Project Post-Production & Mastering Preparation
As the recording and mix stages reach completion for Magic Satin, the final stage of the production comes to the mastering process, including preparing the release for transferability across multiple playback platforms. The playback mediums I will be focusing on will be CD and Spotify Streaming, as these two distribution channels have different technical delivery requirements I will have to produce masters specifically for each.
Below is the technical deliverable requirements :
Spotify :
- FLAC at 44.1kHz
Redbook Standard, Andrew Mitchell (2023) :
- Max playing time is 79.8 minutes
- Max number of tracks is 99
- Max number of index points is 99 with no max time limit
- ISRC is included on the CD
- Min duration of a track is 4 seconds
- DAE 2-16 bit linear PCM at 44.1kHz sample rate
Keeping to these deliverables when mastering will ensure that audio quality is maintained once transcoded for streaming, and compatibility is correct with CDs. A key area to ensure is correct is the 16-bit encoding to CD, reformatted from the original 24-bit, as this is essential to successfully playback from the CDs.
For the CDs themselves, I have sourced CD-R 52x 700MB discs which are record ready to burn once the mastering process is complete. To burn to CD I will be using ITunes’s built-in burn to CD processing, as through ITunes the track metadata (including artist, trackname / number, artwork, ISRC) can be defined.
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Andrew Mitchell (2023), “What is a Redbook CD?”, AudioBay, Online : Available at :http://www.audiobaymastering.com/redbook-cd/
[Accessed : 16/07/23]
Music Gateway (2023), “What is an ISRC Code & How To Get One”, Online : Available at :https://www.musicgateway.com/blog/how-to/isrc-code-iswc-code-how-do-you-get-one#:~:text=T o%20obtain%20ISRC%20codes%20for,ISRCs%20whenever%20you%20need%20to. [Accessed : 16/07/23]
Spotify (2023), “Audio File Formats For Spotify”, Online : Available at :https://support.spotify.com/us/artists/article/audio-file-formats/?category=managing-your-music [Accessed : 16/07/23]
Spotify (2023), “Loudness Normalization”, Online : Available at :https://support.spotify.com/us/artists/article/loudness-normalization/?ref=related [Accessed : 16/07/23]
