Brief notes on MS stuff
Posted by bobmaccsblog in Email excerpts, Mastering, Mixing on July 27, 2017
[Another one from an email. I have edited my reply just a little for clarity] “Do you do Mid/Side type processing when you master? Like, compress it separately maybe?” ….. it depends. It all always depends. MS is The Big Thing atm, like sidechaining has been, MB compression before that… it will pass. Just another […]
Musings on mastering your own stuff
Posted by bobmaccsblog in General on July 3, 2017
It’s happened a few times now, where I’ve had to dig some old relic I made in a former life and master it. Luckily back in the old days I was thorough, and have a 24-bit premaster with headroom, but that’s beside the point. It’s also beside the point that the mix prompting me to […]
24 vs 16 bit for the bedroom producer
Posted by bobmaccsblog in General on April 8, 2017
Ok so I’ve written this about 50 times over the years, just wrote it again and thought I’d paste it here. If I’ve directed you here by email, apologies for my laziness… Question: “my track peaks at -11dB, do I have to turn everything up to make it over -6dBFS? I don’t want to mess […]
Headroom. Again. But simpler.
Posted by bobmaccsblog in General on February 7, 2017
[So, errr, that ‘6dB on pain of death’ waffle was a bit opaque. Someone actually told me they had no idea WTF I was talking about. Sorry about that. Fortunately, this question comes up a lot. And it came up again today. Hopefully this explanation is a bit more straightforward… Cheers all!] Can I ask […]
6dB headroom on pain of death, and other ramblings
Posted by bobmaccsblog in General on December 15, 2016
Instagram debate: why do people believe mastering engineers will only accept mixes that peak at -6 on your daw meters? Where did this come from and provided it’s not clippped what’s stopping the mastering engineer gaining it down if needed? Looooooooool It’s because people take a general recommendation (‘leave some headroom, about 6dB will do’) […]
Another thought for the day
Posted by bobmaccsblog in General on November 23, 2016
Mixing into heavy buss processing that you then turn off, is like being really, really drunk. Under those particular conditions, all the decisions you take make perfect sense. Then you wake up sober, and think ‘why the bloody hell did I do that?’.
Thought for the day
Posted by bobmaccsblog in General on November 23, 2016
Mixing into heavy buss processing that you then turn off, is like riding a bike with stabilisers.
Kii Three speaker review
Posted by bobmaccsblog in Articles, General, Mastering, Product reviews on October 10, 2016
The Kii Three is a new speaker on the market, the brainchild of Bruno Putzeys and friends. There are some reviews floating about, but with the Three being such a new product they’re a bit thin on the ground, and mostly first impression ‘reviews’ conducted in hotel rooms and conference halls. I thought I’d add my take on these speakers, […]
Why I’d rather add than cut bass in mastering
Posted by bobmaccsblog in Articles, General, Mastering, Mixing on July 1, 2016
Right from the word go, I’d like to stress one thing very heavily; I’d rather receive stuff that sounds right, and doesn’t need me to do anything. I’d rather there wasn’t any doubt about how the artist wanted it to sound. If I don’t have to do anything then that’s a bonus – at least […]
Sidechaining: In brief
Posted by bobmaccsblog in Email excerpts, General, Mixing on June 2, 2016
Sidechaining: I could write a book here, and I’ve got a HUGE sidechaining article that needs a lot of tidying up. I’ve spent years thinking about it, how best to explain it, and I’ve got a few ways of thinking of and explaining it. But I’ll boil it down. There are two things I can […]
