The Mastering Show #86 - Mastering plugins - technical versus creative

We round up a few different “loudness news” topics this episode, including: * Why Spotify have removed their limiter * But when they haven’t * And what it means for the way your music will sound * Plus, how the new loudness normalization options in Reaper might be useful for you * But why you need to be careful with them * What we think of Apple Music’s new lossless streaming feature * And more ! Full show notes and links on our website http://themasteringshow.com/episode-77Mentioned in this episode:Learn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resourcesLeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's plugins

17 Jul 202142min

People are interested in mastering for vinyl again - and stereo bass is a big problem, right? You should always mono it to avoid problems? Well actually, no. There are some challenges raised by a very wide stereo image on vinyl, especially in the bass, but as always it’s not as simple as it seems. In this episode we talk to our guest Ian Stewart in-depth about this issue, and dig into some of the juicy detail on the topic, including: * Why stereo bass is a problem on vinyl * Why stereo bass isn't a problem on vinyl * Why you might want to avoid it anyway * And why you might not * What all this has to do with mid-side, and secret hidden messages from the anti-phase * The best plugins for dealing with low end width in mastering * …and why they’re not perfect Full show notes at https://themasteringshow.com/episode-76Mentioned in this episode:LeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's pluginsLearn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

17 Mar 202153min

It’s either the most powerful mastering technique known to man, or it isn’t really mastering at all, depending who you ask. Some people love it, others hate it, and some are mortally offended just by it’s name. Why does stem mastering provoke such passionate debate ? In this episode we dig into the topic to figure out the answers to these and other questions... * What is stem mastering ? * In fact, what really is a stem, anyway ? * Why do some mixers find the idea offensive ? * What are the benefits and pitfalls of stem mastering ? * Why will stems often not sound exactly like the mix ? * Does stem mastering really help your client ? full show notes and links on our website http://themasteringshow.com/episode-75Mentioned in this episode:LeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's pluginsLearn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

16 Feb 202136min

It’s happening. Spotify are switching to using LUFS for their loudness normalization. If you’re thinking ‘I thought they already used it', that’s understandable - but they didn’t. They will in future though, and in this episode we talk about why the change matters, especially in the short-term. But also about when it doesn’t matter, and why it will hopefully matter even less as time goes on. Topics include: Why we don’t use Spotify What we use instead, and why - and some of the differences How normalization on Spotify used to work How it’s going to work What happens in the meantime Why we mostly ignore the numbers, despite all this ! http://themasteringshow.com/episode-74Mentioned in this episode:Learn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resourcesLeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's plugins

7 Jan 202137min

Let’s face it, LUFS don’t work. No-one understands them, when you set a load of different songs to -14 LUFS they all sound a different loudness, and they weren’t even developed using music. RMS is just better, right ? These are just some of the objections we’ve been hearing about LUFS recently, and in this episode we investigate them. Is there any truth to these claims and statements ? (Hint - Yes !) Along the way we also cover: * Why loudness is like the weather * How EQ affects loudness, and how we hear it * Loudness on the radio * The ideal podcast loudness * What’s up with Spotify’s loudness recommendation http://themasteringshow.com/episode-73Mentioned in this episode:LeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's pluginsLearn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

7 Nov 202042min

This is so good it just needed it’s own episode. It’s a groundbreaking, unique new way to make music online - and everyone should try it out ! It’s not just bleeps and beats, either - there are plenty of people using it to make fantastic acoustic and sample-based live-looping music as well. I’m talking about Endlesss, the new live-looping-jam-with-friends-online iOS app developed by musician Tim Exile that I mentioned at the end of the last episode - and now it’s going to be available on Mac & PC ! I loved chatting to Tim for this episode, and there’s a ton of interesting ideas here even if you’re not that interested in the idea of Endlesss. We talk about: * The problem of perfectionism in music production, and why it’s a mastering engineer’s super-power * The best way to develop a new musical instrument * How to fit 40kg of music tech in an iPhone - and why it’s worth it * How not-live can feel live and how THAT can overcome anxiety and imposter syndrome * And how Endlesss got Ian back into creating music after a 20-year break as a result Full show notes on our website http://themasteringshow.com/episode-72Mentioned in this episode:Learn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resourcesLeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's plugins

17 Jun 202042min

Real-time remote audio work IS possible - with surprising quality and flexibility ! In this show I’ll describe techniques and strategies to help you mix, master, teach and even record remotely - and even suggest some ways to jam live. Kind of. Amongst other things I’ll describe how to: Stream lossless, low-latency audio to any DAW or browser, for up to 40 people Combine this audio stream with multi-user video chat Screenshare in sync for easier collaboration during mixing, mastering and even recording Take control of someone else’s screen for teaching or training purposes Use other people’s analogue gear in your project “Jam” virtually online - on an iPhone ! Thanks to Ian Stewart and Lij Shaw for help with ideas and testing for this episode. Check out the website for full links and show notes http://themasteringshow.com/episode-71Mentioned in this episode:Learn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resourcesLeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's plugins

8 Apr 202031min

Our guest this episode is LA mastering engineer John Greenham who just won a Grammy for his work on Billie Eilish’s album. We talk to him about how he came to work with Billie, and dig into his work on the album in depth, discussing topics including: * John’s mastering chain and philosophy * Whether “Xanny” is the loudest song ever * How to get RMS levels above zero (!) * Loudness, confidence and client relations * Are loud mixes a problem for mastering engineers ? * What it’s like to win a Grammy http://themasteringshow.com/episode-70/Mentioned in this episode:LeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's pluginsLearn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

29 Feb 202054min