A Q&A episode with a twist - we recorded it live, with questions arriving all the time we were recording. We’ve added them all to the list for future episodes - here are the ones we had time to tackle this time:
TMS #27 - Mastering for games
Playlists of Ian’s masters on Spotify and Pinterest
How loud should you master your music online ?
YouTube normalization - stats for nerds !
This episode is sponsored by the Home Mastering Masterclass. If you enjoy The Mastering Show, take a look !
Gain staging used to be a crucial consideration for analogue recording and mixing - but you’ll hear plenty of people saying it doesn’t really matter, in a modern digital audio workstation. And they have a (floating) point.
But you’ll also hear lots of other people, me included, saying it IS important to understand what gain staging is and how it works, even in a digital environment.
So who’s right ? In this show we dig into the details, and discuss:
How much headroom is needed before mastering ?
TMS #26 - Clipping: What is it, and is it ever acceptable ?
See this stuff in action on the Home Mastering Masterclass
TMS #21 - Why digital “resolution” doesn’t exist – because dither
If something is technically wrong but inaudible, is that a problem ? When is it OK to break the rules ? What is “audibility”, anyway ?
Topics include:
Geoff Emerick: "Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles"
Sample Rate Conversion comparisons
If you can’t hear it, it doesn’t matter, right ?
TMS #2 - The three Ms of mastering - Monitoring, Metering and Mindset
TMS #18 - The Emperor’s New Ears - how to test what you can hear
And if gear DOES matter, does it define your sound ? And how ? In this episode we’re joined by Mike Hillier to talk about the significance of gear in mastering.
Topics include:
TMS #27 - Restoration & remastering
Which mastering EQ sounds best ? Hear for yourself !
In which Ian probably goes too far with his analogy explaining compression using sponges. And in which Jon describes the concept of “sloppage headroom” and inter-sample peaks, and in which we also discuss:
Compression versus compression - the infographic
TMS #21 – Why digital “resolution” doesn’t exist – because dither
The Coffee cup analogy to audio headroom
Mastered for iTunes & intersample peaks - VIDEO
You asked questions. We answered them. Or tried to, at least! Featuring another mind-mangling guest appearance by Ian Stewart - although he’s not the one to blame for any confusion 🙂
Questions include:
LUFS, dBFS, RMS… WTF ?!? How to read the new loudness meters
Dynamics. I talk about them ALL the time. “This song has great dynamics”... “make sure you keep plenty of dynamics”... “your music NEEDS balanced dynamics”… but what actually ARE they ?
Just like everything else we talk about on this show, dynamics are more complicated than they might seem at first glance. For example, there are at least two different types ! In this show we unpick the topic and try to shed some life on the truth about dynamics, including:
TMS #21 - Why digital “resolution” doesn’t exist – because dither
TMS #31 – What IS Loudness ?
How to use the TT Meter
Why the Loudness War HASN’T reduced loudness range
Ian Shepherd's Dynameter Plugin by Meterplugs
Why your EDM will sound better with more dynamics – and 6 places to find them
Compression and limiting – the Punchbag Analogy
How should I prepare for mastering to get the best results ? It’s one of the things we get asked most often, and it often seems like the answers are really straightforward. But then you record a 50-minute podcast answering the question and realise maybe it’s not quite as simple as it seems, once you get into the details...
(And even if you’re planning to master your own music, keep listening - almost all these points still apply !)
In this show we cover topics like:
TMS #26 – Clipping: What is it, and is it ever acceptable ?
TMS #6 – Loudness: What, Why and How
TMS #31 – What IS Loudness ?
TMS #32 - Bob Ludwig (Loudness meters while mixing @ 35 mins)
The importance of loudness matching
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:
Plus we branch out into a few other subjects, including:
Everybody wants their music to sound loud. But does it need to be loud in order to sound loud ? What does that mean ?
Well, it takes us about 30 minutes to really nail the answer to that question in this Dynamic Range Day themed episode, but we get there eventually - and we cover some pretty interesting ground along the way !
For example:
TMS #20 - Ian talks to Steve Lillywhite
Ian demonstrates binaural recording
How to make a song loud - and the price you pay
Why the Loudness War HASN’T reduced ‘loudness range’ !
