purple mastering
The most experienced Mastering Lab in the Northwest
Email feedback : “Amazing! This sounds incredible, you did an awesome job.
I can’t believe how even it all sounds considering how many different places it was recorded. I really appreciate the work you put into it. Seriously though, this album sounds better than I could have imagined. I really appreciate it as it is a very important album for me and one I put countless hours into writing and recording.” –Mike, Your Favorite Assassin
We have mastered hundreds of albums in every style!
We are REAL mastering.
We aren’t some guy in the basement with a software program. That’s like ‘home dentistry”.
The person doing your mastering has to have a musical ear, a track record, and trust his room to work with the “real world”.
We know how to paint with sound.
Hundreds of top bands: Jerry Joseph, Valerie Day, Nu Shooz Orchestra, Tom Grant, Dirty Martini, menomena, Eric Mathews, Little Sue, Satan’s Pilgrims. We know how to get their ‘sound’ !
The sweetest sounding mastering room in the northwest!
Everyone loves the accurate sound of the room. Rick built isolated walls, sand filled oak floors, & innovative acoustic treatments. With trapping & diffusion hidden in the walls, there are no bass buildups & the imaging is great.
We have built an accurate & musical LISTENING space from the ground up.
Try us out for Free!
Want to hear what we can do? Send us a track and we will master a 60 second sample! Live somewhere else on the planet? Use ftp! The internet makes it easy! We’ll provide our FTP info so you can send us your files. (16 or 24 bit AIFF, WAV . No mp3 files please.)
“It sounds just like it sounded when I brought it in – only better!”
By the time you get done mixing your project you have listened to it to the point of ear fatigue. It makes sense to enlist a fresh set of highly trained ears on new speakers to evaluate & correct things that you might have overlooked. Mastering should be a part of your musical process. It is the final step in your creative process.
Good mastering can take your album to the next level.
Mastering is the critical step between the final mixes & mass duplication. Equalization & compression are applied to make the music sound bigger, fatter, richer, & smoother.. We enhance timbre, smooth out the dynamics from song to song, sequence tracks in your order with proper spacing, fix fades, match song to song levels, maximize loudness, & do some additional magic to make your music “ready for the world”.
We know the “Zen” of mastering.
When to enhance or if it ain’t broke, don’t mess with it.
“Thanks for such a super job mastering.
We are ecstatic with the results. – J.Y. Aurora Chorus”
Choose one of the experienced mastering specialists listed below to master your album.
Mastering requires advance reservations. You call us at 503 228 2222.
We are happy to do your mastering with or without your presence.
In fact we mastered for a band in Italy via FTP ! They chose us over other mastering place’s in the world because of the sample Rick did for them.
Our engineers have mastered 100′s of albums. Our experience makes the difference.
Purple Mastering with Engineer included: $125/hour a la carte.
Or try one of our packages:
“EP” Mastering : $299
30 minute maximum album runtime for this package.
• We fix overall tonal balance with sweet sounding Analog & Tube Equalizers
• We lovingly process your music thru analog & digital limiters to make it punchy & loud or smooth & tight.
• We Sequence selections in any order.
• Engineer Included of course
• SuperProof Production Master Gold CD included.
Additional Gold CD copies $8 each • Makegoods: $80/hour
Inclusion of your ISRC codes, Barcode, or CD text metadata placed on your master CD for $299 package : $35
You can be here attending in Purple, or just drop a disc by & we’ll master on our own from your instructions. Send in files from anywhere on the planet via ftp. It’s easy. Just send it to us. We’ll make it sound better.
“Band on a Super Tight Budget” Mastering : $399
40 minute maximum album runtime for this package.
• We fix overall tonal balance with sweet sounding Analog & Tube Equalizers
• We lovingly process your music thru analog & digital limiters to make it punchy & loud or smooth & tight.
• We Sequence selections in any order.
• Engineer Included of course
• SuperProof Production Master Gold CD included.
