Previous posts in this series:

What do young artists and ensembles need to know about recording?

What musicians should know about recording, part 1: Where to record

The Recording Process, Part 2: The Recording Team

The Recording Process, Part 3: Getting the Sound

The Recording Process, Part 4: The Process of Recording

Once all the music for the disc has been recorded and everything is "in the can" (the conduct of a recording session was the subject of my previous post in this series), the recording must still be edited, mixed, and mastered. “Editing” is the splicing together of the session “takes” into a coherent whole. “Mixing” is the balancing of the different recorded “channels” to stereo (or “5.1” multi-channel) format. Some recordings are mixed directly to stereo (or other format) at the recording sessions, but many are edited in more channels and “mixed-down” later. “Mastering” is the final assembly, balancing, sonic enhancement, etc. of the recording before multiple copies of the CD are replicated from the “final master.”

The recording producer usually devises the editing plan, which is mostly a map of which takes go where. This may also include dynamic instructions — e.g., to boost or lower the volume, overall or only for certain channels/instruments — as well as other special instructions, such as to shave a chord together, shorten a rest, or edit around a noise.

In pre-digital days, recordings were physically spliced together by cutting reel-to-reel tape with a razor blade and taping the pieces together so an editing plan consisted only of splicing instructions (take 1 to take 5 at bar 40, etc.) and the editing points had to be very well matched (i.e., sounding the same in both takes) or at obvious points in the music (e.g., after a break, on a strong downbeat, etc.).

Today, producers can be far more creative with their editing plans, splicing in single notes and even parts of notes. Seeing one ofmy editing plans, pianist Ramon Salvatore (who recorded three albums for Cedille Records before he passed away in 1996) commented simply, “we’re all frauds.” Nonetheless, the exactitude of the requests I receive from artists suggests they don’t regret the level of editing refinement we are able to achieve.

The actual editing is done digitally on computers with extremely sophisticated software. Cedille Records’ engineer Bill Maylone not only engineers almost all of our recording sessions, he also does all our digital editing and mixing. If a project is recorded in multiple channels (foran orchestra, this might mean strings mainly in channels 1 and 2, panned left and right, winds in 3 and 4, with timpani, brass, percussion, and any special instruments such as piano, harp, or celesta in their own individual channels panned to positions that reflect their location on the stage) he will edit in that many channels, allowing us to revisit the overall “mix” at any time and giving us the flexibility to fix individual balances along the way (e.g., if first violins didn’t come out enough in a passage, we can boost their sound relative to the rest of the orchestra).

Once I have devised an editing plan, Bill has put it together, and I have revised it to my liking after hearing the first draft (Bill and I work on twin systems so that we can refine each other’s work), I send this “first edit” out to the musicians involved for comment. Here is asampling of artist comments I have received on recent edits:

14 and 15 bars after rehearsal letter B can you shave the beginning of the phrase? The ensemble is not tight together.

11 bars after rehearsal letter C I hear a lot of percussion, would like more Viola, Violoncello, Bass Clarinet.

The scratchy tone on the 5th eighth note's worth of 16ths bugs me in measure 115. Same thing on the second eighth note of measure 243.

Measure 78 - on the second quarter note, my E trilling above the D is a little flat (the D itself is fine).

Measure 17 - the timing of my third-to-last note (A) is weird, it almost sounds like a grace note compared to the subsequent 16ths.

Measure 15 - high B (last 16th) is slightly flat, the last two notes (high B and E) need to be a little louder and more tonally open to contrast with the more delicate next measure.

After the artists’ comments have been addressed to their satisfaction — and I am fully satisfied after listening through the program several times — the recording can be mastered. First, the various pieces on the disc are assembled in order. If the recording is, say, a Mahler Symphony, this just means putting the movements in the proper sequence. If it’s a program of many pieces, determining the most effective sequence can be a significant undertaking. Pieces should follow one another in an order that provides a feeling of overall continuity, but with sufficient contrast from one track to the next — but not too jarring a contrast. Key relationships often come into play in determining the ultimate order, which is often a collaborative decision between producer and musicians.

Once the order has been determined, the spacing between movements and pieces has to be adjusted to everyone’s liking and the overall volume level of the different works needs to be made consistent so people don’t have to constantly reach for the volume control. (When listening in a moving car, such adjustments are virtually unavoidable, so that is not the place to test relative volume levels.) This has to be done by ear, not by relying on meter displays. If two pieces have a different amount of dynamic range (fromsoftest to loudest) and they both have the same “peak” (loudest) level, the one with less range will sound louder. Also, certain instruments (e.g., E-flat clarinet) simply “cut through” more than others, so balancing pieces with differing instrumentations can be tricky. Balancing sampler-type CDs that may combine solo piano, chamber, orchestral, vocal, etc. is especially difficult in my experience.

For most discs, we are able to do the mastering in-house. There are some, however, that require special techniques such as selective compression and other sound enhancements where it makes sense to have the disc finished at a dedicated mastering studio. This was the case with eighth blackbird's recent Grammy-winning (Best Chamber Music Performance) album, strange imaginary animals, which was mastered by Paul Zinman of SoundByte Productions.