The Mastering Show with Ian Shepherd

What is non-linear processing, and why does it matter? 

In this episode we dive deep into the topic with our guest Dan Worrall, and talk about: what non-linear processing is, why it can sound great and when it can sound terrible, and how to know the difference. Along the way, we also discuss 
* Is reverb non-linear ? And why it’s confusing
* How linear processing makes top-down mixing a good idea
* The difference between saturation and distortion
* …and how to use them creatively
* The difference between a perfect 5th and a power chord
* ...and how to play chords on a trombone

Full show notes on our website
http://themasteringshow.com/episode-79

The Mastering Show

The Mastering Show #79 - Dan Worrall on non-linear processing

Apple’s announcement of Dolby Atmos support has caused an explosion of interest in the format - after all, it means almost any iOS user can stream immersive audio, even if they only have a pair of earbuds to listen on. But how does that even work? And for that matter, what is Dolby Atmos, and why should we care? And what about mastering for Atmos? Is it possible, or even necessary? 

In this episode we talk to Mike Hillier from Metropolis, and producer and mixer Emre Ramazanoglu about all things Atmos, including:
* Why Atmos is different
* Why mastering in Atmos is different
* How it works in practise
* Why the binaural render is so important - and what is binaural ?
* Why binaural Atmos sounds different on Apple devices
* How does head-tracking affect all this ?
* Getting started working in Atmos


Full show notes on our website
http://themasteringshow.com/episode-81

#81 - Dolby Atmos Mastering

In this episode we tackle one of the biggest challenges in modern mastering - the demand for super-loud masters in the dance & EDM genres. 

Our guest is Luca Pretolesi, and we talk to him in-depth about his approach to mastering for clubs & DJs. Luca’s masters are loud and we're always emphasising the value of balanced dynamics in mastering on this show, so you might think it would be an uncomfortable conversation... or you might be surprised.

Some of the topics we cover include:

 * Why do DJs demand loud masters for club playback ?
 * Luca’s strategy to deliver this without sacrificing dynamics for streaming
 * Hint - it’s NOT all about limiting and compression
 * How loud Luca's masters are (which may not be quite as loud as you think)
 * The club genres that DON’T demand extreme loudness
 * Where things might go in future

Full show notes on our website
https://themasteringshow.com/episode-83

The Mastering Show #83 - Mastering for clubs & DJs with Luca Pretolesi

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

The Mastering Show Podcast #85 - Mixerman versus Mastering

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

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

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

The Mastering Show Podcast #87 - Fix mastering problems - in the recording !

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

The Mastering Show EP #88 - Do DJs REALLY want loud masters ?

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 !

The Mastering Show #89 - Sonic Fundamentals for Podcasters with Matt Boudreau

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 ?!?

The Mastering Show #90 - Inter-sample peaks and True Peak limiting - the devilish details

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

The Mastering Show # 91 - Mixing and mastering music for the movies with Alan Meyerson

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

The Mastering Show Podcast #92 - These are not the LUFS you are looking for

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

The Mastering Show #93 - Do you NEED to be mastering loud ?

People are always asking me about mastering for vinyl, and I’m happy to try and help based on the experience I have. I don’t actually cut vinyl myself though, so that advice is always limited and second-hand. 

So for this episode I decided to talk to a genuine expert on the topic - Scott Hull from Masterdisk - and really get into the details. 

Scott’s knowledge and experience of cutting vinyl is enormous, as you’ll hear, and I took full advantage of that in this episode ! Some of the things we talked about include:

    The 4 stages of vinyl production, and why each is important
    How making assumptions about vinyl mastering can backfire
    Why choosing which plant is going to press the records is crucial
    The crucial role of the lathe - and it’s setup
    The myth of duration on vinyl - why “20 minutes per side” isn’t a hard and fast rule
    Why less limiting allows you to cut louder on vinyl
    What is the magic of vinyl ?

