Mastering is the final stage of the creative process of a music production.

This is where your music is given the final polish. Brilliance, presence and individual effect (energetic, intimate, poppy, vintage, etc.) can be controlled and brought out.

It is also the stage where final adjustments or "repairs" are made to fix minor problems or flaws that occurred during the recording.

Another element of the mastering process is putting the album together. The order of the album is created including codes (ISRC+UPC/EAN), and each track is placed with the previous and subsequent tracks in required time intervals. In addition, the mixes are prepared for pressing plants and whatever medium is chosen for release.

You can place an order by e-mail. You will then receive an order confirmation and information from us on how to upload your mix.. After completion, we will send it back to you mastered, and you can then listen to it in your usual listening environment. If you have any requests for changes, let us know - a revision is included in the price.

To be able to master a track optimally, your mix must have enough headroom. Here is an example:

If you have an EQ or bus compressor on your stereo mix or master channel because you used it to process your mix musically and sonically, that's fine. But if you have used a limiter or similar loudness plug-ins on your master channel, then please send us your mix WITHOUT this "loudness" processing. This ensures that your mix has enough headroom and we can make you an optimal sounding master. In any case, your mix should remain below 0dBFS.

Of course, you can also make two versions of your mix: One version with sum processing (i.e. with your loudness plug-ins) that we can listen to as a "guide", and one version without this processing.

You get the master of your track as a WAV file, via download. Included in the price is a revision. This means you can tell us what you want to change, and we will adjust the master accordingly, at no additional cost.

Important: Mixes of tracks that were previously commissioned and subsequently revised or changed by the client require new mastering settings. These will therefore be charged as a new song.

You will receive a download link from us with the master provided, in the appropriate format for your release.

If it is a CD release, you will first receive all masters as WAV. On request, we will create a so-called master DDP (Disc Description Protocol) which can then be sent to the pressing plant. The pressing plant then uses the DDP to create the CDs.

For vinyl, some pressing plants also use the DDP as a template, but WAV files are more commonly used. This should be discussed with the vinyl pressing plant of your choice.

For online releases, you will receive the masters as WAV files.

If there are clear guidelines for mastering, such as comments on the individual mixes, specific requests about volume, dynamics, frequency or sound reference tracks, please send them along with your mix.

If you have created your own "listening masters" based on the mix approved by all parties, it is best to send these as well.

With albums and EPs, please provide the track order if it has already been determined. If there is CD-Text (see "What is CD-Text") on the master, we need a list with the following information: artist name, album title or release, all track titles and the ISRC codes if applicable.

The Apple Digital Master Standard developed by Apple is used for encoding the final AAC format of Apple Music.

The Apple Digital Master Standard uses a higher resolution of 24 bits (instead of 16 bits) for the master encoding. Apple also recommends that masters be low level to avoid codec clipping. Whether further sonic changes are required must be decided on a case-by-case basis, and you should seek advice from the Apple Digital Master Codec.

Milkshop Mastering is officially registered with Apple as an Apple Digital Master provider.

An "Alternative Version" is another version of a track (instrumental, radio edit, TV mix, 12" mix or similar) that we process with the same mastering settings of the original master.

We prefer 24-bit WAV or AIFF files as interleaved or split stereo (we can of course also process other bit & sampling frequency files but WAV or AIFF are preferred). As far as the sampling frequency is concerned, send us the files in the frequency in which you have created your project.

One revision is included in the price. Each additional revision costs Euro 50,- (net).

Payment can be made by bank transfer or online via Paypal. The invoice will be sent to you by e-mail after receipt of the order.

The International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) identifies the tracks that have been released.