Stemcellar Studio

Equipment
I work in a Windows environment, with Cubase PRO (current version 11) for mixing and Wavelab PRO (current version 10) for mastering. Outboard hardware includes equipment from Alesis, RME, Behringer, Line 6, Shure, SE, LineAudio, Røde, SM PRO Audio, Focusrite, among others.
My plugin collection is pretty large and contains high end plugins from companies such as Eventide, Izotope, Waves, Wavesfactory, Brainworx, Valhalla DSP, Liquidsonics and many, many more.
For adaptive music, I prefer working with FMOD.

Pricing
My regular fee for production work (recording, mixing, mastering, etc) is €40 (+VAT) per hour. This is based on the fact that I do this on the side of my regular job and that I only take on commissioned projects I feel I can handle when it comes to workload and deadlines.
For commissioned jobs regarding orchestration, composition, session work and creative drum programming, it all depends on how technically difficult/advanced it will be and what media I will be working for (bands/artists, video games, tv, movies, etc) and on whether or not I will get PRO rights/cuts for my efforts. 

However, nothing is ever set in stone and I am open for discussions regarding fees. Drop me a message and tell me about your project and what your budget is, and I will tell you what we can do about it. 

“How many hours per song?” is a common question and it all depends on several things, for instance number of tracks, how well they are recorded, the complexity of the material, if there is a need for editing (adjusting timing, cleaning up noise, saving bad punch ins/outs, etc.) and many other things.
A (very) rough guideline is that a normal song, with pretty much standard instrument setups, takes about 2-5 hours to mix, but that is not written in stone. It can be faster or it can take longer. Same goes for mastering, 2-4 hours per song, depending on the material and the end medium. 

Services

Mixing

Your files must be delivered in at least 44,1 KHz, 24 bits, for best results. I urge you to take naming conventions seriously, it is so much easier to work with organised files, rather than wildly named ones.
For instance, all drum tracks should be properly named (kick, snare top, snare bottom, Tom 1, Overhead Left, Room Right, etc.)

Same goes for all other instruments: guitar rhythm left, lead vocals 1, death vocals 1/2/3, etc. 

Proper naming will save time and money.
I will deliver you a mix with headroom for mastering and one gain staged version for control listening.

Mastering

The art of cultivating music to fit the desired medium for playback, one could call it. Mastering is so much more than tweaking the volume for loud playback.

Streaming: I can deliver masters for separate streaming platforms (such as Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, etc), as there are no real standard values for peak and loudness. All streaming platforms have different algorithms and loudness/peak values to abide by.
However, a single streaming-master with a LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale) of around -14, with a True Peak no higher than -1.0 dB works very well for most streaming platforms.

CD: I normally master CDs to a True Peak of -0.2 dB and a loudness between -9 to -12 LUFS, depending on the material. I will also create a DDP for your album, should your record label or cd-presser need your album in that format. To create a DDP, I would need additional information, regarding ISRC, EAN/UPC and such. Please inform me if your master will be needing a DDP. 

Vinyl: When it comes to vinyl, it is really up to the vinyl cutter to set the specifications. There are general procedures that need to be done (mono:ing bass, sub bass roll-offs, sibilance/transient control, stereo width, high roll-offs and such). Optimal length for vinyl is about 18 – 20 minutes per side of a full length LP, you can do longer sides, but check with your vinyl cutting company first, as there might be additional steps to be added in the mastering process.

Recording

Currently, I don’t do full band recording sessions, due to lack of space in my studio. Vocals, single instruments and such are fine, but nothing that requires multi tracking or a lot of physical space.

Orchestration

I do take commission offers for midi orchestration/composition. My collection of sample libraries comes from manufacturers such as Spitfire, 8Dio, Embertone, Soundiron, Performance Samples, Impact Soundworks, Realitone, EastWest and many others.

Drum programming

I exclusively work with Perfect Drums from Naughty Seal Audio and mainly program drums for metal music. My programming skills can be heard on the Svartghast albums and Omnia Moritur’s “Ex Inferis” album. I will deliver separated wav-files in mono, for mixing.

Re-amping

I offer re-amping if you have clean line-signals recorded. Using a Line 6 Helix, or some of my software options (or a combination) I can help you craft the guitar/bass sound you want for your music. 

Invoicing
Since I am freelancing and not owning a company of my own, I invoice through a invoicing service called Cool Company and can invoice both companies and private individuals. Contact me for more information on what applies for your specific project.