The Mastering Show

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The Mastering Show episodes

June 19, 2024 The Mastering Show #93 - Do you NEED to be mastering loud ?
I’m always arguing for balanced dynamics rather than loudness for it’s own sake, but some people have a different opinion - high loudness is important, and even beneficial.
Nick Di Lorenzo is one of them - he says that loudness is important regularly on his YouTube channel. So in this episode I invited him on to explore that idea in more detail, and really get into the nuances of the topic. Do you need to be mastering loud ? Topics include:
* The practicalities of loudness
* What makes things sound loud anyway ?
* Record labels versus loudness
* Why loudness IS important
* Why LUFS don’t matter, and
* The difference between loudness and LUFS
Full show notes on our website
https://themasteringshow.com/episode-93
Mentioned in this episode:
Tools
For Ian's mastering plugins, click HERE
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
Leapwing
Find out more about Leapwing's plugins
1 hr 31 min
February 21, 2024 The Mastering Show #92 - These are not the LUFS you are looking for
You can't go a day without someone telling you how loud your music should be, these days.
"Everything has to be -8 LUFS"
"EDM has to be -6 LUFS or louder"
"-11 is the perfect balance"
"Just master everything to -14"
...but they can't all be right !

In fact, none of them are, and even more importantly, they may not even be talking about the same thing. And the differences are really important. So in this episode I try explain really clearly and concisely:

The 3 different types of LUFS
The difference between them
Why it’s crucial to know which type you’re talking about
Why mastering to integrated targets makes no sense
When -14 LUFS isn’t loud enough – and why ?
Why it’s not about ‘how loud’, it’s about how you make it loud
Why integrated LUFS values are the result, not the goal of mastering

Full show notes on our website
https://themasteringshow.com/episode-92
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
Leapwing
Find out more about Leapwing's plugins
Tools
For Ian's mastering plugins, click HERE
22 min
December 19, 2023 The Mastering Show # 91 - Mixing and mastering music for the movies with Alan Meyerson
It’s virtually impossible that you haven’t heard music of some kind mixed by Alan Meyerson by this point - he’s one of the most prolific and successful film score mixers in the business.
And luckily for us, he’s also super-generous and open about the information he shares, including his perspectives on mixing and ‘mastering’ music for the movies. So in this episode we dig deep into all the details, including topics like:
* Is there really such a thing as ‘mastering’ for film ?
* What needs to be delivered, and what is the process ?
* How loud does it need to be - are there any standards ?
* When does Alan deliver mixes in Atmos, and why ?
* How he uses the centre channel and surround channels
* Why you might want to use saturation or pitch-shifting (!) in a movie score mix
Show notes
http://themasteringshow.com/episode-91
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
Leapwing
Find out more about Leapwing's plugins
55 min
October 14, 2023 The Mastering Show #90 - Inter-sample peaks and True Peak limiting - the devilish details
Everyone is talking about inter-sample peaks and True Peak limiters - or in fact it’s more accurate to say they’re arguing about whether ISPs are audible or not, and whether True Peak limiters sound bad !
In this episode I’m joined by Alexey Lukin, iZotope’s “godfather of RX”, to talk in detail about exactly what ISPs are and why they’re so confusing - including:
* How are inter-sample peaks measured, and why do you see different results with different meters ?
* What are DSP overshoot peaks, and how are they different ?
* What does over-sampling have to do with all this, and why is it important ?
* Do True Peak limiters really sound bad, and how should we test them ?
* Why will they NOT prevent lossy decoder clipping, sometimes ? And
* What the hell are we supposed to do about all this ?!?
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
Leapwing
Find out more about Leapwing's plugins
50 min
August 06, 2023 The Mastering Show #89 - Sonic Fundamentals for Podcasters with Matt Boudreau
If you’re not already listening to Matt Boudreau’s fantastic podcast Working Class Audio, you need to start now !
Matt is a highly respected mixing and mastering engineer who has recently moved into working in Dolby Atmos, where he’s already picked up some seriously impressive credits - oh, and also produces one of the top Audio podcasts around.
Which is why if I try to think of anyone better to learn the fundamentals of good audio for podcasting and journalism from… well, I can’t. And the great news is that Matt has put together a new “PodClass” course to help people with just that.
In this episode we talk about the course and what inspired it, but also plenty of other great stuff, including
Making the move from pro musician to audio engineer
Getting started in Atmos - workflow, dynamics and more
Work-Life balance - is it better to be a lark, or a night-owl ?
The secret advantages of running your own podcast...
…and the crucial importance of great audio (And what it has to do with COVID lockdowns !)
Enjoy - and if you want to try Matt’s course, make sure to use the discount code TMS to get a 30% discount and help support The Mastering Show at the same time !
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
Leapwing
Find out more about Leapwing's plugins
50 min
February 15, 2023 The Mastering Show #88 - Do DJs REALLY want loud masters ?
DJs get a lot of flak, especially about loudness. There’s a deep-seated belief that “loud” masters are still a requirement for club music, and that DJs are somehow to blame.
But is this fair ? The reality is much more complicated and interesting than the popular cliche that DJs will only play loud masters, and in this episode Ian dives deep into the issue with Joe Caithness, who works as both a DJ and a mastering engineer. Topics include:

