Plugin alternatives and export settings

Masters Q&A Q&A Mike Bozzi
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Hi Mike, I’m a huge fan and I have a few questions about advice and settings on your hardware

  1. I see that you are almost exclusively using hardware and I am wondering if you know of any plugin alternatives (but I understand that all of the gear is modified by you guys so all good if not!)

  2. What do you export out of WaveLab at, 44.1 kHz, 32 bit depth?

  3. I am 15 years old (creating under the name Doctor Oscillator) and I’m still deciding whether I want to mix, master, produce or some of all three. I was wondering if I wanted to follow the path that you did and master, would you suggest becoming an intern at a studio near me? and do you think getting to your level is more difficult when living in a place like Adelaide, Australia?

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Hello Sidney!

I don’t think there are comparable plugins to my hardware, really. Almost every piece of our studios commercially available hardware is modified to our needs. The benefit of a wise and experienced technical team.

When exporting from Wavelab, I tend to capture masters at the native sample and bit rate of the mix. This provides the client a true HD master to not only service streaming platforms, but also for archival purposes. If my client needs a specific sample rate and bit depth, say, for CD duplication at 44.1/16, I would rerun the project entirely to those specifications rather than dither down from a higher resolution file.

As far as getting started in mastering, I’d recommend apprenticeship if possible. A mentor would have already made the investment in equipment and you’d be learning in a treated environment. In my case, I worked up to my current position from an entry level, part time employee. It took years to train my ear to listen more critically, but I was working in a top tier environment from legends in the industry.

You can work anywhere as long as there are artists and material to master. Obviously, a larger city with established recording studios, a larger pool of artists or record labels would be more advantageous, but to learn the craft and develop an ear is more about your dedication and time.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

Mike

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Thank you heaps Mike, really appreciate you taking time out of your day to answer my questions, as I said I’m 15 so getting answers to my questions from someone as experienced as you means a lot

Thanks, Sid (Doctor Oscillator)

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15!?!? Thats great Sidney! Keep up the hard work, hope to see (and hear) your success in the future!

Best,

Mike

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