Live realtime audio metering - with plugins
Production Advice
by Ian Shepherd
1M ago
People keep asking how I set up the live audio metering on my Mac during livestreams and videos, which allows me to assess the loudness, EQ balance, stereo image and more of any audio I'm playing, in realtime, without needing to download it or even open my DAW. The answer is pretty simple, so made a video to show you how it works - along with some of my favourite plugins for analysing audio. Take a look ..read more
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Peter Gabriel's i/o Mix Comparison - Bright or Dark Side ?
Production Advice
by Ian Shepherd
3M ago
Blue Pill or Red Pill ? Is there really that big a difference ? So the new Peter Gabriel album 'i/o' is finally here - and everyone is talking about the fact that there are three alternative mixes of this album - not just a dedicated Atmos mix (as is becoming more and more common) but also two alternative stereo mixes. The 'Bright Side' mix by Spike Stent, and the 'Dark Side' mix by Tchad Blake. So what's the difference ? Why are there three versions ? And which is the best ? I couldn't resist, so started comparing one of the songs that I'd already heard - the first on the album, 'Panopticom ..read more
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The best Black Friday mastering offers I've found - up to 77% off !
Production Advice
by Ian Shepherd
3M ago
You've probably noticed there are some amazing offers available right now, but it can be really hard to decide which ones are worth going for, and especially which will be useful for mastering. So here are some of the best, in my opinion - not just because of the savings on offer, but more importantly because of the sheer quality of what you're getting.  (And if you decide to use these links, many of them will help support my site and channels) Tokyo Dawn products are already incredible value, but right now they're available for as much as 61% off  ..read more
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The best Black Friday mastering offers I've found - up to 77% off !
Production Advice
by Ian Shepherd
4M ago
You've probably noticed there are some amazing offers available right now, but it can be really hard to decide which ones are worth going for, and especially which will be useful for mastering. So here are some of the best, in my opinion - not just because of the savings on offer, but more importantly because of the sheer quality of what you're getting.  (And if you decide to use these links, many of them will help support my site and channels) Tokyo Dawn products are already incredible value, but right now they're available for as much as 61% off  ..read more
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How DARE you ?!
Production Advice
by Ian Shepherd
4M ago
Wow, I really messed up this time. Not only did I criticise the sound of the new Beatles single (gasp) and not only did I say it wasn’t a mastering issue (sharp intake of breath) but I used numbers to describe what I heard ! (Appalled silence, wolves howl in the distance etc...) Oh, the horror… People really didn’t like it. I managed to upset people from every side of the debate, and they made that very clear in the comments on Facebook. On the one hand, they told me that anything the Beatles do is beyond critique. And on the other that it was a rubbish song so the mix doesn’t matter and it w ..read more
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The Beatles' 'Now and Then' is a marvel of audio restoration - but did it really need to be so LOUD ?
Production Advice
by Ian Shepherd
4M ago
I made a deal with myself, in the years after my blog posts about the loudness of Metallica's "Death Magnetic" went viral. (They ended up being reported in The Guardian and Wired magazine, and with me being interviewed by the BBC about how loud it was, and why Metallica fans were complaining.) The deal was - no more negativity and moaning about extreme loudness. I would always look for positives - I'd celebrate great-sounding new releases with decent dynamics instead. That's where the idea for the Dynamic Range Day Award came from, and I've stuck to it ever since. Until now, because this is o ..read more
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What audio specs REALLY mean (and what they don’t) - by audio legend Paul Frindle
Production Advice
by Ian Shepherd
4M ago
Hopefully you already know about Paul Frindle. He worked at SSL, on the legendary G-Series console amongst other things (you know, the one with THAT bus compressor !) Later he worked on the equally legendary Oxford Digital console, and several tools you may be aware of by now in plugin-form - like the (yes!) legendary Oxford Inflator for example, and more recently the unique DSM v3. So as you may have gathered by now, Paul absolutely knows what he’s talking about - and he’s a really nice chap to boot. He can often be found on audio forums generously sharing his wisdom and experience with anyo ..read more
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What audio specs REALLY mean (and what they don’t) - by audio legend Paul Frindle
Production Advice
by Ian Shepherd
5M ago
Hopefully you already know about Paul Frindle. He worked at SSL, on the legendary G-Series console amongst other things (you know, the one with THAT bus compressor !) Later he worked on the equally legendary Oxford Digital console, and several tools you may be aware of by now in plugin-form - like the (yes!) legendary Oxford Inflator for example, and more recently the unique DSM v3. So as you may have gathered by now, Paul absolutely knows what he’s talking about - and he’s a really nice chap to boot. He can often be found on audio forums generously sharing his wisdom and experience with anyo ..read more
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DSP Overshoot vs. Intersample peaks and True Peak limiting - the devilish details !
Production Advice
by Ian Shepherd
5M ago
Hands up - I could have done better ! If you saw either of my two videos about inter-sample peaks and True Peak limiters, there's a chance you might have ended up confused. This was called out during some interesting conversations over in the Mastering Forum on GearSpace, where several members pointed out that I'd glossed over some important details in those videos - and, I agreed with them. Specifically, in both videos I used the terms "ISP" or "inter-sample peak" to refer to two different types of peak level, without explaining the difference. They're closely related, but there are some imp ..read more
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YouTube Music DOES Use Loudness Normalization... but not much ! (Yet)
Production Advice
by Ian Shepherd
6M ago
It's a question I get asked fairly often - "if YouTube reduces the loudness of loud songs, why don't I always hear it ?" And the answer is often that the person is listening to YouTube Music, rather than the main video platform. YouTube Music is a dedicated audio-only subscription platform, with only a tiny fraction of the number of users of the main video platform. But many people don't realise they're separate sites - it's certainly not immediately obvious to most of us, despite having a different URL and logo. OK, so why do we notice loudness normalisation on YouTube's video platform, but ..read more
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