The reality of DJ-ing
The problem with peaks
Loudness ? Or consistency ?
The power of Pioneer
The shocking missed opportunity of loudness metadata
The ‘sound’ of loudness

And much more !

Full shownotes on our site
https://themasteringshow.com/episode-88
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
Leapwing
Find out more about Leapwing's plugins
1 hr 27 min
December 17, 2022 The Mastering Show #87 - Fix mastering problems - in the recording !
It’s amazing what mastering can achieve - but it’s also amazing how many things can influence the results we get right from the recording stage.
In this episode Ian talks to Mike Senior about how to fix mastering problems at the recording stage, without using a time machine ! Topics include how to avoid:

Muddy mids
Harsh guitars
Sibilance
Resonant snares
Boomy or hollow vocals
Exposed vocals
Stereo image issues

And many more !

Links

Mike has put together a fantastic page of resources for this episode, including an excellent video about stereo mic technique - click here make sure you check it out !

https://cambridge-mt.com/misc/mastering-show-2212-resources/

https://themasteringshow.com/episode-87
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
Leapwing
Find out more about Leapwing's plugins
1 hr 16 min
November 16, 2022 The Mastering Show #86 - Mastering plugins - technical versus creative
As mastering plugins become more sophisticated and more technical, there’s an interesting trend towards making the interfaces… less so.
As well as traditional technical terms and numbered scales, controls labelled with less technical terms like “warmth”, “bite” and “colour” are becoming more common. And some interfaces are just… bizarre !

Is that good ? Or not ? In this episode Jon and I like at some more unconventional plugin user interface designs, and discuss:

Why technical interfaces can be a problem
When a more creative approach can be a good thing...
…and when it’s not
Some of our favourite ‘unconventional' plugin designs
But are they better than just closing our eyes ?!
Should plugins emulate the design of the hardware
And does it make them sound better ?!?

Full show notes - http://themasteringshow.com/episode-86
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
Leapwing
Find out more about Leapwing's plugins
44 min
July 07, 2022 The Mastering Show #85 - Mixerman versus Mastering
You’ve probably heard of Eric Sarafin, aka Mixerman, but have you heard what he has to say about mastering ?
As always it’s entertaining, potentially controversial but also thought-provoking, so it seemed like a good idea to get him on the show and ask him to explain himself ! We talk about:

* Why he thinks if you don’t make money from your music, you shouldn’t pay for mastering
* Whether an online mastering service is actually a better option for a musician starting out (gasp)
* Eric's favourite limiter, how he uses it and why
* How loud he makes his mixes
* Recent potentially game-changing developments...
* And why they might make mastering engineers obsolete !

Full show notes on our website
https://themasteringshow.com/episode-85
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn to master !
Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources
Leapwing
Find out more about Leapwing's plugins
57 min
June 29, 2022 Don't Miss This...
For more information:
www.homemastering.com
8 min

About The Mastering Show

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This is the show where we cover all aspects of mastering. If you're interested in mastering, want to learn how to get better results mastering your own music, or even want to be a mastering engineer,…