Preparation

For the mix:

It would be greatly appreciated to have a Word document in which to include your tracks “BPM” information (tempo, beats per minute), as well as all your requirements regarding the work to be done.

Although it is not impossible to achieve good results with a minimum resolution of 16 bit 44100 Hz, it is much better to set your music to higher resolution for various reasons at the stage of "work". From the stage of "Rec", set your session to 24 or 32 bit float and 44100Hz or 88200hz (48000Hz , 96000hz and higher are accepted if there is no other choice).

Please be aware of the fact that we do not accept music in MP3 format or in any other type of compressed format. Also, please do not attempt to convert your MP3 music into .wav. If this is the case, ManeeMastering will not take any responsibility for the result of your music quality.

• Important: Do not convert your tracks. Keep the original resolution that was chosen in the recording session.
• The tracks must all start at the beginning of the song. To do so, combine all your tracks in your sequencer from the start. After editing your song and before the combination of tracks, do not forget to fade your song at the beginning and at the end in order to avoid rough introduction and end.
• The tracks should be separated and named (example: Kick, snare top, snare bottom, charley... OH Rt, OH Lt... Guitar 1, Guitar 2, ..., Lead Vocal).

* When recordings have been performed with Top/Bottom or Kick/Reinforcement kick type, with two microphones facing each other, please specify whether the "Phase" for one of the tracks have been reversed.

• Set your faders to zero and check your levels. Your tracks must have a proper technical level without saturating. To do so, refer to the indicators of your converters, to your sound card, your pre- amp or your sequencer. The levels and the kick should not reach the “Red” section. They should remain within the “Green” section and can sometimes reach the “Orange” level to serve as a "margin".
• Set your "PAN" to zero.

• Respect the nature of your recordings in a way that mono recordings should be left as mono tracks and stereo recordings left as stereo tracks.
• Processing (compressors, EQ, reverb...) should be disabled in order to leave tracks to be dry.
• Do not forget to add a flat track from your own mix so that we can have an initial understanding of your work. Additionally, to the information to mention on the Word document as described above, also specify any effect you would like to have on your composition as well as any other requirements. Some "tricks" such as "cuts" need to be removed from the original tracks but must be specified in your Word document and flatting process work.

Then export your tracks at the same resolution as that of the session "Rec" (no conversion).

The ideal is to have the best possible quality of sound recording as even the best mixes cannot fix poor records.

If the "Rec" session was performed in Pro Tools, you can send us directly the session file. Be sure that the file is complete so that it can be opened on another computer without losing any element. Also ensure that unused elements are cleaned (with the appropriate procedure of Pro Tools) to optimize file size.

For the mastering:

Here, still no conversion from the resolution of the "Rec" session is required. The music file still needs to be in .wav format and requirements in a Word document would still be appreciated.

Although it is not impossible to work with the 16 bit and 44100 Hz, it is really recommended to work on 24 or 32bit float. For the frequency, a minimum of 44100Hz is needed but ideally 88200hz other frequencies above 44100Hz is accepted.

Again, any mp3 format will be refused and the mp3 file converted to .wav can contribute to an optimal result.