In this episode I describe a simple, straightforward strategy to make your masters sound more like those of your favourite artists – whether you’re a beginner or a pro. I explain how to decide how loud you want to master your music, and how to make sure you achieve that without becoming a victim of the loudness war - and, using this method you’ll be able to asses objectively what you want your music to sound like, and figure out how to get there.
Links
How to read the new loudness meters
What does a mastering engineer do ? My mastering process
Got to tell you guys how much I enjoy your show and how much I have learned. Thank you SO MUCH! You guys ROCK!
Ian, will this show be available in mp3?
Yes, I've just enabled downloads, sorry for the oversight !
Thanks!
Hey,
I must admit, the more I listen here and listen to and observe CD's that aren't squashed, the more absurd all this loudness seems. Getting my mix loud enough to "compete and sound commercial" has always been the single most frustrating part of all this, and now it seems so pointless and damaging. When it's put into the perspective of colors, it makes alot of sense to me, and hopefully it's not far off the mark...it makes sense to me at least. I'd never want to compress the range of colors I see, I want to see every variation of the color and to the last perceptible detail. Digital audio has given this such a great ability for audio but we compress and squeeze the life out of it, cramming it to the upper limit of the format. It's like cooking everything on the HIGH setting on the oven...you'd never do that. I believe we don't appreciate it until you've actually heard something not so slammed. Otherwise we're just ignorant (not stupid, just ignorant) and we're conditioned that these squeezed mixes actually sound good.
Hi Ian!
The choice of the right reference track is indeed fundamental and it struck me how much each album out there sounds differently! Ten years ago, I was convinced that there was a "standard" sound which was the absolute goal to achieve, and that every major CD in music history had that kind of identical sound (I'm essentially talking about EQ, here).
Most of the rock albums I picked then were pretty loaded with low-mids, so I tended to boost them on my first mastering ever (the Buddhist Sons 2007 CD — my own songs, actually 😉 ), but deep inside of me I preferred my initial balance... (it's unfortunately also inflicted by the flaws of home-studio-self-mastering-loudnesswarism and needs a good remastering someday... 😀 )
Well, provided that you have a good equilibrated mix, one can wonder why you'd want to stick to someone else's particular sound, anyway?
In the end, if your mix translates well in every situation isn't it enough?
The band I mentioned in another comment wanted me to make their CD sound like some old record by the Beatles, when their music (and mix) had nothing to do with it (like what you said about Fleetwood Mac 😀 ), then said there was not enough sub-bass...
I believe the talent of a mastering engineer is also to be very diplomatic and not blindly trying to reach impossible client's requests. 🙂
The good taste reference is Ira Glass - really inspirational video for anyone interested. https://vimeo.com/24715531
"Give yourself a break". Dammit, that really spoke to me. Something I forget it too easily. I've been doing this for so long that I forget that it's ok that I'm still not perfect or even where I want to be. Even if when I sometimes hear my own work it makes my blood curdle, as long as the artist is happy and I've progressed, it's ok. It sets the bar for next time. Thanks, Ian.
Cheers.