VINTAGE HELIOS CONSOLE + ANALOG TAPE =
FAT WARM RADIO-READY MAJOR LABEL SOUND
Finally! FAT. For the ears!
The ingredients for FAT can be fond here: Gear List
Vintage 1972 Helios console, analog 2" tape and German Engineer Clemens Schleiwies will fatten up your tracks and give it that big, sumptuous, warm radio-ready major label sound and do it for peanuts. (Well, OK, walnuts).
Analog mastering is included - actually not one but two different masterings. One is LOUD! Yet still clear, punchy, wide, warm, crisp, harmonically rich and detailed like a billion pixel photo. The other complies to the Mastered for iTunes (MfiT) standard and has lower integrated loudness for streaming services, high res downloads and Vinyl release.
As a free service we also create DDEX RIN files for your release (new industry standard for music credits) and publish them through our sound credit publisher license.
Sessions can be quite different in track count and complexity so please make an inquiry and get a
custom quote and timeslot offer for your mixing session.
After all details are sorted out you will receive a Paypal link where you can book the session and enter all the song details for correct meta data tagging and music credits.
After payment is received - (Thank you) - you'll be given a private Dropbox folder where you can
upload your audio files. A rough mix or briefing is welcomed.
Your tracks will be mixed and mastered analog by Clemens Schleiwies with with lots of love, passion and high end vintage and boutique ingredients. The signal path is Pro Tools -> Burl Mothership Converters -> 3M M79 2" analog Tape -> Vintage Helios console -> vintage and boutique outboard gear to taste -> Ampex 440 tape machine ->Lavry Gold AD converter.
Now you have time to tell if there's anything you'd like to change. And the mix will be reviseed and tweaked to satisfaction. You´ll receive your reworked track. We repeat until you'll give your enthusiastic final OK. But remember this can only be done once or twice. More than that and it begins working against itself.
You will receive one "Mastered for Loudness" (MfL) version which uses all the loudness potential of your track and one "Mastered for Fidelity" (MfF) version which has lower integrated loudness and is more focused on keeping dynamics and fidelity. You will also receive a halfplayback and an instrumental version.
You can send me a clean Pro Tools session or single audio files! Single audio files are maybe even safer to work with because there are no problems with incompatible software versions, plugins, or missing audio files.
Consolidate (bounce to disk) each track into solid "flattened" audio starting from the beginning of the session. A ‘flattened’” file is one segment of digital audio that plays continuously from the start of the track to the end. All files must have the same start time of 1:00:00:00. If your DAW is capable of bouncing and exporting files in 32 Bit float please send them in 32 Bit float and original sample rate. Otherwise please save files in their original bit depth (24 bit or 16 bit) and original sample rate. Please rename all audio files and try to leave tracks organized in a logical order (drums, bass, guitars, keys, vocals). If you send me a Pro Tools session please make sure that all audio files are located in the audio folder.
Please leave the tracks unprocessed and mute all plugins on individual tracks and on the master bus when bouncing. All plug-ins which are essential for the sound (i.e. special effects) should be printed to a seperate track. When bouncing, please leave your fader levels and pan levels where they are in your session. 24Bit files have enough headroom so that there is no difference in sound quality between a fader set at 0db or if the fader is attenuated. When your bounced files are imported into a new session the overall mix balance should reflect your last rough mix.
After payment you will be invited to join a shared dropbox folder, where you can upload your files by simply dragging and dropping.
Sessions can be quite different in trackcount and complexity so please make an inquiry and get a custom quote.
No, the usage of 2" tape and 1/2" tape during mixing and mastering is all included. Only If you want to receive an analog master on 1/2" tape as the final deliverable you would need to pay for the reel and the shipping.
I need half a day for mixing and half a day to revise the mix, if necessary, according to your requested changes. So the turnaround time for a mix is as little as 1 day. After a few hours I`ll send you the first version of the mix. Now you have time to listen to the mix intensely and write me an email with changes you would like me to make. I’ll start revising the mix as soon as I get your list.
You will receive not one but two finished masters. The first is called "Mastered for Loudness" (MfL) and is intended for CD release, Soundcloud, DJ playlist or label shopping. This master uses all the loudness potential of your track and competes with the loudest commercial releases out there. The second master is called "Mastered For Fidelity" (MfF) and is intended for Streaming Services, Radio, TV and Vinyl release. This master complies to the "Mastered for iTunes" (MfiT) standard and is mastered with lower integrated loudness (LUFS). All of the mentioned media uses their own loudness normalization which means that if you send a too loud master they will simply lower the volume of your track.
Mostly by email... but you can, of course, also call me by phone or Skype or we can have a text or video chat. What I really need from you, however, is a detailed briefing via email before the mixing session begins and an email with feedback and revision requests, if you have any, after you receive the first version of the mix.
