Structured
Ever feel like there’s too much to do and not enough time? Slipping into procrastination way too often? Employing this simple practice into your day could change your life.
Music loudness should no longer dominate your mastering process
by Will Jackson
2 minute read
Back in the age of the CD, as story be told, there was a music loudness war. Labels and producers were in a consistent pursuit of making the loudest tracks around.
They were in heavy competition with the other labels/producers for the coveted ‘loudest track’ or album.
This led to massively over-compressed music that resembled a German Frankfurter if you looked at the digital waveforms!Â
I personally think we should leave it to the sausages.
Streaming
Moving forward to modern day, luckily, there really is no need to make your track the loudest it can be.
This is due to the advent of streaming.
There is many a bad word against streaming amongst us musicians, but one thing it definitely has improved, is removing the need to squash your music into oblivion…
The reason for this is because the streaming companies by default have a loudness normalisation setting for all music that’s played.
Tracks will go up and down depending on their average loudness to meet a standard loudness level that the platform deems appropriate.
This is bad news for the sausages! Their average loudness level is very high, and there’s almost no peaks, so most often, these tracks will actually be turned down.
On the other hand, the clever artists these days, that prioritise dynamic range over volume, tend to have the louder track when you play them side by side with the sausages.
These tracks retain their punch, impact and energy due to the dynamic range they have. This to me is a big part of what makes a track tick.
If you’re wondering what a good loudness standard to aim for is, I’d recommend the Spotify standard which is -14 LUFS (loudness units full scale).
CD/vinyl
The only potential exception to the rule is when you’re mastering for CD and vinyl release.Â
These mediums of course don’t have any loudness normalisation built in so an overly dynamic track may sound slightly small in comparison with one containing a lower dynamic range. This would be especially apparent if your track made it’s way on to a compilation CD with other artists on there too.
However I implore you not to go crazy with levels here! Remember, overly loud (sausage) tracks have greatly reduced dynamics and thus less punch/impact on the transients. I personally think it’s far more important to retain those qualities in your music.
Really, I wouldn’t say you want to be hitting any more than 4-5 db average gain reduction on a ‘competitively’ loud track.
Serve the music
Thankfully the music loudness war is long gone, and attitudes towards loudness are gradually changing.Â
I think the best approach is to closely listen to how your music changes throughout the various compression processes in the mastering stage. Keep an ear out for the kick and snare. Is pushing that extra couple of db on the limiter making them lose their impact a touch?
Having a listen back to a few well made records pre 1990’s will open your ears to just how vibrant things can sound when a track is left to breath dynamically.
Let’s keep things dynamic!
Related posts
Mixing in mono
Ever find that a mix sounds overly cluttered but you can’t find the reason(s) why?
This technique could be a game changer for you.
Take a larger break from creation
Sometimes seeing the bigger picture on a project can be difficult when you’re too close to it! Doing less could be the answer to your problems…
