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In music production circles, the process of mastering has always been held somewhat in the dark. Perhaps it is because it doesn't receive the same degree of attention and glamour as the recording and mixing of audio does. What really goes on during this stage? A week before Christmas 2000, I paid a visit to one of North America's premiere mastering studios in hopes of shedding some light on this arcane subject. The studio was "Les Disques SNB" (SNB Mastering) located in Montreal, and I met with its Technical Director Alain DeRoque.
SNB first opened its doors in 1973 and has been at the same location (on Cote de Liesse boulevard) near Montreal's Dorval International Airport ever since. The initials are in reference to its founder Sabin Brunet, who began SNB after developing his skills as a mastering engineer for London Record's Montreal operations between 1971 and 1973. From there he developed a passion for the pursuit of high-quality audio and had his own ideas that he could only see through by creating his own facility.
Early on, Sabin's reputation established itself well enough within the industry so that it attracted the attention of two prestigious classical music record labels - Deutsche Grammophon and Phillips. After surveying many mastering houses across the continent, SNB won the contract to master their recordings for vinyl release. Satisfying the engineering staff at Deutsche Grammophon was no easy task as Alain DeRoque recalls one example: "They had such sharp ears. They were able to tell that our Dolby (noise reduction) was off by half a dB on the left side, and that we should trim that."
The same building that housed the SNB operation eventually joined forces with Disques RSB by adding an audio cassette duplication service. The two merged companies again expanded in 1996 to include a CD pressing plant. Recently, both SNB and RSB were bought by one of North America's largest CD manufacturing plants Disque-Americ, whose Canadian facility is situated in the more rural area of Drummondville, Quebec. Altogether, the three businesses make a formidable presence in the audio product manufacturing industry.
Sabin Brunet continues to be involved as the President but doesn't really engineer anymore. While at London...