How to Burn a CDR Master

Home recording has put professional-quality recording into the artist’s hands. Often, bands will mix a recording straight to CDR. Just like that, you’ve got a CD without a record deal. There are ways to handle that CDR so you’ll get the most out of your mix.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• A Mixdown
• A CD burner
• A CD-R

1. Get a good quality CDR. All CDRs are NOT alike. Silver and gold CDRs (bottoms) are much better than dark green. If this is your master CDR, there’s no reason not to spend a little extra money. Also, get a 74 minute CDR, not 80.
2. Don’t touch the CD bottom—pick it up at the edges only. Thumbprints and dust can lead to problems. Really, handle it as seldom as possible.
3. Don’t label the CDR with a sticker-label. These can potentially affect playback. A permanent marker should be all you need.
4. The quality of a computer’s processor has a lot to do with the quality of the master CDR. Don’t burn the CD at a high speed to make sure every bit is transferred correctly. Check the processing power of your computer to make sure it can handle the task.

Tips & Warnings

• Other things you can do to help with a smooth burning: defragment your harddrive, make sure there’s space left on the harddrive (10% or more), quit other programs—in fact, burn the CD after restarting the computer, not after it has been used for a while.