About Us

Personal attention to each individual artist and project is what makes our studio stand out among the rest. Here you will not find an account representative, product specialist, or other personnel as in larger corporations, but will speak directly with the engineer responsible for your project. This direct communication allows you to provide feedback in order to help ensure the best possible result and your complete satisfaction.

Our mastering process starts by collecting background information about the artist. Tell us about your individual style of music and approach, as well as what, if any, bands influence the sound; how the project was recorded, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the mix.

With this perspective we critically listen to the recording and compare your music to any references you feel appropriate. After listening to the complete project, we will apply a customized chain of audio processing to enhance the overall frequency balance and dynamics of the album as well as bring out the parts of the mix that contribute most to the song and style of music. This is a cyclical process; working together with the artist to create the intended goal.

In addition to services provided over the internet, we encourage artists to attend a session in which their work will be mastered.

If you cannot attend, the procedure for our online mastering process is:

• We receive a CD/DAT/Tape of your mixes along with an optional reference track of material that you feel has the quality of sound that you are looking for.
  
  
• A sample master of a song on your album is supplied on our web site for you to download and evaluate. You can then burn a CD of the sample in order to listen to the song on systems that you are familiar with and compare to your favorite CDs.
  
  
• After you are satisfied with the reference sample, full payment is required in order to complete the work on your project. If you are not happy with the evaluation for any reason there is no charge.
  
  
• The remainder of the CD will then be processed with any additional samples for your approval. Once the entire CD has been approved a master and reference disc will be sent.

Engineers

Tom Volpicelli

With over fifteen years of professional audio experience mastering and mixing numerous national and regional artists, Tom Volpicelli (chief engineer/owner) founded The Mastering House in 2001. As engineer for The King Biscuit Flower Hour his work includes engineering and/or mastering live concerts of artists such as The Who, Iggy Pop, Pat Benatar, Jerry Lee Lewis, along with nationally syndicated radio shows for The Kinks, U2, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and many other top artists. For more information see King Biscuit Flower Hour.

In addition to mastering, Tom has taught audio production at both Lebanon Valley College, PA and Albright, PA.

He is a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (Grammy Association).

A selected discography is available at allmusic.com.

Celia Grotz

Celia Grotz aquired a degree in music recording technology from Lebanon Valley College. Her role as mastering engineer led her to work with a diverse clientele, from hip hop artists Dave Vegas and J.J. Sinatra, to various metal groups, such as Anthrophobia. In addition to mastering, Celia is playing an instrumental role in developing our emerging technogy service offerings in video and Internet development.