In The Studio: Using Multiband Compression (Includes Audio) By Jon Tidey • November 24, 2014 A multiband compressor is a powerful tool for controlling dynamics. The signal is split into three or more frequency ranges and processed independently. This is different from a standard compressor which operates on the entire frequency range at once. Standard compressors are great, but sometimes you’ll find that with any significant amount of gain reduction you start to get a very dull sound. Being able to apply different attack, release, ratio and makeup gain to low, mid and high frequencies gives enormous control. There are two ways that I approach multiband compression. The first way is to use about the same amount of gain reduction for each band, by adjusting the threshold individually, and the second way is to use the same threshold for all bands and let the compressor take care of what is standing out. Example 1 – Drums Here are drums with no compression: LISTEN I set the single-band compressor to get a punchy sound. Tagged with:
SYMPHONY: Realtime Physically Based Sound Synthesis for Large Scale Environments A demonstration of the possibilities for realtime sound synthesis for large environments on today's computers. Authors: Nikunj Raghuvanshi and Ming C. Lin Email: {nikunj, lin} AT cs.unc.edu Department of Computer Science, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill We present an interactive approach for generating realistic physically-based sounds from rigid-body dynamic simulations. We use spring-mass systems to model each object's local deformation and vibration, which we demonstrate to be an adequate approximation for capturing physical effects such as magnitude of impact forces, location of impact, and rolling sounds. Related Publication "Interactive Sound Synthesis for Large Scale Environments," Nikunj Raghuvanshi and Ming C. paper (PDF) Video (avi) Screenshots Realism: Numerous dice fall on a three-octave xylophone in close succession, playing out the song "The Entertainer" (see the video). Complex Environments: More than 100 metallic rings fall onto a wooden table. Performance
Studio Spotlight: Alchemy Mastering High-end London facility, which moved to Brook Green in 2013, now offers a boutique service for digital and vinyl formats. London's Alchemy Mastering is the subject of our Studio Spotlight, in association with AllStudios, this month. Alchemy Mastering is a high-end mastering studio, founded in 1998 by mastering engineer Barry Grint. In 2003, while located on the 29th floor of London’s Centre Point building, and boasting outstanding views of the city skyline, Alchemy had become a firm favourite for clients both in the UK and internationally, eventually expanding to encompass the whole floor. Unfortunately, renovation works to the Centre Point building, combined with the creation of Crossrail, led to the closure of the facility, but in 2013 the studios were relocated to Brook Green. There are two main mastering rooms on the ground floor and a third on the first floor, all with natural light. Fully networked Sequoia DAWs are standard throughout, with DAD, Burl and DCS converters.
The 2014 Mastering Guide to Audio Formats and Delivery Mediums Hi, I’m Justin Perkins of Mystery Room Mastering. After writing different variations of the same email to clients over the years about what formats they need for final masters, I thought it was time put together a resource to cover as many bases as possible. There is much more to mastering than just the sonic aspects and it varies between different release formats. It’s also gotten more complex as digital distribution evolves, CDs become the minority, and vinyl makes a comeback. I hope you find this guide useful. Feel free to share it, leave a comment or get in touch with me if you have any questions! iTunes (standard), Spotify, and other online stores — 16-bit/44.1k WAV files From your mastering engineer, request WAV files directly from the mastering session, that have never been on an audio CD. Be aware that if proper headroom is not present, some loud masters can clip or contain overs when converted from WAV to AAC, mp3, and other compressed formats used by most online stores. ISRC Codes
The Guardian - Emily Lazar, Grammy nominated mastering engineer at The Lodge The walls of The Lodge studio are lined with classic platinum records and music memorabilia. A David Bowie poster hangs next to a guitar signed by Lou Reed and a classic jukebox sits by a vintage eight-track player. Vampire Weekend guitarist Rostam Batmanglij strolls down the same halls that have greeted the likes of Dave Grohl, Garbage and the B-52s. Inside this finishing school for some of the biggest albums in music history, chief engineer and founder Emily Lazar is contemplating the intricacies of the mastering process. “There are a lot of balls in the air,” she says. She’s one of the few women to break into the niche as a mastering engineer and is the first woman to have received a Grammy nomination for mastering Record of the Year. At the time, in the late 90s, studios were largely male-dominated and unwelcoming. “If you brought those things up back then you would’ve been ostracised.
United Recording announces new mastering division Studio has brought back "a key element of its heritage", but as "a reimagined service operating in today's Internet world market." United Recording has unveiled a new mastering division in a specially designed acoustic space which was formerly the home of JVC's mastering suite. The new studio – announced by studio manager Robin Goodchild – features Lipinski L700A monitoring with JL Audio Fathom subwoofers, along with a wide selection of popular headphones and earbuds. For computer playback and recording, the studio utilises the SADiE system running Prism Sound's latest SADiE 6.1 audio recording and editing software across its mastering platform. Analogue processing includes the Pendulum ES-8 Compressor, Dave Hill Titan Compressor/Limiters, SPL Passeq, Manley Massive Passive EQ Mastering Version, and Sontec Mastering EQ. United was founded in 1957 by recording engineer, studio designer and electronics inventor Bill Putnam and mastering is a key element of the studio's heritage.
