For those who bother to read the booklets and tray-cards on Norwegian Black Metal albums, the name Strype Audio pops up a lot. Strype Audio is run by a small staff of dedicated music heads and this mastering studio has been very important for the growth of the Norwegian Black and Doom/Goth Metal scene. We contacted Tom at Strype Audio for more informations about the "black art" of mastering and recording.



1. Hello Tom, how is life ?

A mixture of utter pleasure and the occasional annoyance of every day seemingly being just a little too short.

2. When and where was Strype Audio started ? By whom ?

Audun Strype registered it in 1985. He started mastering some time in the early 90's.

3. What exactly is mastering of a CD ?

The final stage of creative procession of the material and conversion to a format from which the glassmaster is made. Mastering can be anything from just a transfer from DAT to a master tape (rare) to "regular mastering" (eq, compression, anything to enhance the musical expression) and even overdubs of instruments or vocals.

4. What is the difference between pro mastering and mechanical mastering ?

A "mechanical" mastering is just a transfer, in other words, nothing is done to improve the sound. With todays computer equipment, anybody can do mechanical mastering, the point with pro mastering studios is that you need a certain amount of expertise and external equipment to make good sounding albums. Even the "best" mix need adjustment in good mastering if it is to compete with other releases.

5. My own band, Solen's Bortkomne Sonner, is just about to go into a 24 tracks studio and record the most evil and brutal esoteric anthem of demonic Black Metal this planet has ever heard. Any advice you as a veteran musician would give me when it comes to the recording and sound ?

Get an idea of how you want the production. (slightly more defined than "the most evil.. etc.). Before you enter the studio, you ought to be able to "visiualise" each element you are about to record. Know how many tracks, etc. you need and how they should be placed in the soundscape. Also decide such things as whether to just analog drums and / or trig them, etc. etc. And know your craft! Don't expect the mix to "hide" flaws.

6. My father has only given me five grand (£ 5 000) and after the studio job and a case of whisky, I am a bit short of money.. I have seen these fancy computer software programmes in the local computer games shop and I wonder if I should save some money and skip the pro mastering... I have a Compaq Presario Pentium 3, 500 Mhz. What should I now do and why ?

Oh, just run everything through a cheap limiter and gain the mix 10 db's. Or skip the release of the album and buy more booze instead.
Seriously, if you've got a decent recording and mix, it would be a waste of money NOT to master it in a pro studio! If you try to do mastering on such cheap computer equipment, you're likely to get a very poor album.

7. Let's say that I screw up in studio and the DAT tape sounds like it was recorded through a gorilla's arsehole. What kind of salvation job can you do for the recording in the pro mastering process ?

If the balance between certain musical (instruments or vocals, or just the general "power") elements is bad, that can to some extent be improved w/ eq and compression / expanding.
A good mix always makes a better album after mastering than a poor one does. The mastering always improves the original mix, and a lot of details can be "salvaged", but a poor mix is still a poor mix.

8. OK, I am standing here with a master of Solens's Bortkomne Sonner's masterpiece "Hail Satan" and I need to find a CD factory. What is the pitfalls I now have to negotiate when it comes to sound ?

A CD plant clones the master they receive. There should be no audible difference between the factories regarding digital audio. As for vinyl cutting, one can hear the difference between different factories as it is an analog transfer.

9. Over to Strype Audio itself. I take it that you and the rest of the staff in Strype Audio has done most or all of the Norwegian Black Metal classics over the last 6-7 years. Any albums you remember with fondness ? Any funny stories/observations/reflections to tell us ??

Hm, there have been so many. I'll definately never forget the Dødheimsgard "666 int." mastering. The album was recorded and mixed in segments. Every track was mixed in many different clips, which was mastered separately then edited to make them songs. In places I had to add effects / loops and so on. The band didn't really know how the songs would turn out until they were compiled. We spent two long days/nights on this mastering. Their guitarist started smoking again due to the excessive strain, hehe!

10. You have a very central position in the Norwegian metal scene. What is the main difference between today's scene and the scene back in 1994 ?

More: More bands, more good productions. More similar bands and productions also, due to the increased number of them. More dedicated small labels.

11. There has propped up some new very interesting Norwegian metal labels in the last three years. Without naming names; any views about this new crop of Norwegian labels vs. the old guard of labels ?

The new breed is dominated by individuals that also play in bands. Thus there is more artistic idealism than before.

12. How do you see the future of the Norwegian Metal scene ?

Pitch bright, as long as not everybody prefer hip-hop and related genres.

13. As a digression and totally unrelated to the main theme of this interview: You are also a member of Paradigma and Thrawn. How is things in these two bands ?

Thrawn might be assimilated into Paradigma, because I don't seem to find time to have two different bands. Earlier I thought the Thrawn material was too intense for Paradigma. Now I rather want Paradigma to be unpredictable, so the musical boundary is gone. I might copyright Thrawn as I like the name, though. Paradigma has delayed the album release to an unset date due to the mix: The first was not good enough, so we had to transfer to a different studio.

14. Where can Strype Audio be contacted ?

E-mail or +47 22425870