Hi,

I've never done this before, I have no idea whether the master will be "remastered" again at the pressing plant (for volume or EQ tilt whatsover) or the even the workflow there (pressing plant) from the beginning to the end. Is there anything that I should know before doing this ? because from the information I gathered around the net, 100% of em saying "take care of the low end" which isn't really specific at all. I still have time to study about this, read etc, but just want to hear from anyone that has experience here first.

I just want to be extra careful before sending the master to the client so she can send it to her label and eventually to the pressing plant the best way possible so it wouldn't be "remastered" or touched again. The problem is it's a compilation album, and I have no idea (so does her) about the other songs and I never listened to any of them because they aren't "officially released" yet.

1. how is this different from the streaming -14LUFS format ? I also done the -9LUFS for CD for her before just in case.
2. will it be okay to send a 48kHz 24bit wav or there is a better format that suited for vinyl pressing ?
3. I understand that there will be a "test press" or something, should I wait until then and do the adjustment ?
4. what about the low end management ? should I cut higher than the original ? or just tone it down a bit.
5. should I ask the label to send me other songs just for reference ? it's a long shot and highly unlikely ill get it, is this important ? the thing is it's an indie label and they ask the artist to take care the production side of things while they will only press and release.
6. anything, any kind of input is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Edit : changed the title to something more appropriate.

 

Last edited: Jan 21, 2021

Mastering for vinyl is a very special skill. Especially when you are supplying a track for a compilation. The label manufacturing this album should be requesting unmastered finished mixes for all tracks which should then be mastered by one mastering house familiar with transferring to vinyl.
https://www.sageaudio.com/blog/mastering/what-is-mastering-for-vinyl.php

 

yeah I thought so, that is how it suppose to be done, but the last time I had a chat with the "label" dude, he was so high (marry jane), gave thumbs up every 10 seconds, so I guess he's not the one to talk to. I don't normally do this, but I look at this as a favour (or investment, lol) because I want the client next projects (she is so hardworking, it means a lot of mixes and master) plus maybe I can learn something from this. Thanks, I'll take a look at the link.

 

While this statement does not help, every ensemble I know of who decided to release their music on LP, also recorded it in an analogue studio.
What I do know is that you need an engineer that knows how to do this as SD above said that knows not only how to remove unwanted distortion, but exactly where that distortion is that needs to be removed.
There's an article here on sage Audio
https://www.sageaudio.com/blog/mastering/how-to-master-for-vinyl.php

 

Hey. U can get in touch with pressing plant directly and get some info there. Or maybe check website (if they have any). Some pressing plants have their own rules and sometimes mastering is included in the pressing price.
When it comes to rules - somewhat depends on pressing plant and equipment they use but - highest bitrate possible, definitely mono bass (usually from 180) lot of headroom (around -14), true peak (unless you transfer master from tape)but if you don’t want to risk or can’t afford few rounds of testpressings - maybe send it to mastering house that makes vinyl masters. Eventually ask them if you can be there during mastering for learning purposes.
Good luck!

 

https://www.mrvertigovinylrecords.com/vinylpress/how-to/mastering/?lang=en

And here's a good rundown too:

 

Last edited: Jan 21, 2021

stevie, mastering is per definitionem that all tracks of the release fit together, spectrumwise, impact, you name it. you cant master a single track, without to consider the rest of the releases tracks!

(for native english speakers, my grammar is somewhat strange, isnt it?

 

Apologies for the misleading title earlier, im bad with terminology.

thanks for all your response. shit load of stuff to read/check out. I'll respond later when I wake up, need to sleep now, dont know what time is it now. This is very inspiring, keep em coming guys.

 

Yeah I don't know much about it either but I have seen specific services on a few mastering engineers' websites that offer mastering for Vinyl.