HAyulp! MAstering levels, radio compression etc etc...

[Phildo]

Hi guys!

Haven't posted on here for a hell of a while, now, but I need your help on this one...

On this last Sunday gone, my band, Weirdo (www.weirdo<no spam>.org.uk), had an interview and some tracks played on our local radio station. They've played tracks from our first EP before now, and they've sounded fine.

BUT...

The tracks we got played on Sunday sounded awful. Now, I know it's not the tracks or the mastering itself, as I've played them on every system, large or small, I've had access to - and I'm really happy with the mixes and sound. They generally sound more "professional" than anything I've ever done.

BUT...

On Sunday, the second the first track kicked in, the station's compressors went into overtime and crippled the sound. We've used a few distorted drum tracks (not loops, real drums) and some pretty reverb-y drum machine tracks, and odd vocal effects and a fair few drone-y reverbs and delays which have sounded fine up until now, but the radio plays just seemed to pick up the reverbs and only certain of the vocals, while the drums sounded like someone building a shed.

SO...

I've e-mailed the DJ, and the only helpful coment he could give me was that our stuff (a direct MD copy from the CDR masters) seemed to be a lot louder than the other material he played that night.

Now...

I've always believed that (especially at 16 bit, 44.1K) one should master as close to digital max as possible, in order to get the best use of available headroom, and I've noticed in the past that my mixes seem to sound a lot louder than many commercial releases or other "local" produce (and I hardly ever use multi-band compression or other processing over a final mix).

So, help a poor confused Liverpudlian ex-pat - how do you guys approach mastering?

Help me get it right!

[ryanlikestorock]

More isn't always better. I think what you're hearing is the negative result of having a recording that's louder than the commerical average - a standard which is already too "loud" in my opinion.

Try a toggle between your recording and a similar commercial recording when you're mastering.

You said: "I've always believed that (especially at 16 bit, 44.1K) one should master as close to digital max as possible." This is a vague statement that maybe was misunderstood on your part. Peak levels should probably come near 0db (normally around -0.3db on commercial recordings), but the average level shouldn't be anywhere near 0db. The peak could be at 0db while the average could be -66db... and, that's probably not right either.

Listen closely to what you're doing. That'll be the answer.

[Massive Master]

Yep Yip. Your RMS and crest levels are probably too hot - That's pretty common in this particular market lately... Also, having lows or highs that are a bit out of whack will cause radio station compression to go WAY out of whack.

Basically (and I have a bit of experience with radio station equpiment and have done this exact experiment on the air) you can run a mix with, say a 10db crest level peaking at 0 or another at -6 and they'll sound basically exactly the same on most stations. If you've got a crest level at around -15 or -16, you're recording will actually sound louder than the other on the air.

The reason it sounds nice on several systems is that it's not going through some Orban radio-squashinator or something similar.

I can barely even listen to music radio anymore... The bands are giong for sheer volume - Then, the stations have to beat out the other stations with volume. Gawd, it sounds terrible.

John Scrip - www.massivemastering.com

[ryanlikestorock]

When I was 15, my band gave our tape to the local radio station to have it played on the independent/local show or whatever. We recorded to a 4-track and wanted the songs to sound as good as possible for the radio, so I made the mistake of thinking that because metal-alloy based tapes were more expensive, they would sound better on the radio. Well, anyone who's ever played a metal-based tape on a machine that wasn't designed for it knows that EVERYTHING gets fucked up. When my whole band tuned into the radio station for the indie show, we basically hated ourselves for a few minutes. Everything washed out... the compressors took the out of phase material and made it painfully loud, then painfully quiet... just horrible. When friends or family would mention the show, we'd just wish we were dead. hah

So, that was my first lesson of... don't believe that more is always better. A cheaper tape would have sounded a hell of a lot better than the one I dubbed onto.

[bblackwood]

Read this:
WHAT HAPPENS TO MY RECORDING WHEN IT’S PLAYED ON THE RADIO?

[Be Loveless]

HOLY HELL! I was thinking about mixing my next project as dry as possible and in MONO just for protest/novelty sake, but it looks like there might be some legitimate reasons to(if I ever get my shit on local radio that is.) Very informativr.

[masteringhouse]

Originally posted by bblackwood
Read this:
WHAT HAPPENS TO MY RECORDING WHEN IT’S PLAYED ON THE RADIO?

Hey Brad good to see you here!

[DigitalDon]

Glad to see ya here Brad. I've read the stuff on your site several times in the past and do a lot of reading over at PSW. I hope you'll play a big part here also.

DD