Mastering is simple. Not easy, but simple.
That's the message behind this series of 6 video tutorials I made recently for Sound On Sound magazine.
In them, I walk you through my entire mastering process from beginning to end, explaining how and why I work the way that I do at every stage.
(more…)I've known about Spotify's limiter for years.
Here's the funny thing, though - I never really listened to it... until now.
At first, they applied it to everything – which was bad. Then, they switched it off, which was better - unless you were a subscriber and had chosen the "Loud" option in the preferences.
I wrote about it at the time, and always highlighted this nuance – but because it only affects less than 1% of music streaming users and I'm not a big fan of loudness, I never really paid the limiter itself much attention.
Until recently though, when Ian Kerr from MeterPlugs told me he'd been able to emulate Spotify's limiter for the new version of our Loudness Penalty plugin.
I knew the limiter was very simple and didn't sound great... but as it turns out, I had no idea.
To hear it for yourself, check out the video above.
And to give it a try yourself, click here.
Honestly, I struggled with this.
Because so many people could use it as as a reason to do the exact opposite of what I recommend.
What am I talking about ?
It’s the new feature in my Loudness Penalty plugin upgrade that’s getting the most attention - the emulation of Spotify’s limiter.
Wait, WHAT ?!
(more…)I'm excited to announce the release of Version 2 of my Loudness Penalty plugin.
It was never meant to be a plugin – we originally made the website to help answer the most frequent question people kept asking: "how loud will my music be played by online streaming services?", and you can still use it today, for free.
But we kept getting requests to release a plugin, so in the end we did – and it turned out the be the most popular thing we've ever made !
The site and plugin have always been about clarity and simplicity, and Version 2 is no exception – we've worked hard to add as much extra feedback as possible while keeping everything clean and intuitive.
You can see a walkthrough of all the new features in the video above, but here's a quick summary:
And yes, you read that last one right - Spotify does use a limiter, but only when subscribers choose the “Loud” setting in the preferences, for listening in noisy environments. And only if the loudness is below -11 LUFS.
It’s a small percentage of listeners, but the effect can be dramatic, and the Loudness Penalty plugin is the only way to Preview it accurately - in realtime, and in your DAW.
Existing users can upgrade for 50% off during the launch, and we’re offering a 30% off introductory discount for new users. For more information, click here:
Foo Fighters just released their new album "Your Favourite Toy", and right away I started seeing loads of people talking about how distorted it sounds. I even saw people saying it sounded more distorted than Death Magnetic.
I took a listen and asked if people would like me to make a video, and they said "Yes", so here it is - take a listen for yourself and make your own mind up !
Is the album too distorted ? Or is the distortion appropriate to convey the intensity and emotion of the material ?
Leave a comment on YouTube and let me know what you think !
