Audio Services

Recording, Mixing and Mastering Services

Mixing and Re-mixing: If you have a project that you would like me to mix or remix for you, please mail me and we’ll discuss the best way to go about it. Pro Tools users will have to have .omf capability or export all individual files as waves. You can mail me a CDR Data disc or DVD Data disc of your files via snail mail. You can also use a service like www.Yousendit.com or your own personal web server so I can get the files. Contact me first to discuss this in full. Project pricing is discussed per individual as well as the time it will take to do the project.

Mastering: There are quite a few people that just don’t have a clue how to do this. It’s amazing what some mastering houses charge yet they know nothing. Mastering is an art all in its own and is more than just laying down some EQ and then making everything loud. Mastering audio in my studio deals with the following procedures and there are 2 levels. Extensive and Basic.

Extensive Mastering

Leveling of all audio for consistency
Fade ins
Fade outs
Stereo wideness and separation
Stereo narrowing
Special effects: Samples like explosions, creating atmospheres, or whatever else.
Additional effects: Room simulation, reverb, impulse verb, live atmosphere simulation, live crowd simulation, mono to stereo fade in/fade out, phase, flange, reverse, audio manipulation, Doppler effects and panning.
Audio re-sampling of damaged or clipping audio IF salvageable
Noise, hiss, hum, crackle, pop removal
Eqing
Compression
Over-all loudness maximization
Professional Dithering: higher audio projects from 24/96, 24/48 down to CD format at 16/44
DC Offset removal

Basic Mastering:

Leveling of all audio for consistency
Fade ins
Fade outs
Stereo wideness and separation
Stereo narrowing
Noise, hiss, hum, crackle removal
Eqing
Compression
Over-all loudness maximization
Professional Dithering: higher audio projects from 24/96, 24/48 down to CD format at 16/44
DC Offset removal

My Pledge

All projects are reviewed before I take them on. You must submit a high quality mp3 for review. The purpose of the review allows me to judge whether the project is worth my time and your money. Though I am in business to make money, I will not take on a job for the sake of taking your hard earned dollars. This would be what I consider “polishing a turd” and none of us have time for that. My job is to deliver your mix the way you intended it to sound. It should NOT come back to you sounding like something you didn’t create. I will preserve your mix and remove the bad stuff while adding in the good stuff. The only time a mix will come back to you sounding drastically different, is when you may not have the luxury to remix the tune to my specifications. Sometimes you’re stuck with what you’re stuck with and I will try to help you. But only if your mix literally has a chance to improve based on my capabilities. So if I can save your song, I will consider it. If I can’t, please don’t be upset with me. We both have names and reputations at stake. :)
This is also what the review is for. If we will be working together, there are things you will need to do before we go to the mastering stage. One of these things is to present a good mix to me that I feel is audible and has all the right stuff. If what you send me is not to my liking, because you will be my client, I will instruct you on what to do to fix your mix so that we can proceed to the mastering stage correctly. This service is included in the mastering service and I will continue to listen to your material giving you advice until I feel it is ready to be mastered. Now, who else is going to do that for you?

Pricing

I believe my prices are fair, but I also have a bit of credibility in this industry as well as a reputation to uphold. Because of that, I will go through your material with a fine-toothed comb. This entitles me to a bit more cash than a guy sitting there claiming to be an engineer. I’ve released albums worldwide and have a credible name in the business due to my work ethics and ability to deliver the goods in all aspects. If I can’t make you sound better, I won’t take the job or your money. I walk away from jobs everyday because in some situations, it’s just the fair thing to do.
Pricing can be anywhere from $50.00 per song to $200.00 per song depending on what is required and how long it will take for me to do. 95% of my clients pay $50.00 to $100.00 per song and the $200.00 clients are either guys that have vinyl albums or tapes to be re-mastered or special jobs with loads of samples and shock-value type effects. The reason vinyl and tape costs more to master is because it will take an hour or longer before the material is on my pc. I have to play the stuff in real time and wait for it to load in. I also use new needles on my turntable for each side of a vinyl album if you need it mastered. This cuts down on clicks, pops, scratches, turntable oscillation and motor hum.

Payment

I’m a very fair man and will offer you the following deals. Since you are taking just as big a chance as I am dealing over the net and we are both honoring each other’s word, it’s best we meet in the middle. In order for me to start a job, I’ll need half down for the job. You’ll receive half of your material back to you via CDR, DVD or a private ftp link from my website where your tunes will be waiting for you in wave format. When you receive the material and ok it, the other half of the money is due. No exceptions! I will then either fix your changes if need be, or upload the rest of the material instantly to my website for you to download secretly. I do not accept checks, so you’ll have to Pay Pal me the money using dannydanzi@prodigy.net or send me a money order. All money must be in US Dollar currency. So contact me personally to discuss the mastering of your project.

