Production Advice

OK, I think it’s time to come clean. This may shock some of you, so brace yourselves…

I’m not a Pro Tools expert.

…I know ! How can that be ?!? I’m a mastering engineer, a pro audio geek and I write blogs on music production – HOW can I not be a Pro Tools whizz-kid ?

Well, before you unfollow me, block my email address and blacklist my RSS feeds – let me explain.

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Yes, you read that right.

This post will tell you how to get your music really loud. Regardless of the fact that I’ve been interviewed on Radio 4 arguing passionately against the Loudness Wars, even though I’ve always said that the best way to get your song to stand out on the radio is to avoid pushing the level too hard, and despite having written 19 posts on my mastering blog about how bad Metallica’s “Death Magnetic” sounds because it’s unnecessarily loud…

Today I’ll tell you how to make your music loud.

Why ? As a response to this article on MusicRader.com

How to make your music loud

(Subtitled – “Win the loudness war with our step-by-step and audio guide”)

Now immediately I should say – I love MusicRadar. It’s a great site – I highly recommend it. Masses of news, posts, discussion and information for anyone interested in music and music technology. They were one of the first places to pick up and post about how bad Death Magnetic sounded, and link back to my blog. As a result, Wired magazine and the Guardian found the story and started writing about it, and the rest, as they say, is history. The bad press generated by Death Magnetic has done a fantastic job of raising awareness about this issue, and I for one am very happy about that.

So, MusicRadar rocks.

But that post is useless.

Sorry, but there it is. My reasons for saying so though, may not be what you’re expecting.

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I’m curious – what are your favourite sites for music recording or mixing, and why ? Are there any sites you visit every day, or make sure you read absolutely every post from ?

How about forums ? Where do you like to hang out ? Where do you think the best conversations happening ?

I’m interested in quality, not quantity – we all know sites that post huge numbers of posts and only one in a hundred is a gem – I’m interested to know what you think is the cream of the crop.

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I tried to think of something clever and interesting to say about this performance, but all I could manage was

OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tim Exile is touring with Imogen Heap, and is clearly unspeakably talented. In case you were wondering, this is how he does it:

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There is a myth that in order to stand out on the radio, your song needs to be louder than anyone else’s.

Bollocks.

Maybe this was true during the first Loudness Wars, back when every Motown release was louder than the previous one, but not any more – not for a long time.

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