The Mastering Show #80 - You Asked, We Answered (or tried to!)

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 book that took Ian several years to read, how to access it's Secret Bonus Content, and why * A book that tells you how to use a potato as a filter, amongst other things * Books about a band that Ian says you NEED to read * The only two books about mastering (that we know of) * The books we haven’t read but know we should * Invaluable writing about audio that isn’t in books * Several things that aren’t books at all See full show notes on our website http://themasteringshow.com/episode-61Mentioned in this episode:LeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's pluginsLearn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

3 Mai 201944min

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: - How he increased playback loudness on Spotify by 3.3 dB for a song by reducing it’s overall loudness by 1.5 dB, and why it sounded better afterwards - What to do if your song gets turned down more than you expect online - Why you have to be careful with contrast on Spotify - How reducing dynamics can make your music sound more dynamic - Why musical decisions work better than technical ones full show notes at http://themasteringshow.com/episode-60/Mentioned in this episode:Learn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resourcesLeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's plugins

21 Mar 201920min

It’s been a while since we had a Q&A episode, so - here it is ! In this show we discuss: * Can a spectrum analyser make up for poor monitoring ? * Is allowing peak levels up to -0.1 wrong ? * Do speaker isolation pads work ? * Handling client payment issues * What to do when songs overlap (segued) * Do dynamic masters sound worse on a PA ? Full show notes on the website http://themasteringshow.com/episode-59/Mentioned in this episode:Learn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resourcesLeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's plugins

15 Feb 201948min

We’ve all heard it - “the music is in the mid-range”. But what does that mean, exactly ? And if it’s true, is there anything we can do about it in mastering ? We’ve talked about bass and high frequencies, but in this show we dive into the muddy, murky mess that is (often) the mid-range, and talk about how crucial it is for a great-sounding master. Including: * How the mids help us hear bass * Common problems with the mid-range, and what causes them * How to open up cluttered mids in mastering * Our least favourite mid-range frequencies * Mids versus dynamics * The importance of linear phase EQ for the mids full show notes http://themasteringshow.com/episode-58Mentioned in this episode:Learn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resourcesLeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's plugins

15 Jan 201956min

…comes great responsibility. And mastering engineers need to accept that. If you take on the challenge of mastering someone’s music, you also accept a huge amount of responsibility for that music, and In this episode we tackle the question - what are the responsibilities of a mastering engineer - and even the ethics ? Including: * Should a mastering engineer have a “signature sound” ? * Why the “B” word is at the heart of mastering - in many different ways * Something you should probably never do * How to supply files - for CD, online and vinyl pressing * Ensuring transfer integrity online * The golden rule of mastering full show notes on our website http://themasteringshow.com/episode-57Mentioned in this episode:Learn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resourcesLeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's plugins

7 Des 20181h 26min

It’s a question we get all the time: what do you do when the mixes you receive are more… “challenged" than you might ideally like ? How much can you fix in mastering if you really need to, and how much should you do ? In this show we cover a range of strategies for dealing with some of the toughest challenges when you’re mastering tricky mixes, including: * What is a crappy mix ? * Should we even try to master one ? * When not to master a crappy mix - and what you can learn * Techniques for “digging in” - from subtle to aggressive * A brand-new option for the very worst cases * The Golden Rule http://themasteringshow.com/episode-56Mentioned in this episode:LeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's pluginsLearn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

12 Nov 201850min

Everyone wants that glorious, sweet, silky-smooth top end in their masters - but how do you get it ? How do you stop things sounding harsh, tinny and brittle ? And even if the high frequencies do sound gorgeous, how hard should you push them ? In this show we’re talking about treble, and our topics include: * What is “Newton’s 3rd law” of EQ ? * How do room acoustics affect how you hear high frequencies ? * How can you “calibrate” your ears so you’re aiming for the right amount of top ? * How do dynamics interact with high frequencies, and why does it matter ? * What’s a “spiderman” plugin ? * Which EQ plugin or hardware unit should you use for the best results ? http://themasteringshow.com/episode-55Mentioned in this episode:Learn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resourcesLeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's plugins

12 Okt 20181h 8min

As you know, we think normalization is a Good Thing. But many people disagree. And often that’s because it’s not perfect yet - not by a long shot. In this episode we explain some of the quirks, bugs and problems of normalization in action, and how they can cause unexpected results when you’re trying to optimise your music for listening online. Along the way we discuss: * Four really normal normalization mix-ups * How NOT to test normalisation on Spotify * Where to find YouTube’s actual normalization values * Why broadcast levels won’t work on YouTube * Whether we’re actually on the payroll for Big Normalization http://themasteringshow.com/episode-54Mentioned in this episode:Learn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resourcesLeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's plugins

23 Sep 201848min