We talk on this show about making a master sound great all the time - but what does that mean ? How can you tell the difference between a good or a great master, or whether you’re doing great work yourself, or not ? In this episode we discuss all these questions, plus:
Sandy Denny - The Best of the BBC Recordings (Spotify)
Oasis producer Owen Morris claims to have invented “brick-walling” - Video (Contains Language)
I often get asked if it’s possible to restore dynamics to a heavily limited, clipped or compressed source, to achieve a more dynamic master. The answer is… it’s complicated ! So in this episode we do our best to answer the question. Topics include:
How EQ can make your music sound louder – using LESS compression and limiting
iZotope RX Elements (affiliate link)
TMS #60 - The loudness technique you need to start using TODAY (Automation)
People are talking about minus 14 LUFS loudness more and more these days, but why ? What does this number mean, where does it come from, and why should you care ?
In this episode we answer all these questions and more, including:
TMS #52 - DON’T aim for LUFS targets online
Episode 60 - The loudness technique you need to start using TODAY
How loud ? The simple solution to optimizing playback volume online – and everywhere else
TMS 41 - The problem with loudness normalization – and TIDAL’s solution (Plus a brief history of LUFS)
Measuring ReplayGain in Audacity
Loudness normalization in Reaper
r128x-GUI - Free loudness measurement app for OS-X
Time for another Q&A episode ! As always you’ve been asking great questions, so in this episode we discuss:
TMS 65 - How to make money from mastering - with Graham Cochrane
Billie Eilish - loudness versus dynamics (Video)
Can you make money from mastering ? And if so, how ? If you’re already charging people for your work, how can you be more effective and productive ?
Our guest in this episode is Graham Cochrane from the Recording Revolution website, which has been so successful that he’s started helping other people use some of the same ideas and strategies to get them started making money in the audio business themselves.
You don’t have to be an audio blogger or YouTuber to achieve this - in this episode we talk about strategies anyone can use:
There’s been lots of buzz and discussion about aliasing online recently, and lots of confusion, too.
Is it a flaw in the whole idea of digital audio ? Does it explain why analogue modelling plugins can never sound exactly like the real thing ? Or is it just inaudible mathematical theorising ?
In this episode we try to answer all these questions, plus Ian attempts to give an easy visual explanation of what aliasing is and how it relates to audio, with - er… questionable results.
Along the way discuss:
The wagon wheel effect
The wagon wheel effect - nerdy science version
What is aliasing and what causes it ?
Meterplugs Perception Plugin
Are high sample rates making your music sound worse ?
Usually on the show we’re talking about mastering music for CD, download and streaming, but there’s another important final destination for the audio we work on - broadcast.
And the difference with broadcast audio is - there are standards. Having said that, there often isn’t a dedicated mastering stage !
In this episode we dig into the whole fascinating topic with our guest Dallas Taylor from Defacto Sound, and host of the superb Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast. Dallas has a wealth of experience in sound design and mixing for broadcast on trailers and ads for shows like Game Of Thrones and games like Fallout, amongst many others.
In a wide-ranging conversation we talk about:
TMS #49 - Great Audio Podcasts
Defacto Sound
Game Of Thrones (Promo)
Anomaly (Film)
Tesla Ghost (Ad)
Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast
The Booj
The THX Deep Note
Mother Of Dragons(ounds)
The Voice of Siri
Everything gets streamed these days, and almost all streaming platforms use lossy data encoding: mp3, AAC, OGG etc (OMG!)
And these lossy codecs do a pretty remarkable result of preserving the quality, considering they strip out anywhere between 60-90% of the original data. But it’s not perfect - far from it ! In this show we talk about:
Video - Is Billie Eilish too loud ?
TMS #36 - Data versus dynamic compression - and sponges
Spotify recommends -2 dB True Peak for loud uploads
TMS #25 – Stereo, mid-side and how to process them
You might argue that reading about audio is like dancing about architecture. Or something. But you’d be wrong! In these days of podcasts and YouTube it’s easy to forget how many great books there are about audio, and what a fantastic resource they are for getting inspiration, ideas and learning new topics and techniques. in this show we share some of our favourites, including:
The Daily Adventures Of Mixerman – the Audiobook Dramatisation
The Making Of Sgt Pepper – A Music Production Masterclass
TMS #49 – Great Audio Podcasts
Arena: Brian Eno – Another Green World
Probably the best Brian Eno interview in the history of the known universe
What makes a great music producer tick ? Brian Eno Interviewed
TMS #19 – Sylvia Massy - Recording Unhinged
Queen in the recording studio – videos
Imogen Heap - The Making of Elipse vBlogs (In reverse order, not sure why - but they're all there !)
Adam Buxton - fantastic interview with Brian Eno
This show is short & sweet - but essential listening if you’re interested in getting better results with online loudness - and balanced, musical dynamics for your masters.
In this episode Ian describes:
Episode 44 - Loudness Units 101
Episode 51 - What is Loudness Penalty?
Episode 52 - Don't aim for LUFS targets online
Episode 54 - When loudness normalization goes wrong
Dynamic Range Day
Loudness Penalty
