Clean, natural-sounding masters for classical guitar recordings.
Mastering engineer with 20+ years of classical guitar performance and recording experience.
In my specialized service I use carefully crafted techniques and tools to create clean, clear, natural-sounding masters for classical guitar recording artists.
Without great mastering specialized for guitar your recordings sound like a worse version of you.
I know the frustration: you work for weeks or months to prepare your repertoire for recording and deliver an incredible performance, only to hear string noises, nail clicks, page turns, clothing rustle, or other noises, or perhaps dynamics or tonal color that is not truly representative to the performance you gave.
EQ Balancing
Even the best microphones overemphasize certain frequencies. I will EQ balance your recording for clean, clear, natural sound.
Sound Repair
Repair of audible edit points, crossfades, clipping, audio dropouts, or other sounds that ruin your recordings.
Noise Removal
I can remove sounds that ruin an otherwise perfect take, such as fingernail and string squeaks, room resonances, rustling of clothing, or audience and page turn noises.
Dynamic Control
Microphones can overemphasize note attack, making it sound like your guitar is trying to jump out of the speakers. I can transparently control these unnatural sounds.
Ambience and Reverb
I will carefully balance your sound with the natural reverb in your recording, or add an appropriate high-quality artificial reverb to your recording if you wish.
File Delivery Formatting
I will prepare your finished master for any format you need, including WAV, MP3, FLAC, AAC, and DDP formats.
How I give you the professional sound.
Plan Your Project
I work with you 1 on 1 to talk about your specific needs and wants for your recording to create a plan for your service.
Project Implementation
I will implement only the actions and tools needed to accomplish the outcome you desire as discussed and agreed-on in the planning phase. In this phase I will ask for feedback. I will send you examples of my work to make sure we are getting the sound you are envisioning instead of forcing you down a path you do not want.
Deliver Your Master
I deliver the final product to you for approval. Once approved, I will send your masters in the formats you need on or before the guaranteed date.
Project Maintenance
If after the project is completed you change your mind on the sound or need a revision or additional file format, I will make the revision at no charge to you up to the agreed-upon guarantee date.
Check Out My Work
Before and after mastering. Offensive squeaks removed, nail noises subdued, and overall tonal balance corrected
Original recording.
Mastered recording.
Original recording.
Mastered recording.
Original recording.
Mastered recording.
What Clients Are Saying...
"My first choice"
DahmanMusic is and has been my first choice for audio mastering since 2006 when we mastered my second and third solo CDs and also the audio for The Flamenco/Classical Guitar Tradition book/audio for Mel Bay Publications. Since then we have done three more books with audio for Mel Bay. I chose Nathaniel first because he is a great musician and person, and also because he knows the sound solo instrumentalists are looking for as he is a trained classical musician. The audio samples on his website are consistent with the kind of improvement of the volume level while retaining the musicality and best tonal qualities of each instrument. His understanding of guitar makes him one of the best mastering engineers for classical guitar. I highly recommend DahmanMusic for your mastering needs.
COREY WHITEHEAD
"Exactly what I envisioned"
Wow! I reached out to Nathaniel to help me master some instrumentals that I previously recorded. He listened to what I wanted and captured exactly what I envisioned for this project. From the turnaround time to quality, my experience working with him was wonderful. His expertise and patience with me (since I’m new to recording) was just wonderful. Grateful to have gone with DahmanMusic to help me with my song and look forward to working with him again on future projects! Thanks Nathaniel!
VALERIE SALCEDO
"Highlighted quote"
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DAVID CHAPMAN
Hi 👋 I'm Nathaniel Dahman
I have over 20 years of experience as a classical gutarist, audio professional and music professor. This background has given me invaluable and unique insight into recording and mastering for classical guitar. I have worked with many recording artists to help them achieve their creative visions. My work can be heard on independent label releases and on many releases for Mel Bay publications.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I hire you? What makes you unique?
As a guitar player, I understand the special needs of the classical guitar. Mastering for guitar is different than any other genre and requires an engineer with the player’s touch to bring out the best of your sound.
Why shouldn't I just do this all by myself?
Much of the skill needed for guitar mastering is difficult to learn and takes a long time to develop. Focus on the fun part for you: the music, and leave the needed technical part to me.
I have recorded myself, but I don’t know how to edit takes together. Can you help me with that?
YES, I can do that for you! Contact me and we can discuss the specific needs of your project.
What do we need to have/do/finish before we can hire you?
You need to have a finished recording with your best playing possible. If there are small fingernail, string squeaks, or other noises don’t worry, In most cases I can fix that.
What types of bad noises in my recordings cannot be removed?
Noises that are louder than the actual music are very difficult to remove without audible consequences, but, in most cases, if the music is louder than the noise or the noise is isolated enough it can be removed completely or greatly reduced. Contact me if you have any questions about your specific recording and I’d be glad to help you!
What if I am not a seasoned professional, can I still work with you?
YES! If you are at the beginning of your recording career I can help guide you to getting that professional sound which will give you a feeling of accomplishment and a sense of confidence.
How do we get started?
Click on the “Get Started” button to book a call with me to discuss your specific needs!