<description>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</description>

The term “legend” gets thrown all the time in aud…

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)

<description>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</description>

We’ve been using “soft clipping" in mastering for…

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' !

<description>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</description>

The Billboard Top 50 global singles from the firs…

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

<description>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</description>

People are always asking me about mastering for v…

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)

<description>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</description>

I’m always arguing for balanced dynamics rather t…

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 ?

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

Details

Recent Episodes