Shirty Mastering, Mixing & Music Production

11/07/2024

We had a great time engineering and hosting the Fort Collins Songwriters' Showcase on Saturday evening at Wolverine Farm! The songwriting community in this town is burning bright. Come along to one of our next events - full details at www.focosongwriters.com

02/07/2024

This Saturday July 6th at Wolverine Farm, Fort Collins, an exciting night of live music, throwing the spotlight on songwriters from our local creative community! Many performers will be playing songs they’ve been working on in and around the Songwriters’ Workshop. Pay what you can. All donations go to the musicians. Full event details at www.focosongwriters.com

14/06/2024

If you're making music, come along to our long-running and free Fort Collins Songwriters' Workshop on June 24th!

Fort Collins Songwriters’ Workshop A songwriting meetup group in Fort Collins, Colorado Last updated: May 3rd 2024 Upcoming Meetings Tuesday May 14th 2024, 6:30pm – 8:30pm We meet at Wolverine Farm Publick House (316 Willow St, Fort Collins, CO 80524.) The Fort Collins Songwriters’ Group – F...

10/06/2024

Remember to take a rest. Both in life, and in music. The space between the notes is just as important as the notes you play.

08/05/2024

If you're writing songs, come along to our Fort Collins Songwriters' Workshop! Tuesday 14th May, 6:30pm-8:30pm at Wolverine Farm. Full details at

Fort Collins Songwriters’ Workshop A songwriting meetup group in Fort Collins, Colorado Last updated: May 3rd 2024 Upcoming Meetings Tuesday May 14th 2024, 6:30pm – 8:30pm We meet at Wolverine Farm Publick House (316 Willow St, Fort Collins, CO 80524.) The Fort Collins Songwriters’ Group – F...

02/04/2024

This week!

20/02/2024

Our Songwriters' Group next meets on March 5th. Full details on our website at https://www.shirtymastering.com/fort-collins-songwriters-workshop/

06/02/2024

The Fort Collins Songwriters' Group meets again next week - February 13th - at Wolverine Farm, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Full details can be found on our website at https://www.shirtymastering.com/fort-collins-songwriters-workshop/

16/01/2024

Thanks to all we've worked with so far who have left us a review on Google. It feels great to be rated 5-stars!

02/11/2023

We're busy fine-tuning some recent vocal recordings. This image shows a visual representation of the frequencies present in a singer's vocal. The square (bottom right) highlights some unwanted sub bass - in this case a microphone "pop". When we work with recordings we like to remove unwanted noises like these, cleaning them up to give a pro sound.

26/10/2023

When we teach audio recording, one of the first concepts we explain is that it's important not to exceed '0' on any level meter. Doing so results in a 'clipped' and therefore distorted waveform - you can see the waveform is 'square' and not happy! Good, 'healthy' recordings aren't ever square, and have smooth curves on all peaks and troughs (like they are smiling).

20/10/2023

Lately, we've been recording more singer/songwriters. Our many mic setup is great for capturing a lot of nuance and texture, which later makes for a professional and "full" final sound in post production and mastering.

20/09/2023

Shirty Mastering is a proud supporter of the Hearts & Horses Lucky Hearts Gala. This annual event supports life-changing programs for those most in need in our community, including children and adults with physical and cognitive disabilities, at-risk youth, Veterans, and seniors with dementia. Learn more about the gala and how you can support the &horses mission at: https://www.heartsandhorses.org/home-page/giving/lucky-hearts-gala/

05/09/2023

Feedback on a recent project

31/08/2023

Yesterday and today we're working on re-mastering a client's album that was originally mastered by another studio in 2013. There are often tweaks can be made, through sound engineering and mastering, to improve the sound further and it's always satisfying to breathe fresh life into existing music.

27/06/2023

How much sound can you get from one performer? A lot, with this setup! We've been recording some experimental punk using a "speech synthesizer" based floor drum that we built (the thing showing the number 4 - it's operated by the singer's foot), along with various guitar FX for a detailed stereo soundscape from just one guitar. The sound is BIG. Recordings coming soon...

12/04/2023

We'll be hosting the next Fort Collins Songwriters' Group, on Wednesday May 3rd, 2023. Full details at www.focosongwriters.com

07/03/2023

This afternoon we were teaching a new student how to make music with the awesome Ableton Live via Google Meet. Here's one of many pages of notes we drew during the lesson and shared with the student afterwards.

27/02/2023

If you are making music at home, and want to be able to share it with anyone, regardless of the music software they use (DAW), check out our new blog post: "What Are Stems In Music, And How Do I Make Them?" https://www.shirtymastering.com/2023/02/24/what-are-stems-in-music-and-how-do-i-make-them/

24/02/2023

We recently finished post-production work on Pep Talk by Tofu Boy. It's a lo-fi, 8-bit inspired punk track. Today it was featured on From The Strait's Rundown!

Get your new music fix with these brand spankin’ new tunes from all over the world – you can also find these songs on our Limited Time Offer Spotify playlist.

17/02/2023

On Monday, we helped a customer in Fort Collins to configure the audio recording settings in their home studio. We also gave additional advice on extra acoustic treatment for this studio to obtain the best sound at source. They'll soon be recording their first audiobook from home.

11/02/2023

We just finished off the week by giving an EDM DJ lesson

06/02/2023

Taking a look inside the mixer... Today, I'm experimenting with some FX hardware which currently consists of a HPF, volume control and mini amp. Excited to scale this circuit up to do many more things.

12/10/2022

Version 4 of my laser drum kit is finished! This version goes together faster than ever (in about 5 minutes) and is entirely battery powered!