Additional Gold CD copies $8 each • Makegoods: $80/hour
Inclusion of your ISRC codes, Barcode, or CD text metadata placed on your master CD for $399 package : $35
You can be here attending in Purple, or just drop a disc by & we’ll master on our own from your instructions. Send in files from anywhere on the planet via ftp. It’s easy. Just send it to us. We’ll make it sound better.
“Indy Band” Mastering : $499
• Purple Mastering Suite & Mastering Engineer Included in this package. Typically takes us 5 – 6 hours per album.
• We Digitally Edit, Fade In, & Fade Out as needed
• We add CD TEXT for each track • We add UPC barcodes if needed • We add ISRC codes you provide.
• We add clarity & correct the tonal balance with the best & vintage hi-end audiophile analog & tube Equalizers.
• We run your music thru vintage analog & digital limiters to make it punchy & loud or just smooth & tight.
• We do Maximum loudness processing if you want a hot sounding CD.
• SuperProof Production Master Gold CD included
Additional Gold CD copies $8 each • Makegoods: $80/hour
You can be here attending in Purple, or just drop a disc by & we’ll master on our own from your instructions. Send in files from anywhere on the planet via ftp. It’s easy. Just send it to us.
We’ll make it sound better. Tighter. Warmer. Balanced
“Deluxe” Mastering: $699
• Purple Mastering Suite with Expert Mastering Engineer Included.
Typically takes us 6 to 8 hours per album.
• We add CD TEXT for each track • We add UPC barcode • We add ISRC codes you provide.
• We Digitally Edit, Fade In, & Fade Out as needed
• We add clarity. and correct the tonal balance with hi end Analog & Tube Equalizers.
• Vintage analog & digital limiters to make it punchy & loud or smooth & tighter.
• Maximum loudness processing if you want a hot CD
• We level match from song to song
• We can provide you with a intermediate mastered CD so you can check it on your equipment overnight and have us make minor corrections at a next session.
• SuperProof Master Gold CD included
Additional Gold CD copies $8 each • Makegoods: $80/hour
You can be here attending in Purple, or just drop a disc by & we’ll master on our own from your instructions. Send in files from anywhere on the planet via ftp. It’s easy. Just send it to us.
We’ll make it sound better. Tighter. Warmer. Balanced.
Choose from our experienced Mastering Engineers to fit your style:
Justin Phelps New from SFO, Justin has been the recording guy behind some great sounding bands including. Cake, The Crosstops, Dead Kennedys a host of others. Recent mastering clients: Jet Boy, Estradasphere, Amy B, The Sister Kissers, LSD&D, Ing, Proven, Devil Riding Shotgun, Orchards, SSS, Van de Kirk, Apositiva. Justin has a great vibe to make you feel comfortable while surrouded by strange electrical audio gizmos.
Erik Ames Erik has mastered or mixed for Black Tide -KUFO , My Life in Black and White, The Dry County Crooks , Bitch School, The Subterrenean Howl, Depth Charger, Whiskey Puppy, Play> , Peer Pressure Productions, Hard Times Records, The Nephi Project, and National Dust Records.
Tony Lash Tony started his career as a drummer with Nero’s Rome. During which he worked as SuperDigital’s first mastering engineer 20 years ago! Recently, independent Tony has mastered Lex Browning, Bella fayes, Vince Caro, The Standard, Wet Confetti, Sunset Valley, Go By train, Nordic, Digital Knife. St .Jude, Nu Shooz Orchestra.
Rick McMillen Rick built the mastering room & its acoustics. He has engineered albums from smooth jazz king Kenny G (Platinum) to punks Poison Idea (not Platinum) over the last 30 years. Experienced in London, NYC, Seattle, & LA studios, Locally he has mixed or mastered music for (among others) Franco & the Stingers, Floater, James Angell, VX-323, Valerie Day & Tom Grant, The Dandy Warhols, Michael Allen Harrison, Roger Sause (Shock, Michael W. Smith, Kenny G ). & Muddy Award Winners the Rose City Kings.
