Editing • Mixing • Mastering

Lots of people ask us, «what the heck is editing?», or «why do you need to spend days and weeks on mixing?», or «what are the secrets of a mastering guru?» Here's just a quick explanation for these last three steps on the musical side of any production…

Editing

Today, the listener's ears are very trained to perfectly shaped, tight grooves and meticulously pitched (tuned) vocals. Although we don't like super-artificial sounding music, sometimes a track needs some decent editing (rhythmic corrections, exchanging some bad notes here and there, choosing another vocal take for better performance etc.) Modern technology allows us to do it, so we take advantage of our huge arsenal of toys and give the best we can.

Mixing

When it comes to mixing, a project should be properly edited, otherwise a good mix won't happen. Mixing means, to bring all the instruments together to a piece of art that doesn't just sound like a heap of tracks, but like a treat for your ears. We carefully use all of our knowledge, decades of experience to make your song work. This is one of our core businesses.

Mastering

Mastering adds that final polish to your project and is the final musical step before your files are being delivered for replication (i. e. CD printing, iTunes delivery etc.). Mastering brings all the songs of a production «under one roof», so that all the songs (sometimes from different artists or played by different bands and mixed by different mixing engineers) sound like one production. This step needs some good «consumer ears» and experience. No rush here - we don't want to destroy all of your months of investment into your beloved project. You can't polish a turd. In other words: If the basic material doesn't sound good, a mastering won't cnange that. It just sounds louder… But if the final mixes already sound nice, a mastering just adds that that magic sparkle.

THE HEIMLICHER MANEUVER

Everyone knows about this famous life-saver motion. Pun intended. Sometimes, we use our intern «Heimlicher Maneuver» to rescue a song and bring it back to life, even there was little chance it would survive. Joking aside - we don't like the term «we'll fix it in the mix». A great mix starts with a great song idea, arrangement and performance. Correctly recorded, a song is nearly mixed right after the first recording pass. Mixing should be fun - a creative process to add sparkling to a solid groundwork.
That's why we spent lots of time tweaking, rethinking, listening over and over to the same songs - just because we want it to be as excellent as possible. Our clients deserve it.

ITB

ITB (in the box) means, that all the mixing work has been entirely done within the computer, without going anywhere outside, except for a stereo or surround signal path to the speakers for listening reasons. Pros: Easy handling, total recall, speedy workflow. For most smaller or medium projects, this is the way to go. Most amateur or semi-professional studios work this way today, which is totally fine with today's equipment.

OTB

OTB (outside the box) is the opposite, where the computer is just used as a tracking machine and most or all effects will be done outside with hardware equipment. Pros: Sound. Otherwise, this method needs more time, knowledge and way more equipment. A great method is to pursue a hybrid middle way - working mainly ITB and adding just a few crucial items OTB. This is our preferred way of working. The best of both worlds.