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 get quite a bit of push-back about the Loudness Penalty idea – and I think some of it is a simple misunderstanding.
In a nutshell, the "penalty" isn't about the numbers, it's about how the music sounds because of those numbers.
It's easier to hear (and see) than explain in words, which is why I made the video above, using example songs from this week's UK Top 20, including "Golden" from the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack.
It's a great tune, but like most K-Pop the loudness has been pushed really hard, so I couldn't help asking - how would it sound with better dynamics ?
And in fact we don't have to wonder - I can demonstrate it to you.
Which is exactly what I do, along with two other examples.
Take a listen – can you hear the difference ?
I'm seeing this question all the time recently:
"I hit the LUFS target, but my mixes still sound smaller than the pros - WTF?!"
Which seems like a perfectly reasonable question, right ? LUFS measure loudness, so just match the LUFS to the appropriate target and you're good to go… why wouldn't it work ?
Well (as always) it's not quite that simple.
(more…)"Headlock" by Imogen Heap went viral recently and has gone platinum, 20 years after it was first released.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary, a re-mastered version of the album "Speak For Yourself" has been released. But does it REALLY sound better ? Or just louder ?
In this video I take a listen to find out, using "Headlock" as an in-depth example.
These two facts are both true - even though they seem to flatly contradict each other !
I call this the ‘Loudness Paradox’, but what does it mean ? How can both of these statements be true, and what are we supposed to do with that information ?
(more…)
