Big Bells Records × That Studio Dubai: Meet Ameer Abdeen, Our New Mastering Partner
We have big news for Big Bells Records: from December 2026, every release on our label will be mastered by That Studio Dubai.
That Studio Dubai is a mixing and mastering studio founded by engineer, producer and DJ Ameer Abdeen. It works remotely with labels and artists around the world and specialises in deep, organic and progressive house, the sound at the heart of our catalogue.
We are proud and happy to start this collaboration with such a talented and professional artist and engineer. To introduce him properly, we asked Ameer four questions: how his studio started, how he approaches mastering, why he chose Big Bells, and what producers should do before they send a track for mastering.
Meet Ameer Abdeen of That Studio Dubai
1. The origin story
Ameer, That Studio Dubai calls itself “Sound. Technology. Culture.” What led you to start the studio, and what does that line mean in your day-to-day work?
For about a decade, my job was putting technology into other people’s hands. I was a product specialist for brands like Arturia, Pioneer DJ, Ableton and Focusrite across the region. I’d show producers and DJs what a piece of gear could do, help them build the perfect setup, and send them on their way.
But there was always this quiet frustration underneath it. I’d help someone find exactly the right tools, and then months later I’d hear what they made with them, and the music would sound like it was made in a bedroom on laptop speakers. Not because the ideas weren’t good – the ideas were often brilliant. It’s that the track never got the finishing it deserved. The gap between a great idea and a finished record is where so much music in this region was getting lost.
At some point I stopped wanting to hand people the tools and walk away. I wanted to be there for the part that actually matters, the part where a rough idea becomes something you’d put your name on. So I started That Studio Dubai.
As for “Sound. Technology. Culture.”, it isn’t a tagline we came up with in a meeting. It’s genuinely the three things the studio stands on, and all three have to be present or the work falls flat.
Sound is the non-negotiable. It’s the craft itself – the mixing, the mastering, the obsession with how something actually feels on a club system versus a pair of earbuds. That’s the foundation.
Technology is the how. I spent ten years inside this gear, so the studio runs on real analog hardware alongside the modern tools, and I care deeply about using the right tool for the right moment rather than just the most expensive one. Technology serves the sound, never the other way around.
And Culture is the part people underestimate. I don’t master everything. I specialise in electronic music – in deep, organic and progressive house – because that’s the music I actually live in as a producer and a DJ. I’ve stood on the dancefloor these records are made for. So when an artist sends me their track, it’s not going to a technician working to spec. It’s going to someone who understands what this music is supposed to mean, and who it’s for.
In the day-to-day, that line keeps me honest. If a decision only serves the technology but not the sound, I don’t make it. If something sounds technically correct but has no feeling, no culture in it, it isn’t done. The three words are really a filter. They remind me that this was never just about building a studio. It was about giving the music coming out of this part of the world a home that takes it as seriously as the artists do.
2. The mastering philosophy
You say you want to make music “hit the way you hear it in your head.” When an electronic track comes in for mastering, how do you make it work on a big club system and still sound great on headphones and streaming?
It comes down to the low end and the dynamics – getting those right is what makes a master translate everywhere.
On a club system, the sub and the kick are everything. If the low end isn’t controlled and mono where it needs to be, it either disappears or turns to mud the moment it hits a big rig. So I make sure the foundation is tight and powerful, and that it’s built to move air in a room, not just look good on a meter.
But the same master has to survive a pair of phone speakers, where there’s almost no bass at all. That’s where the midrange and the clarity carry the track. If the emotional core of the record lives only in the sub, it vanishes on earbuds. So I’m always balancing the two: weight for the club, clarity for the headphones.
And I’m careful not to crush it chasing loudness. Streaming turns everything down anyway, so a master that’s been squashed flat just sounds tired and lifeless once it’s normalised. I’d rather keep the dynamics – the push and pull that makes a track breathe – because that’s what makes it feel alive on every system.
Honestly, the real tool is knowing the genre. I’ve heard these records on club systems, in the car, on headphones at 2am. So I’m not guessing how it should feel. I know. And that’s what I’m chasing: the version that hits the way the artist heard it in their head, no matter where it’s played.
3. Why Big Bells Records
You work with labels, independent artists and brands all over the world. What drew you to Big Bells Records, and what do you want to bring to the label’s sound?
What drew me to Big Bells was the intention behind it. You can hear when a label actually cares about the music rather than just chasing streams, and that came through immediately in their catalogue. The sound sits right in the space I live in as a producer and a DJ, so it felt less like a new client and more like a natural fit.
What I want to bring is consistency and identity. A great label has a signature, a sonic thread that runs through every release so you can almost recognise it before you see the name. My job is to protect that thread. To make sure every track that goes out sounds finished, cohesive, and unmistakably part of the family, while still letting each artist keep their own character.
Beyond the sound itself, I want to bring the perspective of someone who understands this music from the inside. I know the rooms these records are made for and the dancefloors they’re meant to move. So when I master for Big Bells, I’m not just polishing a file. I’m helping shape how the label is heard, and helping give its artists the professional finish their music deserves.
“When I master for Big Bells, I’m not just polishing a file. I’m helping shape how the label is heard.” – Ameer Abdeen
4. The perfect premaster
What does the perfect premaster look like for you? What should producers check before they send a track for mastering, from headroom and levels to file format and what to leave off the master bus? And what’s the most common mistake you see that limits how good the final master can sound?
The perfect premaster is one that leaves me room to work. I’m looking for a healthy dynamic range of around −6 to −8 dB, with peaks hitting no higher than −6 dB. That headroom is everything. It gives me space to shape the track properly instead of fighting a file that’s already been pushed to its limit.
A few simple things to check before you send. Export at the same sample rate and bit depth you worked at, ideally 24-bit WAV, with no dithering. Make sure nothing is clipping. And leave the master bus clean. Take off the limiter, take off any loudness maximiser, take off anything that’s crushing the mix just to make it feel finished. If you’ve got gentle bus processing that’s genuinely part of your sound, that’s fine, but anything squeezing the life out of the track needs to come off before it reaches me.
The most common mistake by far is exactly that. Producers send a premaster that’s already slammed against a limiter, sitting at zero, with no dynamics left. They’ve tried to make it loud themselves, and in doing so they’ve removed all the space I need to actually master it. Once that dynamic range is gone, I can’t get it back. A master can only be as good as the mix it starts from, so the best thing you can do is hand it over with room to breathe and let the loudness happen at the right stage.
Ameer’s premaster checklist
Peaks no higher than −6 dB, with a dynamic range of around −6 to −8 dB
Export as WAV, ideally 24-bit, at the same sample rate and bit depth as your session
No dithering
No clipping anywhere in the track
Clean master bus: no limiter and no loudness maximiser (gentle bus processing that is part of your sound can stay)
Don’t chase loudness yourself – let it happen at the mastering stage
What this means for Big Bells Records artists
From December 2026, Ameer will master every new release on Big Bells Records. If your track is signed to the label, prepare your premaster with his checklist above, so he has the room he needs to make it sound its best on every system.
Welcome to the Big Bells family, Ameer ❤
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