We started the concept of record mastering in Portland with our first dedicated room in 1990.
Don’t leave out this important process!
GEAR
Our tools are exactly what 1000′s of hit albums have been made with, from the compressors to the type of monitors. We have numerous audio equipment choices that fit any number of album styles !
Rather than some mysterious esoteric overpriced big knob boutique components, this is no bullshit mastering gear.
Analog Compressors:
• Neve 33609 Compressor, for that ” Neve sound”.
• SSL G Series Compressor, for that ” SSL sound”
• Manley Vari Mu Compressor, for that ” Vari Mu tube sound”
• GML 8900 Compressor’s (2) for that ” George Massenberg sound”
Analog Equalizers:
• GML 8500 Analog Mastering Parametric EQ
• GML 8200 Mastering EQ,
• Manley Pultec Tube Mastering EQ’s
• Manley Pultec Tube Mastering Mid EQ’s
Digital:
• Apogee Converters
• Burl Converters
• TC Finalizer 96k
• Waves Ultramaximizer L2
• Waves MaxxBass BCL
• All the Digital Plug Ins you can think of.
Macs with Peak Pro & ProTools HD3
Monitoring:
Genelec 1031 Active 5.1 monitoring with subwoofer The other thing that makes the difference is our unique listening room that’s acoustically tuned.
Analog Tape:
Studer A820 1/2″ half track,
Otari MTR10, & Otari MX5050, MCI 1/4″ & Dolby SR
This is only a partial listing as we have a herd of gear from our studios and pro audio store to choose from.
Artistry comes from experienced Mastering engineers with hundred of albums under their belt.
Let’s rock.
We can accept masters on: 24 bit / 96khz .wav or aif files
DATA CD, DVD, hard drive , jump drive, or via our ftp,
16 bit audio CD,
1/2″ or 1/4″ Analog Tape with Dolby SR
QuestionsQuestionsQuestions:
Q: Mastering is such an abused word, what makes you guys different than this other dude who has a computer program?
A: What some advertise as ” mastering” isn’t really .—-A $99 computer plug-in is NOT ” mastering.” Any toad with a computer can call it “mastering”. Whoa !
Don’t have the same guy who mixed the album master it unless you bring it into a professional facility like ours. You need to hear it on a precise set of tools & acoustics that are different than the studio you mixed in. We do MASTERING in the traditional sense. It’s a combination of art & science. And it takes the right engineer & the right equipment to make it magic! An experienced engineer with an “ear” is worth the investment!
Q: Should I do stuff to the mix before I send to you?
A: As a rule make it sound exactly like you want to sound.
Don’t Compress or limit the overall stereo mix ! We can do a much better job with our specialized tools. If you over compress there’s not much we can do to breathe life into it. Leave the dynamic range in so you have no clipping. Don’t make your mix look like a solid bar on the screen.
Same goes for EQ. Don’t over do it!
Leave the fades up to us (with your guidance).
And make sure there’s a couple seconds of dead space before & after your mix just in case there’s pop or clicks
Q: What should I send?
A: A MAC formatted hard drive, a jump drive, CD or DVD of your source files. We prefer 24 bit 96 k source files as either stereo interleaved aiff or bwav. 24/96 preferred but in any case please tell us what your resolution is.
Q; What’s an ISRC code?
Stands for International Standard Recording Codes used as an identifier for royalty collection & rights administration. It’s not a necessity to have ISRCs encoded on your master. It’s your choice. Here’s our page on ISRC.
Q: What about text for iTunes?
A: CD text we encode will appear on text-capable CD players, but iTunes etc. requires info to be entered separately by you. With iTunes, song name, artist, genre, album title, etc. is entered in their CDDB database.
Hi Rick- I wanted to say thanks for giving me such a great mix on my CD ” Live at Biddy McGraws” You really put great finsh on that project.. I’ll be sure to bring my next project to you!
Yours, Noah Peterson
