What is pre-mastering?   In layman’s terms, pre-mastering is the process of taking a given recording, (on any format) and performing some or all of the following operations: Top / Tail Editing the starts and ends of the audio to ensure a clean start to the programme and a smooth fade at the end. Restoration This stage can be very time consuming, (and expensive) and involves removing any unwanted components within the audio, either automatically or manually. Examples of unwanted components could be tape hiss, clicks, crackles, distortion, hum etc etc. Equalisation This includes compression, limiting, gating, reverb and balancing. It is the process of ensuring that all the tracks “flow” transparently from one to another. For instance you would not want track 1 on a cd to be so bass heavy that you have to reach for the tone controls to turn it down only to find that track 2 is screechingly toppy and twice as loud as the first track. Transfer to approved mastering format Once the client is happy with the overall sound of the audio, the audio material along with the various subcode tracks are transferred to a final format in preparation for despatch to the chosen mastering/manufacturing facility. For an example of some “before and after” audio restoration please click on the samples to the right.

links to download.