Vinyl, Three Lobed Recordings, Northern Spy, Leaving Records, Temporary Residence, Alan Sparhawk, Bill Orcutt, Juliana Barwick, Six Organs of Admittance, Cole Pulice, Allison Russell, Myriam Gendron, Daria Lourd, Clarice Jensen, Pan American, William Tyler, Marisa Anderson, Nathan Salsburg, claire rousay, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Body/Head, and more.
Studio
Cirrus Oxide Studio features an analog signal path that includes a custom mastering console by Crookwood Audio and a modular mixing console built around a Purple Audio discrete analog summing mixer.
The most important components of any studio’s signal path are the monitor speakers and the room. This room’s custom acoustic treatment is designed to control the modal resonances of the space and to complement the Dutch and Dutch 8c monitors to create an accurate and high resolution listening environment.
Cirrus Oxide features outboard equipment by Manley, Shadow Hills Industries, Daking, Kush, TK-Audio, CAPI, IGS Audio, Louder Than Liftoff, TC Electronic, OTO, and Eventide, as well as custom built processors. A Studer A810 1/4″ 2-track tape machine is available for master capture and for printing analog mixes. Audio is converted via Lynx, Crookwood, and RME converters.
Philosophy
Although my default ethos is to stay out of the way of the artist’s vision, the recordings, and the mixes, I also embrace a collaborative and creative approach. My work can be as transparent or as colorful as the music requires.
As a recording artist, I am deeply aware of how much time, energy, money, and emotion can be invested in making a record. So it is an honor to be trusted with these critical final stages in producing your music.
Services
Unless other arrangements are made, all services are provided remotely and are not attended by the client. Please upload files here to get a quote or to contact me with questions about studio booking.
Mastering
Rates vary depending on total length, number of tracks and quality of the mixes, but I try to work within the budget limitations of independent artists. Please use this form to get a personalized quote for your project.
Mastering for vinyl, cassette, CD, and streaming formats via a set of dedicated analog and digital tools. Masters for streaming platforms are checked for compliance with Apple Digital Masters protocols. Client provides mixes as high resolution 24 or 32 bit stereo files. I primarily do precision work using mastering grade digital tools by Tone Projects and DMG. Analog units are used for gentle tone balancing and coloration.
Extensive editing and audio restoration/repair can be done for an additional hourly fee. A Studer A810 is available for master captures when mixes are delivered on 1/4″ tape.
Please make sure that you are satisfied with your final mixes before submitting them for mastering. Tracks that are re-mixed once the mastering session has begun will be charged as new masters. Detailed mix consultation can be provided for an additional hourly fee.
I can also master from stems prepared by the mix engineer, and in some (rare) cases I may request them if I believe it would be beneficial to have deeper access to the mix.
Mixing
Rates will vary depending on project complexity. Please use this form to get a quote.
The client provides multitrack sessions in Pro Tools, Logic, Bitwig, or Ableton with tracks frozen, or the audio tracks bounced as stems. Ideally the session already has “rough mix” levels set by the recording engineer or client to serve as a starting point.
During mixing your multitracks are routed through the analog console and other outboard gear before being printed as a stereo mix. Comps and edits should already be completed by the client or recording engineer. Client will provide notes for each song with guidance about instrument levels and other objectives for each track.
The goal is to provide a final mix that has the glue and cohesion that makes it sound finished, and ready for mastering. The removal of clicks, digital artifacts, and other audio repair can be done at an additional hourly rate of $100USD per hour, charged in 15 minute increments.
Mixing to Analog Tape (layback)
As an optional add-on, an analog mix will be printed to a Studer 1/4″ 2-track mastering tape machine, converted to high resolution digital and delivered as a stereo audio file. A choice of high headroom/dynamic range tape (SM900) or lower headroom/more compressed tape (BASF 468) is available. Clients who want to receive the master tape are responsible for purchasing the tape, and will be responsible for a $300 setup fee for editing the sequence.
Additional Services (please inquire)
Stem mastering, audio restoration and repair, analog tape transfer and digitization, test pressing evaluation.