Unhappy Campers

In the event you are unhappy with any of my services, you will get 2 additional times for me to fix it for free. So that is a total of 3 times. This means, if you have given me an entire album to master and you do not like how it came out, I will fix it in full 2 more times if need be before you will be charged a fee. The fee for re-mastering after you’ve run out of chances will be $50.00 per hour. There are no refunds for my services, so if you are a problem child, neither of us need the aggravation. I do everything in my power and use every resource available at my disposal to ensure you have gotten exactly what you have paid for and then some. I also have some very famous people whom I can contact if your project is giving me problems so you’re in great hands at all times. So trust me, if we can’t get this thing in a few tries, I’ve already put some major time into this and am worth $50.00 an hour to work on this further. You either can’t be pleased or you’re just giving me a hard time. You’ll never find anyone as honest and hard working as I am. I’ll know your tunes and every aspect of your material as well as you do by the time I get done with it.

Producing

In the event you would like me to fully produce your album from the ground up, I am open to discussing it. You have 2 ways we can do this. I help you from the ground up which will be a bit pricey but incredible when finished, or you present me with a product and allow me to expand on it in my own vision. Pricing for this must be discussed per project and there is a wide variety we can choose from here. Lead vocal melodies, arrangements, guitar solos, drum tracks, backing vocals and harmonies, lyrics, bass lines, rhythm guitar lines, orchestrations and piano and synth parts.

Re-Amping, Re-Sampling and Sampling

I have the ability to re-amp, re-sample and also use assorted samplers and softsynths to further enhance your project. So if you have a guitar sound that you’re not down with but like the performance, we just may be able to fix it and further enhance it. Need a new sound for an already created midi file that contains drums, keyboard, bass or guitar? I can run the midi through a sampler or sound module and get you just about any sound you can imagine. Pricing for this can get expensive if you expect me to go through a sampling library that is in the millions, so make sure you have and audio file or some sort of representation for me to go off of to save time. Otherwise, you’ll be paying me billions to go through all these samples! :)

Drum Replacement, Midi Sound Sources

Did you record a drum kit at another studio and hate the outcome? This I can fix and my drum library is quite extensive. I can replace the samples using modules like BFD 2, EZ Drummer, Session Drummer, Professional Sound Fonts, Steven Slate Platinum Drums and a zillion Drumagog and self-made samples. If you have a midi file of your drums, we can turn them into real sounding drums with the above modules and samples. Again, send me an audio example of the drum kit you would like me to come close to.

Guitar preamps, Bass and plug-in modules

I have a really nice collection of amps, preamps and plug-in modules all made for guitar and bass. If you have a clean DI of one of your performances, we can easily run it through a killer processor to further enhance your guitar or bass guitar. If the sound isn’t completely messed up and too dirty, I can try to run it through the modules for further enhancement but this is not a fool-proof procedure. An already distorted or processed signal from a guitar or bass guitar can sometimes not be saved or further enhanced. So no promises there. However, if you have a clean, un-effected sound direct from an amp or from a direct box, we can send that into any amp or module I have and get fantastic results. From crushing metal to hard rock, jazz, country or any other sound you may need. I have so many different guitar and bass guitar rigs; I really don’t know where to start. So send me an audio example of what you may be looking for, and I’ll see what I can do for you.

Do you have a video that is out of sync with audio? I can fix that for you! Did you record a live video that has horrible audio quality and you have a board mix that sounds better? I’ll sync it up and get rid of the bad stuff! Prices are based on how much editing and how long the video is. Audio can be mastered for better quality for an additional price or we can just sync it up as is and let it fly. The choice is yours.

You may already know how to do a lot of this stuff and may just need me to lend you my ears. For $75.00 I will completely dissect your mix or mastered material and tell you exactly what I would do to fix it in all aspects. From producing it, engineering it, mixing it and mastering it. I will send you an in depth reply along with graphs showing good areas and bad areas as well as specific analysis and numbers to further show you what you’re getting, and what you’ll need to do to fix it to make it right.

If any of the above services interest you, or you have any questions or you do not see something listed here that you would like to discuss, please feel free to contact me and we’ll discuss things privately so that I can possibly cater to your needs.