TODAY IS DYNAMIC RANGE DAY!
I’M TYPING IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE IT’S REALLY ANNOYING…AND SO IS RIDICULOUSLY, UNNECESSARILY LOUD MUSIC.
BACK OFF THE LIMITER, BOYS. YOU’RE KILLING THE MUSIC.
IN THIS EPISODE OF THE PODCAST, I TALK ABOUT DYNAMIC RANGE AND GIVE YOU SOME AUDIO EXAMPLES OF WHAT “TOO LOUD” SOUNDS LIKE. I ALSO ANSWER SOME READER QUESTIONS.
LINKS FROM THE SHOW:
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE HSC PODCAST IN ITUNES.
CLICK HERE FOR THE PODCAST RSS FEED.
Do you master your own tracks? Do you really know what mastering is? Do you think it’s all about making your mixes as ridiculously loud as possible?
We all could stand to learn more about mastering. It’s a mysterious topic and, sadly, one that gets overlooked. Most people think that mastering is simply throwing a limiter plug-in on your mix.
One and done, right? Wrong.
I’m nowhere near being an expert at mastering, but I know someone who is. Ian Shepherd (@ianshepherd) is a professional mastering engineer who runs a couple of great blogs:
If either the topics of music production or mastering interest you (and if you’re a fan of Home Studio Corner, then I bet they both do), you need to follow these blogs.
Dynamic Range Day
It won’t take you long to find out where Ian stands on the issue of over-compressed music, or the “Loudness Wars.” In an effort to raise awareness, Ian has announced “Dynamic Range Day.”
It’s March 20, 2010. You can find out more about Dynamic Range Day by reading this post over on Production Advice.
While your over there, be sure to sign up for Ian’s newsletter — great stuff from a guy who’s much smarter than I am. 
I’ve got another round of questions for your weekend.
Thanks to everyone for your submissions. Good questions this week!
Topics covered:
- Mixing & Mastering – Peak vs RMS levels
- Dealing with USB latency
- Monitor placement
- 808 bass drops/mixing
- Recording & money
Listen here:
Or download the mp3 here. [19 minutes, 22 MB]
[Photo by Horia Varlan]
photo by *** Fanch The System !!! ***
We’ve all got one…that first album you ever recorded. Maybe it was on a little portastudio cassette recorder. Or perhaps it was on a computer with free software.
My first two albums were actually somewhat similar. They were both recorded using free software and cheap equipment.
I had a blast recording both of them. I didn’t know a thing about recording technique or mixing. I just knew that I loved to sit in front of a microphone and click the red Record button.
Recording as a Musical Instrument
I’ve always been a musician. It started with singing and piano lessons as a kid. Then I picked up the guitar.
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