Like
all independent recording artists, you want
your music to sound its very best. You want
worldwide distribution and sales. And you probably have a
limited budget.
At Sonik Wheel
you will receive the best possible sound
with Sonik mastering,
career and business planning, CD replication,
promotion, worldwide distribution, and other
music services, all at prices you can afford.
(Many free!)
Success starts with
good songs, solid performances, a professional
sound, and effective marketing.
Sonik Wheel
offers broadcast quality mastering, custom music business and marketing
plans, the best-looking CD packages, and the most
valuable promotional tools, including
a free UPC bar code (valued at $750), International Standard
Recording Codes (ISRC), electronic press kits,
free web hosting, worldwide distribution,
contact management, and download sales through sites like iTunes and
Rhapsody. We work with partners around the
world who provide the same high
levels of service and expertise, to save you
time and money.
More than anything
else, Sonik Wheel excels at audio mastering. Read comments from
some of our recent clients and friends
here.
Sonik Mastering
Mastering is the art
and science of taking a collection of completed
mixes and preparing them for replication,
distribution, and enjoyable listening. Sonik Wheel optimizes your audio
with the careful use of equalization, limiting,
harmonics enhancement, and other tasteful processing to give
your music a consistent and professional sound from
song to song.
Given today's easy access
to home recording equipment and ever-increasing
competition (140,000 artists on CD Baby alone!),
the sonic quality that can be gained from skilled
mastering is more important than ever.
Sonik mastering will
enhance the sound of your music in any format, whether CD
audio, MP3, streaming audio, such as on Myspace, or digital download.
Sonik Gear
Sonik Wheel uses
top quality gear, including a supremely accurate
monitoring system by Lipinski Sound, and other precision
mastering tools, such as the mastering expander,
compressor, and limiter from the TC Electronic
System 6000.
Our monitors and
amplifier were designed by famed engineer
Andrew Lipiniski, recognized by the U.S.
National Bureau
of Standards as having perfect hearing.
We use only the
finest effects and processors, such as
equalizers by Algorithmix, harmonics enhancement
by Crane Song (HEDD 192), and limiting by Sony
and the TC Electronic Mastering System 6000.
We use special techniques to bring out the
inherent ambience in your recordings.
Your mastered songs are recorded to Taiyo Yuden
discs using a Sequoia digital audio workstation
and Plextor premium drives.
Every disc must pass a
thorough quality check.
See the rest of our
gear here.
Sonik Experience
Even more important
than our gear are our experienced, trained, and
sensitive ears. Sonik Wheel's owner and chief engineer,
Bill Jacobs, has more than 30 years of experience
as a musician and audiophile concerned with the
sound quality of recorded music. Bill started Sonik
Wheel Mastering to help improve what he believes
are deficiencies in sound quality that began appearing
in the late 70s with the advent of digital
music.
International Mastering
Our international
clients can take advantage of current monetary
exchange rates with online mastering!
We can master your music from anywhere in the world,
with little or no travel expenses or customs
issues for you,
by transferring songs through our FTP Internet
server with no loss of sound quality.
Take Your Time
There's no rush at
Sonik Wheel, unless you need to rush. And there
is no expensive studio time, or all day crammed
sessions where your ears are so tired you're not
sure how the music sounds. You can
take your time and listen to your masters before
you commit to a final production master.
We take time to allow our ears to rest between
songs and projects. We will
make adjustments with you and send songs back and forth
over the Internet until they're just right!
Sonik's
Rich, Warm, Analog-Like Sound
Because most recorded music today ends up in the
digital domain, Sonik Wheel is skilled at using
hi-end tape compression modeling and other
special techniques to ensure that your music
maintains a rich, warm, analog-like sound.
We
use K-System meters and monitoring to prevent the hyper-compressed
and fatiguing digital sound that is all too common today.
(And record
companies wonder why cds aren't selling!)
Designed by mastering guru Bob Katz, the
K-System integrates the best concepts of the
past with current psychoacoustic knowledge.
Sonik Wheel uses a variety
of customized approaches, depending on your preferences,
your mix, and the genre of music, whether rock,
pop, metal, jazz, hip hop, country, folk,
reggae, or classical.
We can do as little or as much processing as your
project needs.
ISRC and ID3 Tags
Sonik Wheel can
encode your songs with International Standard
Recording Codes (ISRC). The ISRC is the
international identification system for sound
recordings. ISRCs provide the means to
automatically identify recordings for royalty
payments. This is included with all Sonik
mastering.
Sonik can encode your MP3s with ID3 tags,
allowing information such as the title, artist,
album artwork, and lyrics to
be stored in the MP3 file. This is included with
all Sonik mastering.
Audio Repair
We can eliminate
unwanted noises from otherwise perfect
recordings with Algorithmix reNOVAtor, such as
coughs, a squeaky chair, door slams, cell phone
ringing, “p”s popping, or the horn of a passing
truck.
Free
Test Masters!
Try a free test master!
Simply upload your stereo mix as a .wav
or .aif file to the drop box on our
Mastering page.
Be sure to leave us an e-mail address so we can
contact you.
Want even better
sounding music? Get Sonik Wheel involved early
in the mixing process. Send us a rough mix for one song and
we'll evaluate the sound and give you a rough
master that you can use to improve the final
mix. Then, send us your final mix and we'll
master it. ALL FREE!
Easy Payments
Use our Easy Payment
Plan! You can have your songs mastered one or
more songs
at a time. The cost of each
individually mastered song is credited toward your
full master CD when you're ready! In the
mean time, you can use individually
mastered songs for your MySpace player,
other streaming audio, and digital downloads! And
your first song is FREE!
Sonik's Money-Back
Guarantee
If you are not
completely satisfied with our mastering, 100% of
your payment will be refunded.
CD Replication and
Promotion
Get the best looking
CD packages and the most valuable
(and free) promotional tools, including free distribution, a free UPC
bar code, worldwide CD distribution,
download sales through sites like iTunes and Rhapsody, electronic press
kits, and much, much more. Free promotion comes with every new
regularly-priced replication package! Contact us at
sonikwheel@sonikwheel.com for more
information and a free quote.
Sonik Wheel Music Career and Marketing Plans
Success starts with a clear, realistic
plan. Along the way, measure your success and adapt. Sonik Wheel offers
music marketing and career planning services to specially selected
artists. Contact us at sonikwheel@sonikwheel.com
for availability.
Read comments from some of our recent
clients and friends here.
______________________________
Mastering
at Sonik Wheel includes the following:
-
Equalization for frequency balance
with the highest quality equalizers,
including Algorithmix EQ
-
Level (loudness)
maximization without adding harmful distortion
-
Edit
spreads (the time between songs), fades
(both fade-ins and fade-outs), and basic
additions/subtractions
-
Add effects,
such as small amounts of reverb, delay,
or tape compression modeling as appropriate
and needed
-
Spatial
processing to enhance the stereo field while
maintaining mono compatibility
-
Clean up
of minor noise and imperfections
-
Sequencing
of songs
-
Bass management
-
Encoding of
International Standard Recording Codes (ISRC)
-
Red book
standard production master CDR and
backup master CDR
-
Given 24-bit
mixes, a 24-bit CDR or DVD
master for archiving and future duplication
-
Quality
control check of all CDRs for errors
______________________________
"Your music will
sound as rich, warm, and perfect as possible.
We guarantee it."
-- Bill
Jacobs, owner and chief engineer
