London’s world-famous recording complex Abbey Road is launching new, improved
on-line mastering and mixing services with a completely rebuilt, more elegant file-
sharing interface that allows users to send and receive tracks more easily. The
result is a faster, thoroughly modern service allowing musicians around the globe
easier access to the studio’s world-class equipment and internationally renowned
team of engineers, with feedback and communication between customers and
engineers at the heart of the experience.

Users of Abbey Road’s on-line services can send notes for the engineers and
reference tracks along with their material; indeed the redesigned on-line mixing
and mastering services actively encourage direct interaction between clients and
engineers. The price starts at £90 excluding VAT (approximately US$130 at the
current exchange rate) to master a single track in stereo. Modest additional fees
are incurred if users wish to use a specific engineer chosen from Abbey Road’s
selection of nine experienced mastering engineers. Prices for on-line mixing will
vary according to the size and complexity of the project.

Abbey Road has offered on-line mixing and mastering since 2010. From the start,
key attractions of the on-line services have been that musicians can make use of
them irrespective of their geographical location, and for a fraction of the cost of
attending a mixing or mastering session at the studios in person. Unsurprisingly,
since the debut of the on-line services, there has been huge growth in the user base
taking advantage of the studios’ collective technical expertise and its first-rate
assortment of vintage and modern kit, including SSL mixing consoles, EMI TG12410
mastering consoles, vintage compressors and superbly serviced Neumann vinyl
lathes. The international profile of the customers who have made use of the service
speaks for itself; the Abbey Road on-line team have worked for individuals and
bands hailing from locations ranging from Taiwan and South Korea to Denmark and
Detroit, as well as continuing users from the UK who rate the speedy, interactive
service and high-quality results.

“Since we launched our on-line mastering and mixing services over half a decade
ago, there has been an explosion in intuitive, app-based file-sharing services like
Dropbox that the musicians of today are familiar with,” explains Lucy Launder,
Abbey Road’s Head of Mastering. “It was time for us to upgrade our original FTP-
based systems and make the whole service more intuitive and quicker to use. We’re
aware that there are automated ways to get your tracks mastered on-line these
days, but nothing beats having one of our experienced team of engineers work on
your tracks. You can’t tell an algorithm how to master your songs. In contrast, we
listen to your music and find out what you want from our services before we start
work, and you’ll also have an opportunity to tweak what we do if you’re not entirely
satisfied the first time. Automated services simply can’t do that.

“We already offer some of the world’s finest audio equipment and expertise,’ she
concludes. “Now you can make use of it that bit more easily.”

For more information, see the new website at: www.abbeyroad.com/online-
services.