Is mastering the same as producing?

Does loudness come from mixing or mastering?

So assuming you have a solid mix the loudness will come from mastering where that 6db is made up from multiband compression/limiting and will bring it back to 0db. Keep in mind it sounds like you're referencing your unmastered track to a mastered track that's been optimized to sound loud on any playback system.

How loud is mastering?

So the sound will be basically the same if you master the song to -14 LUFS or louder, it will still be streaming with an integrated LUFS value of -14. So, the answer is, that you can master your music to -14 LUFS or louder, up to -7 LUFS. It's not a great idea, though, to master quieter than -14 LUFS.

Is LUFS too loud for mastering?

At present, Spotify states that songs louder than -14 LUFS integrated should peak no higher than -2 dBTP. Personally, however, I've found that if you're mastering so that your short-term loudness is no louder than -10 LUFS at the loudest parts of a song, then -1 dBTP is adequate.

Why is mastering so hard?

Mastering is hard because it's the final quality control of the song. The mastering engineer should be able to correctly analyze the song, determine the mistakes if there are any, and bring the song to perfection. He or she must be an expert in the music industry, perfectly know its modern trends and requirements.

Is mastering just limiting?

Limiting is the absolute final process when mastering music and is arguably one of the most critical steps to get right. A limiter's job is to make music as loud as possible.

What is 14 LUFS in dB?

To put it simply, 1 LU = 1 dB. So if your master has a reading of -12.3 LUFS int (integrated), and your target is -14 LUFS int, then you would need to reduce the gain of the master by the difference, so 1.7dB (-12.3 + -1.7 = -14).

Can a mix be too quiet for mastering?

Quieter sounds can be damaged or lost, as 16-bit audio supports a dynamic range of -96 dB. In this case, the sounds around -96 dB and quieter can be considered too quiet in the 16-bit audio mix.

Is autotune mixing or mastering?

Auto-tune can be used both during the recording process and while mastering. During the recording process, auto-tune can be used on individual tracks to correct intonation. This is done by visually seeing the pitch of your voice and manually correcting it until it is perfect.

Can mastering ruin a song?

Great mastering can take your mix to a whole new level with brighter highs, deeper lows, and punchier dynamics. But bad mastering can ruin a great song.

How hard is mastering?

In the words of Ian Shepherd, “Mastering isn't easy, but it is simple.” The basic steps are: Set your level with a limiter at the end of the chain. Adjust the tonal balance with an EQ at the beginning of the chain. Tame dynamics, enhance groove, or add color with compression in between the EQ and limiter only if needed ...

What is ideal mastering level?

Regarding loudness, A good setting would be from -9 to -13 LUFS with the dynamic range reading on LEVELS not exceeding 8DR. With over 100 million people using Spotify, it's crucial to make sure your music is heard in its best light. Consider this, the loudest your music will ever be heard on Spotify is about -14 LUFS.

Is 16 LUFS a good master?

Fortunately, after a fair amount of research and experimentation by many engineers and audio enthusiasts, it can be said with a fair deal of certainty that the best loudness at which to master your music is -14 LUFS.

Is 6 LUFS good?

With CDs, you can master as loud as you want, but I think past -9 LUFS you've lost most of the dynamic range. For club tracks, you might want to master to an even higher average level, like -6 LUFS, because there's no standard level for clubs like there is for broadcasters or music delivery systems such as YouTube.

Is 11 LUFS loud enough?

The limit is -14 LUFS for Spotify, according to their website. But an interesting point is that Spotify also has a “loud” preference which normalizes to -11 LUFS. They put a limiter to make your track louder, which means they change your dynamics and tone.

Is mixing harder than mastering?

Since mixing involves more individual elements, it can be considered more complex than mastering. With that in mind, that certainly doesn't make it easier than the mastering process. Mastering and mixing can each take years of training to pin down, and oftentimes, the respective engineers never stop learning.

Can I master my own music?

The short answer is: you can, however, you should view mastering as a chance to get someone else to listen to and analyze your song. If you have worked on a project for a long time and spent hours mixing it to perfection, being objective when listening for improvements can be tricky.

How long should mastering take?

The amount of time it takes to master a song can vary greatly, but it's common for pros to spend anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes mastering a single track. Sure, there are pros out there who can crank out great masters in 5 or 10 minutes, but most of us will need a little more time.

Do you really need mastering?

This pivotal step ensures that your music will be heard the way you intended it to be. A good mastering job makes an album consistent and balanced across all tracks. Without mastering, individual tracks can sound disjointed in relation to each other.

