ABOUT
ABOUT
ABOUT

Ashley Peter Smith is an experienced audio engineer and artist/producer working from a bespoke studio in the Kentish countryside.
With hundreds of productions under his belt and decades of working in the industry as an audio engineer, musician and producer, he is well placed to help you further your music.
Initially freelance, he established Lightswitch Mastering in early 2023 as a personable, professional online mastering service for artists, producers, studios and labels.

MASTERING
MASTERING
MASTERING
​To me, Mastering is only possible from the culmination of diverse experience. It is possibly the least "creative" part of music production - but also requires the highest degree of creative sensitivity, artistic understanding and technical skill, for you have to tread very carefully when making alterations to something as complex and unique as a piece of art.
​
With that in mind, it's relatively easy to provide masters that sound louder and brighter in comparison, but achieving fully-rounded, creatively-focused and transformative masters that elevate music to new heights requires a deeper, more intuitive understanding of music itself. This is what I strive for with every project I work on.
​
​
STUDIO
STUDIO
STUDIO
_edited_edited.jpg)
My bespoke studio, located in the wilds of Kent - just outside of Tunbridge Wells, offers an exceptional listening environment for accurately judging sound and a whole host of specialist tools for high end monitoring and processing.The studio is centred around my Sessiondesk Solo mastering desk, with two ECO A100 bass trap monitor stands supporting a pair of Neumann KH80s. Underneath the desk sits a Neumann KH750 subwoofer. All three of these speakers have been calibrated to the room, using the MA1 microphone and alignment software. For alternative monitoring, I use Slate VSX headphones and software.
​
I use Cubase, Wavelab and RX software with a tailored collection of high end plug-ins from developers such as FabFilter, DMG, Relab, Metric Halo, Acustica Audio, Tone Projects, Tokyo Dawn Records, Sonnox, Oeksound and more. For analog processing, I subscribe to Access Analog, making use of their large collection of classic outboard processors and high end converters.​
Digital-to-analog conversion is handled via the excellent RME Babyface Pro FS, and I use a TC Electronic Clarity M for real-time audio analysis. Finally, I use acoustic treatment from GIK Acoustics, a combination of Slatfusor panels and 242 absorbers to control reflections around the listening position.
​
​





Lightswitch Mastering / Ashley Smith
Kent, UK