Why “Dynamic Range Day” is a really bad name. And come to think of it, why "dynamic range” probably isn’t what you think it is. And neither are “dynamics”! And why the Loudness War hasn’t changed them. At least, not one kind - or not in the way that you think. Because physics. It’s complicated!

Plus special bonus topics: Autotune and Taylor Swift (!) (more…)

Can digital really sound as good as analogue ? Should you use analogue or digital gear when mastering ? Could higher sample rates be hurting your music ? What’s wrong with the phrase “in the box” ? Why is a digital photograph NOT a good analogy for a digital audio file ? Why does Ian think recorded sound is miraculous, and what does that have to do with the answers to all the previous questions ? (more…)

Some people may think this week’s topic is dull - but DON’T skip it !

If you follow Ian’s advice in this show it will have the single biggest impact on the quality of the results you can achieve in every area of audio work, not just mastering. It’s affordable, it’s simple and you need to do it. Listen now, then follow the links below!

Links:

At it’s heart, mastering is simple - but there are plenty of more sophisticated techniques available, too. In this show we talk about some of these - and why you might not want to use them. Topics include:

• Stereo width & M/S (mid-side) processing
• An impossible EQ challenge
• Stem mastering
• Mix buss processing
• Tape emulation & saturation
• How to make a production master

(more…)

Loudness is still one of the hottest topics in mastering. In this episode we discuss why louder is better, but Too Loud is worse. And...

• Why you must set the gain FIRST
• How your plugins are fooling you
• Optimising dynamics for online loudness
• How loudness matching can be liberating
• 90% of mastering in nutshell (more…)

Mastering EQ is about balance, not matching. In this episode we explain what the difference is, why it matters and and ways you can get it right. Topics include:

• Why “radio ready” sound is a mastering myth
• How you can affect the balance of instruments in the mix, even within a stereo file
• A simple but crucial point of mastering technique
• The pros and cons of phase linear EQ
• Ian’s recommended EQ plugins (more…)

Yes, you read that right ! And in this show we also talk about:

• Why mastering compression is all about loudness. Except it’s not.
• How compression in mastering is different than in mixing
• How to make mastering compression invisible
• Ian’s suggested staring-point settings for mastering compression
• Why you might want to use multi-band compression

(more…)

In this show we take a deep dive into the topic of limiting.

We explain why you need limiters, important Do's and Dont's, recommended plugins - and why there's a good chance you're using them wrong... (more…)

We're kicking off the show with a short mini-series covering every aspect of the mastering chain in turn - levels, EQ, compression, limiting and metering.

We're going to be starting at the end and working backwards - and in case you're wondering why, Ian explains during the show !

So in this episode we cover the "Three M's" of mastering- and to find out what they are, you'll need to listen to the show. (more…)

In this first introductory episode, we introduce ourselves and talk about what we have in store for the show. We then cover some mastering basics that will give you a solid grounding for the rest of the shows.

Not sure what mastering is ? Start here ! (more…)