Welcome to elson mastering.
I'm Scott Elson - an audio mastering engineer who collaborates with artists, producers and engineers from a wide range of musical genres located in all parts of the world.
My goal is to make every client’s artistic vision a sonic reality by bringing out the absolute best in musicality and sound quality.
The result is music that not only sounds exceptional, but also deepens the connection between artist and listener.
Get in touch to find out how I can help make your next record sound the best it possibly can.
Scott is my first call for mastering. For all his technical mastery, he never loses sight of the music. I can flow seamlessly with him between technical and musical issues, and never have to explain what I mean.
He adopts the project as a contributor, with an authentic interest in helping me fulfill and exceed the expectations of my artists and clients.
Scott is a powerful ally and has become a friend I count on to check my work and make it better.
Mastering is a blend of musical intuition, psychoacoustics, technology, and seasoned ears. It can add depth, punch, clarity, warmth and volume to your music.
There are plenty of plugins with mastering presets available, and even automated services leveraging artificial intelligence, but here are some reasons you should have your music mastered by an experienced human like me.
Artists, producers and mixers can lose their objectivity after working on records for a long time. They count on me to bring fresh ears and an unbiased opinion to the project, with a simple focus on what's best for the music.
Fresh ears also means that as a mastering engieer, I listen to a lot of music across many genres in short periods of time. That allows me to have a pulse on a wide range of music production styles and sonic treatments.
It's common for artists to record albums over the course of many months, in many studios, and with many engineers. Because of this, each mix will naturally sound different.
It's my job to address the sonics and dynamics of each track individually, making sure they work in relation to each other, and within the context of an entire album. The result is a cohesive experience that engages the listener from start to finish.
Many records are now made in home or project studios with unreliable acoustics, making the importance of mastering even more critical.
My purpose-built studio provides an acoustically precise environment where accurate sonic decisions are made. My clean signal path and full range speakers produce incredible clarity, and often reveal issues clients may not have heard.
Some gear adds color while some is transparent. I only use what's needed and appropriate. Whether it's analog, digital, vintage or state of the art, each peice of gear is hand-picked for what it can bring to the music.
Mastering is the final step in the creative process and the first step in the manufacturing process. The goal is to not only create the best sounding masters of your music, but to also get them in the correct format for distribution.
Mastering is usually done at high resolution, but masters often need conversion and further preparation for delivery. No matter where your music is headed, I can create the right file in the right format from your masters. I also quality control everything that leaves the studio to make sure it's error free.
Scott is incredible to work with. Super nice dude and very professional. Even though the material we presented him with was recorded in a very DIY manner, he managed to pull out albums that sound like real albums.
We had no idea what we were doing, but he spoke in a language we could understand and the results were beyond what we could have hoped for.
My services are focused in two main areas - audio enhancement to create high-quality masters, and preparation of those masters for different distribution formats.
While a lot can be accomplished in mastering, it's always best to start with a well-balanced mix. Along with the services below, I am always happy to offer complementary mix assessments for potential clients.
Mastering projects come in many forms - singles, EPs, albums, soundtracks, compilations and audio for video. Upload a track via my DropBox account to get the process started.
Mastering is the final creative step in the audio post-production process. I'll fine tune the sonic balance of your mixes, address any technical issues, and make sure your music sounds great when played on any system and in any format. I can also work with submixes or stems of your tracks if you have concerns about delivering the right mix for mastering.
I am an Apple approved Mastered for iTunes (MFiT) engineer. For a release to be officially badged as Mastered for iTunes, the masters delivered to Apple must be created by an engineer on their official Mastered for iTunes Provider List. This ensures the engineer has followed Apple's protocols and the audio has been prepared for encoding in their AAC file format without error.
I often deliver high resolution masters to vinyl cutting houses properly formatted and documented for each side of a record. I can also identify and address potential sonic issues specific to vinyl such as excessive sibilance or high end, low frequency imaging problems, and considerations in track order due to the complexity of the music.
You may not be able to play your cassettes, DATs or vinyl records that have been sitting in the closet for a decade. The first step to preserving that audio is transferrring it to a digital file. From there it's possible to do remove unwanted hum, hiss, pops and noise, and enhance the audio in many ways.
For clients making Compact Discs, I can create a DDPi (Disc Description Protocol image) for delivery to a replication facility. It's the ideal format for an absolutely error-free master, creating a superior sounding CD which is also more reliable across a wide range of players. Clients can download the same DDP image from me and listen to it with my software player.
A physical PreMaster CD (PMCD) may be used in CD duplicaton where smaller runs of discs are being produced by burning and not stamping. If a DDPi Master isn't an option, I can create a CD PreMaster and error check the physical layer of the disc to ensure its quality. I can also create additional CD reference discs for listening purposes only.
Scott is incredible to work with. Super nice dude and very professional. Even though the material we presented him with was recorded in a very DIY manner, he managed to pull out albums that sound like real albums.
We had no idea what we were doing, but he spoke in a language we could understand and the results were beyond what we could have hoped for.
I grew up with an appreciation for a wide range of music due to a family that was active in both performance and education. Early studies in piano eventually led me to the guitar, ongoing band memberships and an inclination to capture the music that surrounded me.
After completing degrees in both Electrical Engineering and Music, I joined Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios in 2001 as a staff engineer. My initial duties consisted of digital editing and creation of final production masters, but I was soon assisting in daily mastering sessions and eventually starting taking on mastering clients of my own.
I founded elson mastering with the goal of making high-quality mastering available to artists of every stature. With a foundation tailored to the needs of audio and music production, I bring a unique combination of technical expertise and creative feel to every record I am a part of.
Over the years, artists at every stage in their career have trusted me to put the finishing touches on their records. My commitment to always serve the music comes through in every project.
I am a member of both the Audio Engineering Society and The Recording Academy’s Producers and Engineers Wing where I vote in the annual Grammy Awards.
Scott has done an excellent job mastering our songs. He understands the sonic challenges that electronic music can present, especially when integrated with more traditional instruments.
He is friendly, comfortable to work with and has authentic enthusiasm for the music. We couldn’t be more satisified.
Every project is unique. Call, email or fill out my project inquiry form to get a quote and start the booking process.
As a supporter of the independent music community, I offer competitive rates for unsigned bands. I'll do my best to work with your budget.
I also have a large network of talented musicians and producers, so please reach out if I can help make a connection.
