How high should my levels be?

Leave between 3dbfs and 5dbfs headroom

It's fairly understandable for most of us to want to record our tracks as close to 0dbfs as we can.  It certainly used to be the case with 16bit recording that it was desirable.  Most DAW's and stand alone digital recorders produced in the last 5 years or so are, however, 24bit which translates as not needing to record at such a high level.  Leaving 5dbfs (i.e. making sure your peaks don't exceed -5bd on your master outputs) will in no way compromise your recordings, will eliminate any chance of clipping and will leave scope for boosting frequencies as well as cutting frequencies at the mastering stage without fear of clipping.  There are some resource links on the left of the page if you want to learn more.

What about fades?

Fades are best left until mastering

If your track needs a fade in or out, it's best done at the mastering stage.  Make a note of the time you want the fade to start and end and include that information in your track notes.

Should I leave space at the beginning?

Helps the mastering engineer to "profile" your background noise

Part of the mastering process involves the removal of any unwanted background noise.  If you leave 2 seconds "silence" at the beginning of your track with your faders set in the mix positions, the mastering engineer can then make a profile of the background noise on your track and use that profile to remove any residual noise.

What information do you need?

Track order, lengths, any reference material and anything at all that you feel is relevant.  The more information the mastering engineer has, the easier it will be to get the finished sound that you want.

To sum up:

• Mix to about -5dbfs
• Avoid clipping at every stage of recording
• No fades
• Don't over compress your mix
• Be thoughtful when adding effects and ambience
• 2 seconds of background noise
• Document everything
• Don't forget the UPC Barcode and ISRC codes (if you have them)