Analog mastering in the Pacific Northwest since 2011

BreakPoint Mastering is an analog mastering studio in Portland, Oregon, run by Adam Straney. He has over 15 years of experience mastering records on high-end analog and digital gear. Hundreds of releases with labels such as Sub Pop, Hardly Art, Holodeck, Hush Hush Records, Kill Rock Stars, Neon Sigh, Glass Cane, Shelflife, Freakout, HomeSkillet, and a massive list of independent releases. Most of the work here is indie rock, hip-hop and electronic, a lot of it from Seattle and Portland, plus artists all over who send their music in remotely. A lot of ambient too, and the quiet headphone stuff (a big chunk of the Hush Hush catalog), plus IDM, house, downtempo and dream pop. Post-punk, lo-fi, psych, garage rock and folk records come through here all the time. Beat tapes too, j.Faraday's first one was mastered here. On the other end there's punk with Tacocat, drone with Bit Graves, synth records for Holodeck and synth-pop with Jenn Champion. Neo-soul, funk and R&B with SassyBlack and THEESatisfaction. Plenty of experimental stuff with Shabazz and Cock & Swan, Americana with the Moondoggies, and some Afropop with Pierre Kwenders.

I like weird records. Noise, leftfield electronic stuff, psych, trip-hop, lots of hip-hop. Indie and folk rock too, and especially dusty, smoky shoegaze records. That stuff just works with my setup and I lock in. Some records want to be loud and big, and I'll push them there. Jazz I mostly leave alone so it can breathe. Cookie cutter pop isn't really my thing. Everything here goes through real gear with me sitting in front of it. No presets.

I master for streaming, vinyl, cassette, CD and pretty much anything else you're putting out. Vinyl is a big one for me. I've mastered over a hundred vinyl releases and dozens and dozens of cassettes. I don't cut lacquers myself, but I get your masters ready for the cutting engineer, split into sides with a cue sheet and everything they need. There's more on vinyl, cassette and mix prep in the FAQ.

I can also film bits of your session if you want, free (it's fun for me too). The clips are yours to keep or post. I'll only post them myself if you're cool with it. There's a bunch in the highlights on my Instagram if you want to see what that looks like.

"Consistently the first person I recommend to other producers and recording artists." - Erik Blood, Mixing Engineer

If you're working on an EP or album, I'll master one track free first so you can hear what I'd do with it.