Things I write about mastering when I am slightly inebriated and on the warpath!
The following was written late at night not too long ago after consuming multiple glasses of Malbec. I apologize in advance for what you are about to read but I was reminded having written this just now and reading it back, I have to say that I stand by every word! Hm! Go figure!
You are a d*ck if you master too loud!
I am sorry, but you are. There! I said it and in a very public way!
Here is why I chose to phrase it so eloquently.
I get played on a few online indie radio stations every now and then and I try to do the best job possible to stay at the correct level and obey the “rules”
That is why I now master my songs with a decent dynamic range of 9 at a minimum and peak at -0.3 DB to make sure my tracks sound nice and dynamic compared to music that is mastered too loud. At least that is the thought. The problem is though, that not all stations use standard normalizing if any and then it becomes really tricky. One of my absolute favorite stations and one that plays my tracks often is Independent Share, hosted by the always amazing Dave Davis every Monday at 8 PM ET. His broadcast goes out on Spreaker and he does level management manually and on the fly, which is really cool and old school actually. Unfortunately, sometimes one gets distracted. We all do and then someone’s track just starts at that exact moment and it is ULTRA loud!
I listened the other night at a comfortable level and I was enjoying all the awesome unsigned artists being played on the station. I had just heard the fade out of something I had re mastered specifically for radio and was pretty pleased and content with what I had heard when, out of nowhere, it happened! My speakers puked when the next track started! Of course I turned them down, way down! Naturally, all the following tracks turned to background noise but since I was sincerely worried about blowing my beloved TR 8’s, I left the fader where it was. Eventually, I just turned the station off and went about doing something else but the nuisance lingered.
At first I thought that my track was flawed somehow and not loud enough but Dave was kind enough to email me explaining what had happened and that the track following mine was mastered extremely loud.
Why do some artists still think that louder is better? I get that you have to compete with other tracks and you should be as loud as they are but there are standards for a reason and that is to avoid people blowing their speakers or worse, getting their ears damaged listening on headphones.
Obviously, this was extreme and the circumstances were unfortunate. BUT the gatekeeper should not be Dave with a finger on the fader! He would not have to, if everybody followed the standard.
It seems that the thinking of this particular artist is either, “I have no idea” or worse, “I don’t care”!
If you don’t know, start by getting a good DR meter like the Dynameter from Meterplugs! It is a 100 bucks but it is now my most trusted tool for when I am mixing but also, in particular, when I master! It is simple and easy to use and it makes my life so much easier. The benefit is that you can tell immediately if your master is too loud and it takes guessing out of the equation!
If you simply don’t care, well then, let me tell you this. Another broadcast might have had automated level management or normalizing, and in that instance, YOUR track would have sounded awful. With or without normalizing, mastering too loud is only bad and you are effectively ruining it for fellow musicians who play by the rules! You are not being competitive. You are just being a d*ck!