Mastering on the App Store The Mastering House Inc. - CD Mastering and Media Production Services. Upsampling Test: Test was performed using SoundForge 9.0: A 5kHz test tone was created using the synthesis tool in SoundForge at 44.1k 24 bit. Figure 1: Original Test Tone Using an iZotope limiter plug-in, the tone was then highly limited in order to create harmonics. Figure 2: Limiter Settings Figure 3: Test Tone after processing at 44.1k The original test tone was then upsampled to 96kHz using SoundForge and processed with the same limiter setting as above. Figure 4: Original test tone upsampled to 96kHz and processed The processed 96k tone was then downsample using SoundForge to 44.1k with an anti-alias filter. Figure 5: Downsampled processed 96k file
Online mastering meets DAW in Cakewalk LANDR deal - PSNEurope Cakewalk has announced a partnership with the cloud-based audio post-production mastering platform LANDR. As a result, Sonar users will be able to export their mix directly to LANDR and master it at any point during the production process. This marks LANDR’s first full integration with a DAW and gives Sonar users more options to finalise masters directly from the software. “Mastering is a crucial part of music creation, so we’re always looking for ways to make the process simpler and more accessible. The goal with this partnership is not to replace manual mastering, but to complement it by providing engineers and producers with a new tool that allows them to hear instantly how their tracks will sound in a final state at any time during production. Sonar users will have access to LANDR via an “export to LANDR Master” option in the Sonar platform. www.landr.comwww.cakewalk.com
The Science of Sample Rates (When Higher Is Better — And When It Isn’t) Image courtesy of Flickr user mikecogh One of the most hotly—and perhaps unnecessarily—debated topics in the world of audio is the one that surrounds digital sample rates. It seems an unlikely topic for polarization, but for more than 10 years, the same tired arguments have been batted about by each side with almost unrelenting intensity. At the fringes, advocates of either side have often dug deeper trenches of faith for themselves. Namely, that there are perfectly good reasons for sticking with the current professional and consumer standards of 44.1 and 48 kHz for recording and playback – and some valid arguments for moving up to slightly higher sample rates, such as 60, 88.2 or even as high as 96 kHz. We’ll explore the arguments on both sides of the major questions around sample rates and try to find out where each faction has got it right – and where they may be missing some crucial information. How We Got Here The mid-20th century was a heady time at Bell Laboratories. Early Digital
Mastered for iTunes - friend or foe? Engineer Wes Maebe on why his reaction to the arrival of Apple’s MFiT concept was one of excitement, not disapproval. Engineer Wes Maebe on why his reaction to the arrival of Apple’s MFiT concept was one of excitement, not disapproval. Apple’s Mastered for iTunes (MFiT) came to the fore a few years back and caused quite a stir in the mastering community. I for one got quite excited. Finally, a tool for us to combat the constant requests for ridiculously loud masters. What is MFiT? MFiT’s strap line is “Music as the artist and sound engineer intended”. When you’re mastering for data-reduced user formats like AAC and MP3, there are a couple of issues to keep an eye and ear on. One of the challenges with working in the digital domain is sample rate conversion. The other important factor to keep in check is Inter-Sample Clipping. And this is what brought me to the whole MFiT movement. Coupled with RoundTripAAC, you have a Terminal command called afclip. I can hear you say: ‘Oh no! MisFit
CD-Burn & DDP | HOFA-Plugins So far burning softwares have either been complicated or limited. But now, with HOFA CD-Burn & DDP, everything is easier – no matter if you choose the plugin or the standalone version. HOFA CD-Burn & DDP (Plugin) V1.6.10 (changelog) Finally there is the ideal burning software available as a plugin for your DAW – because that’s where you know your stuff best so you can utilize all the tonal possibilities in no time. HOFA CD-Burn & DDP (Standalone) V1.6.10 (changelog) HOFA CD-Burn & DDP (Mac App Store) V1.6.9 Just drag & drop your mastered tracks into the burning software. CD-Burn & DDP (Standalone) CD-Burn & DDP (Plugin) Features: Licenses: The software can be activated and used on two machines at the same time with the HOFA-Plugins Manager. Compatibility: DDP a registered trademark of DCA Inc. Info: Click here to download the Manual Download & test: You can test for 14 days with almost no restrictions. >> Save big with the Bundles by HOFA-Plugins! Press Comments & Customer Reviews: