Perfecting the electronic music landscape, here’s a list of 10 mastering services that stand out and deliver top-quality results.
The dynamic world of electronic music is the place where innovation and creativity collide in order to create mesmerizing sonic landscapes. In this editorial, we delve into the realm of mixing and mastering specifically tailored for electronic music producers and beyond. Whether you’re a seasoned artist seeking to refine your tracks or an aspiring music maker looking to elevate your sound, we’ve curated a list of 10 exceptional mastering services specialized in the unique nuances of house, techno and minimal.
From the underground clubs of Berlin to the festival stages of Ibiza, electronic music has firmly established itself as a global phenomenon, no doubt. With an ever-expanding community of talented producers and an insatiable appetite for innovation, it’s essential for artists to have access to top-notch mastering services that understand and enhance the distinct characteristics of their sound. Refining tracks to perfection and making sonic creations shine, let’s find out more about DRG Mastering, Dubplates & Mastering, In Haus Mastering, Manmade Mastering, Pheek, Rob Small, RV Audio, Schnittstelle, TripMastering and Vlad Caia.
DRG Mastering
Behind DRG Mastering there’s Adrian Drăguț aka Dragutesku, a proficient artist when it comes to DJing, producing and, of course, mixing and mastering. He’s a vital contributor to the thriving Romanian electronic music scene, constantly showcasing his exceptional talent both in his hometown and on international stages. Throughout time he signed many releases and created his own labels DRG Series and DRG Limited so his work as an audio engineer marks another important chapter in his evolution.
“When it comes to mixing and mastering, having diverse references and perspectives is essential to achieving the best sound across all devices that consumers use to listen to your music.”
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Dubplates & Mastering
Dubplates & Mastering is a German mastering and cutting facility based in Berlin, founded by Basic Channel in 1995 and run by Christoph Grote-Beverborg. Credited on vinyl etchings as D&M or D+M most of the times, the venture offers lacquer cutting for vinyl, an analog mastering technique that has many supporters and fans in the electronic music community and beyond.
Among collaborators, we find artists like Delano Smith, Nima Gorji, Fumiya Tanaka, Dana Ruh, Len Faki, Mad Professor, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Pantha Du Prince, Soul Capsule, Cristian Vogel, Arovane and Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Orchestra, to name only a few.
In Haus Mastering
In Haus Mastering is an extension of In Haus Wax headed by British DJ and producer TIJN, providing vinyl mastering services, pressing and distribution. Focused on house, techno and minimal the venture brings forward top-quality hand-stamped and numbered 180g vinyl materials which arrive in a limited number of only 300 copies, with no repress and no digital publishing policies going on, making the releases very sought after.
Throughout time, In Haus Mastering has been the name behind astonishing records delivered by labels like Unic, Blind Vision Records, Minim Records, Esuoh White, Curtea Veche, Into The Wizard’s Sleeve, discotech, OGE, Perspective, Bienaimer and Animal Crossing, among others.
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Manmade Mastering
Run by Tim Xavier and Michael Kuhn, Manmade Mastering is a mastering and vinyl cutting company that has the acoustic design made by Thomas Jouanjean at Northward Acoustics, Brussels. The studio provides full on analog master processing and digital finalizing for every medium while also enjoying the percs of a laquer cutting machine for vinyl-only releases.
Among the artists that collaborated with MMM we find A Guy Called Gerald, Cesar Merveille, Martin Beume, Cesare vs Disorder, Golden Disko Ship, Ion Ludwig, Satoshi Tomiie, Noha, Andrei Ciubuc, Miroloja, Mihai Pol, Synkro, Dark Star Safari, Dubtil, Alejandro Vivanco, Dan Andrei and many many others.
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Pheek
The head of Archipel, Jean-Patrice Rémillard aka Pheek has been around since the ’90s, always delivering top-quality sounds for the people. His vast musical knowledge eventually transformed him into an audio engineer who put all his efforts into mixing and mastering numerous materials for artists and friends all over the world, gaining a well deserved reputation for his services.
Recently, he started teaching and consulting people who want to find out more about music, mixing, mastering, production and anything related in private sessions, all while recording public podcasts on various themes regarding the exploration of sound in various styles and genres. His personal blog is also a source of valuable information for artists that want to expand their knowledge and learn new things about making music.
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Rob Small
As a sound engineer, Rob Small needs little to no introduction. With nearly 2 decades of experience in the music industry under his belt, he worked as an audio engineer, mastering engineer, music producer, A&R, consultant to artists and record labels and spent many years as a touring DJ playing alongside the likes of Sasha, Yousef, Paul Woolford, Darius Syrossian, Marshall Jefferson and others.
His service, Rob Small Mastering LTD, offers a more affordable mastering solution for artists which are either signed or unsigned, record labels and artist management, without the need to physically attend a studio session. His mastering studio and acoustics are custom made, the equipment and software used is high-end and the monitoring and conversion is strictly mastering grade. His extended portfolio includes mastering over 50.000 tracks and 3000 vinyl releases.
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RV Audio
Founded and based in Berlin, RV Audio is a certified mixing and mastering studio, specialized in a wide array of electronic music ranging from minimal, techno and house to UK Garage. With over a decade of experience in music production and releases on imprints such as Infuse, Eastenderz, Desolat, 1trax and Berg Audio, their engineers have extensive knowlege that will help anyone get the best out of their music.
Having worked with some of the electronic scene’s finest talent, RV Audio has all the experience needed to provide a fast and flexible project turnaround, using high-end analog equipment to produce the best audio quality, adding punch, brilliance and presence to the music. Their sound engineers are certified by SAE Institute and Point Blank Music School ensuring any music will be given that professional final touch.
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Schnittstelle
No matter if warm, full-bodied or punchy, each label has its own sound and each artist comes with different preferences. That’s why at Schnittstelle, their sound engineers always adapt the mastering as well as the vinyl cut to the individual requirements of their customers, shaping the sound of the tracks significantly. For their work, they rely on two excellently equipped studios with first class monitoring and mastering gear as well as high-end cutting equipment including lacquer and tape machines.
Both of Schnittstelle‘s Berlin-based studios are especially designed as fully floating rooms, so-called room-in-room concepts, by Karlheinz Stegmaier and the architect office B C K Architektur + Bauphysik. They are extremely well insulated, especially for low frequencies. At the same time, thanks to the wisely installed diffusors, they reach a vivid sound without any musical reflections. Further optimizations were realized in 2022 by Jochen Veith.
TripMastering
TripMastering is an analog mixing and mastering studio established in 2020 in Berlin by the well-known DJ, producer and label manager Tripmastaz. After many years in which he constantly gained experience as a performing artist it was just a matter of time for him to become a sound engineer, evolving and leaving his fingerprint on numerous projects worldwide.
His mastering services include working with acoustic music, jazz, folk, hip-hop, ambient, movie soundtracks and, of course, all shades of house, techno and minimal. With solid experience producing both downtempo and uptempo rhythms and textures, Tripmastaz‘s mastering solutions are always to be taken into consideration.
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Vlad Caia
Half of SIT and Amphia record label alongside Cristi Cons, Vlad Caia has a vast experience in the field of electronic music, carefully nurtured since his early teenage years. Having countless hours spend in the studio and behind the decks, in 2011 he started to shift his focus into sound experimentation in order to break free from the already standardized rules of electronic music, a move that opened new ways and approaches to sound synthesis and arrangement, clearly visible in the label’s core concept as well in his solo projects or collaborations.
“I’ve always been fascinated with the technical side of sound, from inception and recording all the way up to the final master. I’ve done mixing and mastering work both for solo projects and for other artists. I’ve mixed for Mischa Blanos‘ debut album on Infine Records titled “Second Nature” and Amorf’s debut album “Blending Light” on Understand Records. Mastering work includes sessions for Longcut Records, Synkro Records and Arma 17 to name a few.”
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Words by: AndreiB
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