You can't go a day without someone telling you how loud your music should be, these days.
"Everything has to be -8 LUFS"
"EDM has to be -6 LUFS or louder"
"-11 is the perfect balance"
"Just master everything to -14"
...but they can't all be right !
In fact, none of them are, and even more importantly, they may not even be talking about the same thing. And the differences are really important. So in this episode I try explain really clearly and concisely:
TMS #67 - Minus 14 LUFS, or not ?
TMS #52 – DON’T aim for LUFS targets online
TMS #44 - Loudness Units 101
The Loudness Penalty website
It’s virtually impossible that you haven’t heard music of some kind mixed by Alan Meyerson by this point - he’s one of the most prolific and successful film score mixers in the business.
And luckily for us, he’s also super-generous and open about the information he shares, including his perspectives on mixing and ‘mastering’ music for the movies. So in this episode we dig deep into all the details, including topics like:
Film score mixing with Alan Meyerson
Mixing with synths in Pirates of the Caribbean
Alan’s videos on Mix With The Masters
TMS #81 - Dolby Atmos Mastering
Everyone is talking about inter-sample peaks and True Peak limiters - or in fact it’s more accurate to say they’re arguing about whether ISPs are audible or not, and whether True Peak limiters sound bad !
In this episode I’m joined by Alexey Lukin, iZotope’s “godfather of RX”, to talk in detail about exactly what ISPs are and why they’re so confusing - including:
SRC Comparisons https://src.infinitewave.ca/
Ian’s videos about ISPs & True Peak limiting:
Inter-sample peaks (ISPs) - are they REALLY inaudible ?
True Peak Limiters - do they REALLY sound worse?
TMS #64 - Aliasing - is it digital audio’s Achilles Heel ?
True Peak limiting filters https://www.izotope.com/tech/aes_loudness
If you’re not already listening to Matt Boudreau’s fantastic podcast Working Class Audio, you need to start now !
Matt is a highly respected mixing and mastering engineer who has recently moved into working in Dolby Atmos, where he’s already picked up some seriously impressive credits - oh, and also produces one of the top Audio podcasts around.
Which is why if I try to think of anyone better to learn the fundamentals of good audio for podcasting and journalism from… well, I can’t. And the great news is that Matt has put together a new “PodClass” course to help people with just that.
In this episode we talk about the course and what inspired it, but also plenty of other great stuff, including
Enjoy - and if you want to try Matt’s course, make sure to use the discount code TMS to get a 30% discount and help support The Mastering Show at the same time !
The Working Class Audio Podcast
TMS #82 - Dynamics in Dolby Atmos
Justin Grey’s epic Atmos mastering YouTube video
Matt’s new PodClass course Sonic Fundamentals for Podcasters and Journalists (Use coupon code TMS to save !)
When - The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink (Spoiler - it doesn’t matter whether you’re a lark or an owl, but it is helpful to know which one you are...)
DJs get a lot of flak, especially about loudness. There’s a deep-seated belief that “loud” masters are still a requirement for club music, and that DJs are somehow to blame.
But is this fair ? The reality is much more complicated and interesting than the popular cliche that DJs will only play loud masters, and in this episode Ian dives deep into the issue with Joe Caithness, who works as both a DJ and a mastering engineer. Topics include:
And much more !
Joe’s site www.joecaithnessmastering.com (@joecaithnessmastering)
His label https://yesmatewotusayin.bandcamp.com/
Dan Worrall’s video DJs Want Loud Masters (Cos DJs Are Idiots)
Pioneer Rekordbox DJ Software
kyo "How Can I Live” (Joe’s dynamic and successful example)
It’s amazing what mastering can achieve - but it’s also amazing how many things can influence the results we get right from the recording stage.
In this episode Ian talks to Mike Senior about how to fix mastering problems at the recording stage, without using a time machine ! Topics include how to avoid:
And many more !
Mike has put together a fantastic page of resources for this episode, including an excellent video about stereo mic technique - click here make sure you check it out !
As mastering plugins become more sophisticated and more technical, there’s an interesting trend towards making the interfaces… less so.
As well as traditional technical terms and numbered scales, controls labelled with less technical terms like “warmth”, “bite” and “colour” are becoming more common. And some interfaces are just… bizarre !
Is that good ? Or not ? In this episode Jon and I like at some more unconventional plugin user interface designs, and discuss:
You’ve probably heard of Eric Sarafin, aka Mixerman, but have you heard what he has to say about mastering ?
As always it’s entertaining, potentially controversial but also thought-provoking, so it seemed like a good idea to get him on the show and ask him to explain himself ! We talk about:
This is huge - Apple have finally started using LUFS for their loudness normalisation, which means all the major streaming services now use the same method to measure loudness !
And perhaps more importantly, they’ve enable Sound Check by default on new devices. As always there are plenty of devilish details to be aware of though, so in this episode we talk in depth about this change, including:
MeterPlugs Blog - Apple Switches to LUFS, Enables Sound Check by Default
TMS #47 - Loudness Normalization - are TIDAL doing it best ?
Streaming Loudness in 2022 is 95 Percent Normalized
TMS #78 - Streaming Loudness - AES TD1008 Recommendations - not for you !
TMS #67 - Minus 14 LUFS - or NOT ?
In this episode we tackle one of the biggest challenges in modern mastering - the demand for super-loud masters in the dance & EDM genres.
Our guest is Luca Pretolesi, and we talk to him in-depth about his approach to mastering for clubs & DJs. Luca’s masters are loud and we're always emphasising the value of balanced dynamics in mastering on this show, so you might think it would be an uncomfortable conversation... or you might be surprised.
Some of the topics we cover include:
Luca Pretolesi - Studio DMI
TMS #31 - What IS loudness ?
TMS #75 - Stem Mastering - or is it ?
TMS #70 - Loudness versus Art
Dan Worrall’s take: DJs Want Loud Masters (Cos DJs Are Idiots)