How many dB should you leave for mastering?

Headroom for Mastering is the amount of space (in dB) a mixing engineer will leave for a mastering engineer to properly process and alter an audio signal. Typically, leaving 3 - 6dB of headroom will be enough room for a mastering engineer to master a track.

What level of mastering is YouTube?

Here's a rundown of the loudness standards adopted by some of the most popular streaming platforms: Spotify: -14 LUFS (integrated) Apple Music: -16 LUFS (integrated) YouTube: -14 LUFS (integrated)

What dB is Spotify?

We adjust tracks to -14 dB LUFS, according to the ITU 1770 (International Telecommunication Union) standard. We normalize an entire album at the same time, so gain compensation doesn't change between tracks.

Is 9 LUFS good?

Lots of online articles suggest to aim for -14LUFS when submitting tracks to streaming; however, if you've ever aimed that low, you know that your song is noticeably quieter than the rest of the songs on streaming platforms. That's why we suggest -9 LUFS. Maybe even as loud as -8LUFS.

What is 0 dB in LUFS?

LUFS simply stands for 'Loudness Units Full Scale'.

The measurement for LUFS is 'Loudness Units', and the 'full scale' refers to the comparison to 0dB being the loudest point along that spectrum before clipping.

Why is master so quiet?

One of the most common reasons for a quiet master is improper gain staging. If you're not careful with your levels throughout the mixing process, you might end up with a mix that is too quiet. Make sure that you're setting appropriate levels for each track in your mix and that you're not clipping any of them.

Why are my masters so quiet on Spotify?

We adjust tracks to -14 dB LUFS, according to the ITU 1770 (International Telecommunication Union) standard. Here are some reasons why your music might sound quieter than other artists, or different to how you expected: A very dynamic track mastered to -14dB LUFS will have its peak levels preserved.

How should a mix sound before mastering?

Mastering engineers need to have some headroom to apply additional processing to a mix so make sure you print your mix below 0dB. Using your DAW's meter, make sure your mix is printed with peaks no higher than -1dB. This allows ample room for mastering and ensures that your peaks will not go over the 0dB.

Is it cheating to use Auto-Tune?

A simple autotuned shift in pitch, on the other hand, can be easily performed during the mixing process making the recording sound flawless. I'm sure most people would not consider this type of correction cheating. In fact, if you were a musician, you would probably be grateful that you have the tool at your disposal.

Is it wrong to use Auto-Tune?

Autotuned music creates unattainable expectations for singers, because unlike recordings that they're used to listening to, live music is flawed. The constant strive to be better than these recordings can have a negative impact on the singer's mental and vocal health.

Why does Auto-Tune sound bad?

While it is designed for pitch correction on a small and subtle scale, it was used much more aggressively at the cost of transparency from pretty much the start of its history. Known as the “Cher” effect it was used to give the vocals a heavily synth-like, unnatural sound.

Is it okay to master a song twice?

You can master a song twice if you need it remastered!

It's usually requested for older recordings, but every now and then a client submits an album mastered by audio engineer that didn't have a clue what he was doing, and they can't get the raw mix.

Can mastering fix vocals?

Mastering can fix issues at certain frequencies, say making the low-end frequencies louder, but it cannot adjust individual elements within a song without affecting all elements within those frequencies. For example, mastering can't add delays to just your vocal track.

At what volume should master a song?

Many streaming platforms like Spotify, Tidal etc. state an “ideal” mastering level of -14LUFS, with True Peak of -1dB. A track of -10LUFS, True peak of -1dB would have the Spotify playback volume turned down -4LUFS to match their standards of -14LUFS playback volume.

How much difference does mastering make?

On a macro level, 70% to 80% of how well a song sounds depends on how well it is mixed. This leaves only 30% to 20% to on how well it is mastered. Audio mastering will help a song that is mixed decently sound good and make a song that is mixed great sound perfect.

Can you convert LUFS to dB?

Both terms describe the same phenomenon and just like LKFS, one unit of LUFS is equal to one dB. LKFS/LUFS are absolute measures, and depending on which broadcast standard is in use, the loudness target level could be e.g. -24 LKFS or -23 LUFS.

How loud is LUFS?

It's usually given in dB and it represents the average loudness of a signal over a certain period of time. For example, if an audio signal has an integrated LUFS of -16dB, that means it's an average of 16dB below the maximum level.

How do you master loudness?

