Frequently Asked Questions 1. How much does mastering cost? How long does it take? 2. What can I expect from you? What are you going to do to my album exactly? 3. What do I need to provide to you (file format, etc.) to facilitate mastering? 4. How do we work together if I am not attending my session? How do I deliver files online or use FTP? 5. What are ISRC codes, and how do I get them on my release? 6. How do I make my song titles appear in iTunes or other computer software? 7. Can you help me make vinyl instead of / as well as CD's? 8. What extra services do you offer? What is analog summing and tape layback? 9. Will you make my CD louder than a hydrogen bomb if I ask nicely? 10. What's the deal with the studio? Who works there? 4. How do we work together if I am not attending my session? How do I deliver files online or use FTP? The most efficient way of moving data around online is using File Transfer Protocol or FTP - it works over the web and is very similar to web browsing. Downloading is very easy, you can click on or paste an FTP link (which starts with ftp:// instead of http://) into any web browser and it will work right away. We will provide you with an FTP account for uploading and downloading, but you need to install the FTP client program yourself. Once your client is installed, the process of uploading and downloading is just drag-and-drop. If you don't already have a client, we recommend the fabulous, cross platform, and open source (free) FileZilla. You can also try FireFTP, an add-on for the Firefox browser. You need to have Firefox installed for this to work. Generally speaking, if you are using a home DSL or cable connection, uploading is fairly slow (20 minutes per song) but downloading is much faster. Try it, you'll like it. For added file security and intregrity, we recommend you FLAC, RAR, ZIP compress your files, but uncompressed WAV or AIF's are fine as well. For more information on how to use FTP, consult the FileZilla user guide *** An important note regarding listening to your masters on a computer *** If you are downloading songs and listening to them on a computer, please make sure your software player is not using any "intelligent" features to affect what you are hearing. iTunes is especially bad about this, make sure you are not converting your masters to AAC or MP3 files, and that all of the advanced playback options are turned off (do not use crossfade playback, sound enhancer, or sound check, see graphic below.)