Full show notes and links on our website
https://themasteringshow.com/episode-94

The Mastering Show Podcast #94 -The truth about vinyl (with Scott Hull)

The Billboard Top 50 global singles from the first half of 2024 have an average loudness of -8.3 LUFS

So that’s how loud we should be making our masters, right ?

Well…

It certainly might seem that way, but in reality it’s a bit more complicated than that. This is only one of the interesting results that Ian Stewart presented in his latest blog post for iZoTope, and in this episode I asked him back on to really dig into some of the details and nuance.

Plus I also wanted to talk to him about the amazing plug-in that got invented during the last episode he was on ! (Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it 😛)

During the show we talk about:

 * What that -8 LUFS average result REALLY means, and how much attention you should pay to it
 * Who the most successful artist in the Top 50 is, and the loudness statistics of their music
 * The problem with the title iZotope chose for the post
 * All the other results, trends and biases in the data
 * Basslane Pro, the plug-in Ian worked with Tone Projects to develop, why it’s unique - and how The Mastering Show helped it happen !

Full show notes on our site
https://themasteringshow.com/episode-95

The Mastering Show Podcast #95 - Loudness trends in 2024: should you follow them ? with Ian Stewart

We’ve been using “soft clipping" in mastering for over 20 years at this point, but it suddenly feels as if it’s all anyone is talking about ! New plugins, new suggestions about how to use it, and wild new claims about how amazing it sounds. 

Except it doesn’t.

At least – not all the time, and not for all material.

In this episode Joe Caithness and I dig deep into the details and talk about:

* What clipping is, and what it isn’t
* The crucial differences between hard and soft clipping
* What makes a great clipping plugin (and why comparing them is a nightmare)
* Some of our favourite clipping plugins and how we use them
* The kinds of material that work best with clipping, and what type to use
* The golden rule to follow if you want to experiment with clipping yourself

Full show notes and links on our website:
https://themasteringshow.com/episode-96

The Mastering Show Podcast #96 - Flippin' Clippin' !

The term “legend” gets thrown all the time in audio production circles, but my guest this episode really deserves it. 

I’m sure you already know this but Ken Scott has worked with the Beatles, David Bowie, Elton John and Supertramp amongst so many others, so I was delighted when he agreed to join me for this episode !

There were so many things we could have talked about it was hard to know where to start, but here are just a few of the topics we covered:
* Why Abbey Road trained their engineers in mastering before they were ever allowed to engineer a recording session
* The value of mentors - and being thrown in at the deep end
* Mixing in sections (instead of using automation)
* When limited resources are a Good Thing
* Re-mixing Ziggy Stardust in Dolby Atmos (with added drum samples…!)
* …and how the new mix translates to stereo

Full show notes on our website
https://themasteringshow.com/episode-97

The Mastering Show #97 - Should you learn mastering FIRST ?! (with Ken Scott)

In this first introductory episode, we introduce ourselves and talk about what we have in store for the show. We then cover some mastering basics that will give you a solid grounding for the rest of the shows.

Not sure what mastering is ? Start here !

Show links:

What is mastering ? Photoshop for audio
http://productionadvice.co.uk/mastering-as-photoshop/

LUFS, dBFS, RMS… WTF ?!? How to read the new loudness meters
http://productionadvice.co.uk/lufs-dbfs-rms/


The Mastering Show #1 - The Basics of Mastering

We’re kicking off the show with a short mini-series covering every aspect of the mastering chain in turn – levels, EQ, compression, limiting and metering.

We’re going to be starting at the end and working backwards – and in case you’re wondering why, Ian explains during the show !

So in this episode we cover the “Three M’s” of mastering- and to find out what they are, you’ll need to listen to the show.

Show Links:

The acoustic treatment material we talked about in the show is Owens Corning 703, sometimes known as Rockwool.
http://www.gikacoustics.com/product/owens-corning-703-2-inch/

To find out more about using acoustic treatment to improve the sound of your studio:
http://productionadvice.co.uk/building-a-home-mastering-studio-part-3/

For more about loudness meters:
http://productionadvice.co.uk/lufs-dbfs-rms/

To assess the EQ balance of your music:
http://www.voxengo.com/product/span/

More about the mindset of mastering:
http://productionadvice.co.uk/heart-and-soul/


The Mastering Show #2 - The Three M's of Mastering

In this show we take a deep dive into the topic of limiting.

