Preparing Your Master for Vinyl Cutting

I suggest that for vinyl (and only for vinyl) you keep an eye on hard panning during mixing. The more stuff you put all the way left or all the way right, the more unstable the groove is going to become. That's because a stereo vinyl groove contains one channel being cut vertically while the other is cut laterally. If you imagine the face of a clock and you keep the panning between 8:00 and 4:00 and 9:00 and 3:00, this will keep the groove from changing widths suddenly which can cause problems with tracking.

Above is an example, of a mixing technique often used for vinyl circa 1982. Long before digital consumer audio was available.
Following the above guidelines is not a "must do". It's there for those who wish to go "old school".

It has also been proven with testing that any mix going to vinyl will suffer some phase loss from being maxed out in level through a modern day digital multi-channel compressor. Whether your mix master CD-R is the hottest on the planet or is at -10 db from 0 doesn't effect the outcome of the volume of your record.

The volume of your record is directly linked to the total time of each side. This means if you intend to have it played in clubs by D.J.'s the time per side should be around 12-13 minutes for 12" records. When the side length is less than 9 minutes the loudness will be at the max for 33 1/3 cuts. However for EVERY minute over 13 or so you lose about 1 db in volume on the side, in most cases. Projects intended for DJ/club use, leave 3.5 seconds of silence between tracks. This allows enough time for a good size marker between the cuts on your release.

For 7" releases, at 33 1/3 RPM total side time should not exceed 6.5 minutes. At 45 RPM, sides should not be longer than 4.5 minutes to maintain a zero level cut.

Now let's talk about so called "S" distortion. When the master has too much hi frequency on vocal "S", "T", "F" sounds, it will end up OVERLOADING the playback styli, causing noticeable distortion. This also happens when hi-hat's, cymbals or any hi-freq. sounds that are in your mixes are too hot. This can also mean the louder your record is cut the worse the problem will be. So... have all the fun you want for compact disc mixing, but for vinyl mixes I suggest BEFORE adding compression, or any digital processing, save the mix for vinyl production as untouched as possible.

Formats: C.D.-DA (Compact Disc - Digital Audio), or any format on CD-R is acceptable. Any Alesis Masterlink C.D., D.A.T. tapes, 1/4 inch open reel tapes. Please no ITunes generated files! Each track must be identified by a track ID number and listed on the order form.

I've heard opinions about lacquer cutting from digital audio C.D.s vs. higher resolution formats that aren't what I'd call glowing. I will admit that technically "on paper" hi-res formats should make a difference. In my opinion there is no audible evidence that this is true. But the great thing about audio is there are many opinions which are basically personal preferences. What may be right or may be wrong about an approach is like comparing apples to oranges. Like everyone else, I do what I believe yields the best results for my clients.