Martina Albano (Cassie, Jade Novah, Ro James, Seersha)
Mastering engineer Martina Albano has served as both Vice President and Governor on the board of the Atlanta Chapter of The Recording Academy. In 2020, Albano co-founded the recording and mastering studio Onda Blu. Her mastering credits include Cassie, Jade Novah, Ro James, Theo Croker, Kameron Corvet, ony League, Nate Butler, Olivia Castriota, NONIE, Sailing to Denver, Seersha, and Zabaduo.
Tell us about your studio setup.
As a DAW, I use Sadie as it offers one of the best workflows for mastering. A pristine DA conversion is especially important for mastering.
I have a Crane Song Avocet IIA and Tannoys 215 DMT for monitors.
I use a combination of plugins and analog gear. I love the PSP plugins, especially the Xenon dual-stage Limiter. My favorite analog EQs are the Millennia NSEQ and the Crane Song IBIS. I also love the Crane Song STC-8 compressor.
I believe in ‘less-is-more’ when it comes to processing and like to have a few high-quality pieces versus having several lower-grade processing options
Having worked on so many songs over the past few years, how do you stay fresh and excited about mastering music these days?
The best way to stay fresh is to keep on learning new stuff. Aside from learning about new technologies and processing, I am very interested in how the human brain perceives and creates a cognition of sound. I love to combine what I learn in the field of psychoacoustics with my decisions in audio processing. Every project I get to work on is a chance for me to refine my skills and apply new techniques. It keeps it fun!
How do you typically approach the mastering of a song?
I try to be very respectful of the mix and the creative decisions that have been made before I receive the track. I try to get a sense of where the music has been pushed creatively and, in my mastering process, focus on enhancing those decisions.
Part of my process includes evaluating technical aspects that could potentially hinder translation to different playback systems and making sure the tracks sound great no matter where they get played. Lastly, I use processing to create the best possible presentation for the music so that listeners can truly connect to the music and enjoy it.