24 years of Aardvarkulating News

Aardvark Record Mastering 4485 Utica Street Denver, CO 80212 (303) 455-1908 Basic Prices Effective effectDate Seven Inch Twelve/Ten Inch Mastering m7 m12 Plating p7 p12 Shipping/Handling s s Total m7+p7+s m12+p12+s If you want your source material returned, please add ret Additional charges may apply for editing of master tapes Optional Reference Lacquers with mastering orders: 7" r7 10" r10 12" r12 To automatically generate a quote, use our Quote Calculator. This can be handy when dealing with multiple masterings, orders with reference lacquers, or when paying via Pay Pal. Dub Plates Customers, please see the Dub Plate page.

The Shipping and handling charge is per order, not per record. If two records are being ordered together, include only one $25 fee for shipping and handling.

The mastering and plating charges are per record, not per side. Plating is two step. Please understand that you will be charged for replacement plates if the pressing plant requires additional plates. In most cases, if plates break, they will be replaced at no charge. My plater guarantees stampers for the first run of up to 1000 records.

If the stampers should break on a re-order, the replacement of the stampers will be at the customer's expense. Changing color on a first order may require the stampers to be moved to another press. Only the first 1000 records on the first press will be guaranteed. If the stamper should break when moved to another press, the replacement stampers will be at the customer's expense.

Reference Lacquers are a good way to tell how well your songs will transfer to vinyl. Also DJs use reference lacquers to preview their songs in clubs to see if the record is worth the expense of pressing. There is no additional shipping charge for Reference Lacquers.

Time Per Side Reference

Seven Ten Twelve 45 Loud 3 mins 6-1/2 mins 10 mins 45 Normal 4 mins 8 mins 12 mins 45 OK 4-1/2 mins 9-1/2 mins 14 mins 45 Quiet 7 mins 12 mins 17-1/2 mins 45 max I've done 9 mins N/A N/A 33 Loud 4-1/2 mins 9 mins 13 mins 33 Normal 6 mins 11 mins 15-1/2 mins 33 OK 7-1/2 mins 13 mins 18-1/2 mins 33 Quiet 8-1/2 mins 16 mins 23 mins 33 max I've done 13 mins N/A 37 mins

Click here to get a more detailed explaination of cutting times. Click here for details on seven inch records. I have cut longer than suggested times. A lot has to do with the levels of bass for the amount that can fit loudly at a given speed. Distortion tends to happen in the high end, so music with a lot of high end will be cut quieter to avoid this distortion. I try not to compress the music, but occasionally, I will limit the extreme peaks. Dance club music is usually heavy in bass and should stay at about 12:30 on a 12" record, and 9:15 mins for a 10" at 33. Dance club customers, please see the Dub Plate page. The same rules apply for mastering dance music.

• Formats accepted are DAT, Minidisk, CD, CDR.
• Also accepted are 1/4 or 1/2 inch Reel to Reel at 7-1/2, 15, and 30 IPS. Cassettes are also accepted, and preferred over transferring a cassette master to another format.
• On all cassettes and reels editing charges will apply.

Double Grooves: Two distinct tracks recorded interlaced. Times have to be equal for each groove, and each selection must be half the length of a loud cut. Extra charge of dg7/side for 7", dg12/side for 10/12".

Locked Grooves: Groove that intentionally repeat every turn of the record. Time for a lock is 1.8 seconds at 33, and 1.3333 seconds at 45. The is no extra charge for up to 4 per record. The charges are lg per lock over the initial 4 above the standard mastering charges. Remember that locks are tricky, and we can't guarantee that they will all be 100% perfect. It is preferred that the tracks are sent as .WAV files exactly 1.8 seconds long for 33rpm, and 1.3333 seconds for 45rpm.

One Sided Records Not that this is a weirdness, but sometimes folks just want one side to press.

Effective effectDate

One Siders	Seven Inch	Twelve/Ten Inch
Mastering	m7/2	m12/2
Plating	p7/2	p12/2
Shipping	s	s
Total	m7/2+p7/2+s	m12/2+p12/2+s

If the other side is blank, you may have a charge from the pressing plant for a blank stamper. Check with them. If you want the flip side to be exactly the same as the first, we can provide a second stamper to accommodate this. The charge for the second stamper is st. If the second stamper is ordered after the mastering, there will be a stShip shipping charge.

One Step Plating: We offer, but discourage, doing your project with One Step plating. With One Step plating, no mother plates are made. There is no way to make additional stampers without remastering the project. The precautions are as follows:

1. There is no guarantee concerning the life of the plates. This includes breakage at the plant.
2. All problems concerning skipping and noise on a one step project must be reported to Aardvark within 45 days of mastering. The lacquers are discarded after 45 days, and therefore no tracing of errors are possible. Full price for re-mastering and plating will apply after 45 days of mastering.
3. No stampers can be re-ordered on a one step process.

Aardvark assumes no liability for loss or damage of your master tapes. It is always wise to make a safety master before sending your order. Aardvark also will not be held responsible for licensing or copyrights, or infringements thereof.

Pressing Plants and Other Resources	Procedures for making a record
Photos of the process	The plating process
Status of Recent Cutting Projects	Site Map RIAA Standards E3 & E4 Internal workings of the Westrex cutter head Other cutter heads What happens to the grooves? A Little About Me Aardvark! Off And Running!!! Mastering Engineer Resources Lowell V. Noel, Actor and artist for all my drawings This page as text for printing.
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