Bio
Operating from a purpose-built studio on Kaurna Land, South Australia, Small Steps Mastering is a bridge between passionate artists and the incredible (scary) feeling of releasing music into the world.
While writing, recording, and mixing are equally important parts of the process, mastering is the final polish that makes a great mix sound fantastic.
The idea behind Small Steps is about constantly learning, being a part of a community, and giving back to the industry.
Shoot me message if there's any piece of information you might be missing, no matter how insignificant.
What is mastering?
It’s about making your songs sound the way you intend them to be heard.
Mastering is a careful process that, when done right, ensures your songs have the same clarity on the best hi-fi system or the cheapest AirPod knock-offs. Mastering can be broken into two components: quality check and refinement. It's the final process that helps bring the elements together in a cohesive manner while maintaining dynamics and intelligibility.
It also deals with fades, crossfades, song gaps, and occasionally noise removal.
I specialise in stem mastering, which allows me to focus on specific mix components and use analog summing before making broad tonal adjustments. Let me know if your engineer can provide stems, otherwise I'll happily work with a stereo track.
Masters are delivered in WAV format, optimised for upload to streaming services. Hi-res formats, CD creation, and creating masters for vinyl are also available.
Mastering Work
Testimonials
Sean has a beautiful talent and a perfect ear, consistently blowing away all expectations and bringing my projects to life.
I am always so pleased with his work and I wouldn't have the quality sound of my tracks without his magic touch.
Brodie Boswell
EMCEEBRODZ
Personable and professional; Sean is great at what he does and a lovely fellow to work with.
Leith
Idly By
Sean was absolutely fantastic to work with and I am thrilled with the results he provided. Communication was efficient, clear, and easy, and my expectations were exceeded. I came in with 13 tracks that I wanted polished up to a level I couldn't achieve, and Sean mastered them perfectly in the timeframe he provided. He made the small revisions that I asked for ASAP, and it's been awesome being able to hear my album the way I fully intended it to sound.
Joey Drees
PADDYSOO
Sean has been a great mastering engineer to work with, he’s always very professional and timely in his work, and best of all - it all sounds great! I couldn’t recommend him highly enough for any kind of mastering work!
Jamie Grimm
Hubris / Pemberton
Always happy to give mix feedback, even if you're not a client. I also offer limited stem mixing in conjunction with my mastering service. Head over to the services page or shoot me a message for a quote on a tailored service.
Get in touch
Send me a message if you'd like to know more about my services, get a quote, or just have a chat.
This business operates on the land of the Kaurna people. I acknowledge and respect their connection to the land, waters, and community.
Logo by Olivia Hill Design
Photos by Samuel Graves