You might prefer the kind of compression/limiting found in tracks that are mastered louder, like a rock or pop track with an integrated loudness of -10 LUFS, or a hip hop track with an integrated loudness of -8 LUFS. If so, you're unlikely to be happy with the sound of your tracks when mastered to -14 LUFS integrated.

Is 10 LUFS too loud?

To put it simply, 1 LU = 1 dB. So if your master has a reading of -12.3 LUFS int (integrated), and your target is -14 LUFS int, then you would need to reduce the gain of the master by the difference, so 1.7dB (-12.3 + -1.7 = -14).

What is 14 LUFS in dB?

But even for new tracks, a lot of people still master at much higher LUFS than -14 for various reasons. If you listen to loud tracks with normalisation on, Spotify will reduce their volume until they reach -14 LUFS. Because they have very limited dynamics they will sound relatively quiet.

Is LUFS too loud for Spotify?

This is basically what happens if you are mastering louder than -7dB – -8dB LUFS. Moreover, if your song is over-compressed and too loud, the streaming platform will normalize your track down and your music may not benefit from it. All the distortion will show, and there will be no dynamics to the song.

Can a master be too loud?

Monitoring Too Loud

But consistently mixing at high output levels can cause hearing damage. Science suggests the ideal sound pressure level (SPL) for mixing music in a home-studio-sized space is between 73 and 76 dB because our hearing is the most linear at that volume.

Can a mix be too loud?

A master that's too loud is just as bad as one that's too quiet. Loudness is a delicate balance. Push it too far, and you introduce all kinds of problems into your release. The most dangerous one is called clipping.

When a master is too loud?

A good setting would be from -9 to -13 LUFS with the dynamic range reading on LEVELS not exceeding 8DR. This preset is get your track sounding great when played back through large sound systems. The louder club tracks sit around -4 to -6 ST LUFS during the drops.

What is a good lu range?

(Yet) 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.

Does YouTube normalize audio?

They also shouldn't be much quieter than −14 LUFS. You should leave at least 1 dB of headroom. Though Spotify recommends mastering louder tracks to −2 dB true peak.

What is the true peak for Spotify?

Quieter sounds can be damaged or lost, as 16-bit audio supports a dynamic range of -96 dB. In this case, the sounds around -96 dB and quieter can be considered too quiet in the 16-bit audio mix.

Can a mix be too quiet for mastering?

Mastering is hard because it's the final quality control of the song. The mastering engineer should be able to correctly analyze the song, determine the mistakes if there are any, and bring the song to perfection. He or she must be an expert in the music industry, perfectly know its modern trends and requirements.

Why is mastering so hard?

Mixing works with individual instrument tracks to create a complete song and achieve balance within itself. Mastering works with a complete song to make it achieve balance with other songs. Mixing emphasizes artistic emotions and visions, but mastering is about the final sound quality of the whole piece.

What is mastering vs mixing?

In the words of Ian Shepherd, “Mastering isn't easy, but it is simple.” The basic steps are: Set your level with a limiter at the end of the chain. Adjust the tonal balance with an EQ at the beginning of the chain. Tame dynamics, enhance groove, or add color with compression in between the EQ and limiter only if needed ...

Is it hard to master a song?

Limiting is the absolute final process when mastering music and is arguably one of the most critical steps to get right. A limiter's job is to make music as loud as possible.

Is mastering just limiting?

The best mastering level for streaming is an integrated -14 LUFS, as it best fits the loudness normalization settings of the majority of streaming services. Although other measurements like the true peak value and other metrics need to be considered, -14 LUFS is the best mastering level when considering loudness.

What is the perfect mastering level?

Great mastering can take your mix to a whole new level with brighter highs, deeper lows, and punchier dynamics. But bad mastering can ruin a great song.

Can mastering ruin a song?

Mastering is a huge part of a song's production. Sometimes, it's also the most overlooked part of the process. Make sure you master your tracks before distribution and if you're not 100% sure about the results, hire a professional. There's nothing worse than an awesome song that sounds bad through your fans' devices.

Do all songs need mastering?

Should you master to 0 dB?

Is mastering just compression?

Should master be at 0 dB?

What does mastering consist of?

Does mastering make music louder?

Mastering a song involves a variety of techniques to enhance the overall sound quality and balance of the mix. While compression is a common tool used in mastering, it is possible to master a song without it.

Is mastering the same as producing?

Mastering a song involves taking a mix and putting the final touches on it by elevating certain sonic characteristics. This can involve aspects like adjusting levels, applying stereo enhancement, and monitoring for clicks and pops–anything that could distract the listener from the music.