We explain why you need limiters, important Do’s and Dont’s, recommended plugins – and why there’s a good chance you’re using them wrong…

Links:

Are brickwall limiters nothing but pure evil ?
http://productionadvice.co.uk/brickwall-limiters/

Video demonstrating inter-sample peaks and how they affect Mastering for iTunes
http://productionadvice.co.uk/mastered-for-itunes-video/

Intersample peaks and why they matter - more about why you should leave at least 1 dB peak headroom when mastering, with audio examples
https://youtu.be/veLLvoIubzo


The Mastering Show #3 - Limiting

Compression explained - using pillows and punchbags. Yes, you read that right ! And in this show we also talk about:

- Why mastering compression is all about loudness. Except it’s not.
- How compression in mastering is different than in mixing
- How to make mastering compression invisible
- Ian’s suggested starting-point settings for mastering compression
- Why you might want to use multi-band compression

Links

Using compression to add punch, warmth and power to your mix
http://productionadvice.co.uk/using-compression/

What is compression ? Sponges hold the answer
http://productionadvice.co.uk/what-is-compression/

Multiband compression – the mastering engineer’s secret weapon?
http://productionadvice.co.uk/multiband-compression-for-mastering/

Gregory Scott - Demolishing Compression Myths
https://www.attackmagazine.com/features/columns/gregory-scott-demolishing-the-myths-of-compression/

Cheers !

The Mastering Show #4 - Compression

Mastering EQ is about balance, not matching. In this episode we explain what the difference is, why it matters and and ways you can get it right. 

Topics include:

- Why “radio ready” sound is a mastering myth

- How you can affect the balance of instruments in the mix, even within a stereo file

- A simple but crucial point of mastering technique

- The pros and cons of phase linear EQ

- Ian’s recommended EQ plugins

Links

Loudness means NOTHING on the radio - the proof
http://productionadvice.co.uk/loudness-means-nothing-on-the-radio/

The Heart And Soul of Mastering
http://productionadvice.co.uk/heart-and-soul/

Phase linear EQ demonstration
https://youtu.be/efKabAQQsPQ

Rock music and gynaecology
http://mastering-media.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/rock-music-and-gynaecology.html

The Mastering Show #5 - EQ

Loudness is still one of the hottest topics in mastering. In this episode we discuss why louder is better, but Too Loud is worse. And...

- Why you must set the gain FIRST
- How your plugins are fooling you
- Optimising dynamics for online loudness
- How loudness matching can be liberating
- 90% of mastering in nutshell

Links:

Audio Bloggers Live
http://productionadvice.co.uk/audio-bloggers-live/

Radio loudness – the Truth

Loudness research

Perception plugin

Spotify loudness

Dynamic range database

Dynameter

The Mastering Show #6 - Loudness

At it’s heart, mastering is simple - but there are plenty of more sophisticated techniques available, too. In this show we talk about some of these - and why you might not want to use them. Topics include:

- Stereo width & M/S (mid-side) processing

- An impossible EQ challenge

- Stem mastering 

- Mix buss processing

- Tape emulation & saturation

- Creating a production master

Links

Stereo width in mastering – how to measure, monitor and modify it
http://productionadvice.co.uk/stereo-width/

Should you use a buss compressor on your mix?
http://productionadvice.co.uk/buss-compressor/

The heart and soul of mastering
http://productionadvice.co.uk/heart-and-soul/


The Mastering Show #7 - Advanced Techniques

Can digital really sound as good as analogue ? Should you use analogue or digital gear when mastering ? Could higher sample rates be hurting your music ? What’s wrong with the phrase “in the box” ? Why is a digital photograph NOT a good analogy for a digital audio file ? Why does Ian think recorded sound is miraculous, and what does that have to do with the answers to all the previous questions ?

