[ddots-l] Re: mastering question
- From: Chris Smart <chris_s@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2011 12:23:52 -0500
Hi Neville.
In that iZotope Limiter, Try a preset that is not as aggressive,
like "Classical, light and responsive".
Unfortunately, we can't edit parameters in there, so you're right
that learning to do this in Sonar, with a limiter plug-in on the
master bus, is a better approach. No preset is going to work for
all styles of music, or even individual tracks of the same style.
Have you checked out the Boost11 limiter? It has only two sliders
to fiddle with.
Also, in Sound Forge, check out the statistics of your file - alt+t
then S. You're interested in two lines, one that lists the highest
peak in your file, the other that gives the average volume
(RMS). How far apart those numbers are, tells you approximately
how much dynamic range your material has. The technical term for
this difference is "crest factor".
Recent pop or hard rock albums seem to have -11 or less dynamic
range, which is pretty extreme. That's why they sound so loud, and
why your ears get tired of them quickly.
All the way to the other end of the spectrum, we get classical and
other acoustic styles that have maybe 20dB of difference between
peak and average loudness. The peaks are just as high as in the
pop recordings, but the average loudness is lower, so they sound
quieter overall.
If I'm working on rock or pop, I usually shoot for around -14dB RMS
and peaking no higher than say 0.1dB. I go further if the client
complains that it doesn't sound loud enough. But really, people
should just turn up the volume on their stereo, iPod etc.
Chris
PLEASE READ THIS FOOTER AT LEAST ONCE!
To leave the list, click on the immediately following link:
ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe
If this link doesn't work then send a message to:
ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
and in the Subject line type
unsubscribe
For other list commands such as vacation mode,
click on the immediately following link:
ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq or
send a message, to
ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
and in the Subject line type
faq
Other related posts:
