The Mastering Show

The Mastering Show Podcast

with Ian Shepherd and Jon Tidey

The Mastering Show #32 - Bob Ludwig

April 25th, 2017 BY Jon Tidey - 5 Comments

Bob Ludwig is a mastering superstar. This show starts out with the interview I did with him for this year’s Dynamic Range Day, after which Jon and I dig a little deeper into some of the topics we touched on:

  • Why some of Bob’s clients ignore his advice (!)
  • The #1 problem with many of the mixes being sent to him lately
  • How he used to cut really hot masters for vinyl

Plus we branch out into a few other subjects, including:

  • Bob's approach to client requests for loud masters
  • What is Loudness FUD ?
  • How to use a loudness meter in mixing

Links

Bob Ludwig & Gateway Mastering

Avenged Sevenfold - The Stage

Matt Mayfield's Loudness War video

The 'iTunes test'

Fighting the Loudness FUD

TMS #31 - What IS loudness ?

Loudness versus EQ balance

Loudness on the radio

TMS #13 - Vinyl mastering

Daft Punk: CD versus vinyl comparison video

TMS #12 - NOT mastering

5 comments on “The Mastering Show #32 - Bob Ludwig”

  1. i can see that Bob Ludwig has a wall of nice awards and it may be a bit cheap to just send a certificate, but perhaps a nice wall plaque. I would pay or chip in for that.

  2. I think there is also confusion between the terms "dynamics" and "loudness", because pretty much every definition of dynamics says something to the tune of: "In music, dynamics means how loud or quiet the music is".

    I am not a mastering engineer but I mix my own music, so for those like me on the production side of the fence, this debate can get a bit confusing. Can you offer a more comprehensive definition of dynamics?

      1. Yes, quite a bit. I did my best to follow along 🙂 Thanks! Interesting to hear your opinions on EDM too. It would be great to hear more shows like that with regards to topics like bass EQ and how much room one should leave (in terms of level) to allow a mastering engineer to maneuver

  3. Expanding on the comments about using an LUfs meter, especially the meaning of the various measurements would be highly valuable.
    I assume the points mentioned would be premastering targets?

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