Links:

There are no “stair steps” in digital audio
http://productionadvice.co.uk/no-stair-steps-in-digital-audio/

How to test for intermodulation distortion
http://productionadvice.co.uk/high-sample-rates-make-your-music-sound-worse/

When to use dither
http://productionadvice.co.uk/when-to-dither/

Monty’s superb analogue versus digital demo video
https://youtu.be/cIQ9IXSUzuM


The Mastering Show #9 - Analogue versus Digital

Full-length interview with Matt Colton from Alchemy Mastering, who mastered James Blake’s Dynamic Range Day Award-winning “The Colour of Anything”. 

Topics include the processing chain Matt used (and why it possibly doesn’t matter as much as you think it might); the limiter he used (which you may already have) and his favourite default settings for it; the unique story of how he became a mastering engineer - and why vinyl really DOES sometimes sound better than CD

Links:

Matt Colton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Colton

Alchemy Mastering
http://www.alchemymastering.com

The Dynamic Range Day Award
http://dynamicrangeday.com/award/

James Blake and the dynamics of The Colour In Anything
http://productionadvice.co.uk/james-blake-dynamics/

Pop goes the loudness war
http://productionadvice.co.uk/pop-dynamics/


The Mastering Show #11 - You're going to love this

It’s amazing how much control you can have of the stereo image in mastering, even with quite simple tools. In this show we explore:

* What is stereo ? The simplest and most sophisticated types
* Ian's new favourite mixing plugin for creating stereo from a mono sound
* How to measure stereo width and control it
* How to influence reverb levels in mastering
* What is M/S processing - and why it's probably not exactly what you think
* The power & problems of M/S processing 
* Recommended stereo processing plugins

Our guest this week is Ian Stewart

Links:
Ian Stewart's Blog
http://ianstewartmusic.us/blog/

Flux stereo tool
http://www.fluxhome.com/products/freewares/stereotool-v3

Jerobeam Fenderson - music made for oscilloscope
http://oscilloscopemusic.com

Voxengo MSED - mid/side plugin
http://www.voxengo.com/product/msed/

VUMT - VU meter emulation (new version)
http://klanghelm.com/contents/products/VUMT/VUMT.php

Fabfilter Pro Q 2
http://www.fabfilter.com/products/pro-q-2-equalizer-plug-in

Stereo width in mastering – how to measure, monitor and modify it
http://productionadvice.co.uk/stereo-width/

(Video includes demos of a simple correlator and the Nugen Visualizer 2 with 'correlation by frequency' display)

The Mastering Show #25 - Stereo: width, depth and image - how to measure, monitor and master them

People are talking about minus 14 LUFS loudness more and more these days, but why ? What does this number mean, where does it come from, and why should you care ?

In this episode we answer all these questions and more, including:

 * Which streaming services are using -14 LUFS
 * Why Spotify aren’t using -14 LUFS, and why it matters
 * Why you shouldn’t use minus 14 LUFS as a target (or any number) but
 * Why it’s still important and useful to know about anyway 
 * Will mastering to -14 LUFS make your music sound bad ?!?

Full links and show notes on the website
http://themasteringshow.com/episode-67

The Mastering Show #67 - Minus 14 LUFS - or NOT ?

We talk on this show about making a master sound great all the time - but what does that mean ? How can you tell the difference between a good or a great master, or whether you’re doing great work yourself, or not ? In this episode we discuss all these questions, plus:

 * Is it even possible to tell a good or a great master ? If not, why not ?
 * Is it about great sound, or great work ?
 * Why “great” doesn’t have to mean “perfect”
 * What about great re-masters ?
 * How to know if you’re doing great work
 * The only person who can really decide

Full show notes and links on our website
http://themasteringshow.com/episode-69

The Mastering Show #69 - Good versus GREAT mastering

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-71

The Mastering Show #71 - Remote audio - mixing, mastering and more

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-74

The Mastering Show #74 - Spotify begins the move to LUFS Normalization. So What?

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, this is the show you want to hear.

The Mastering Show Podcast

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