The video in the URL below talks about modern pop. Around 10:50, it discusses modern mastering and compression. I know I don't have the software and skills yet to master radio-ready songs. Those of you who do this for a living need to do that and you may like it. But I am not sure I want that sound. So many great records wouldn't be the same if they were mastered this way. This includes Kind of Blue, Al Green's 1970's stuff and the 60's recordings from Stax/Volt.

I threw this out to see what others may think and what I can learn from you. Hope it stimulates discussion that helps all of us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVME_l4IwII

The video is more clickbait than substance.

That said, the loudness war is well documented.

In general, we tend to like what's louder, and that's what drives much of this.

I recently heard that one of the sneaky tricks of a many of VSTs is that - in addition to adding the effects "on the tin" - they also slightly increase the volume so we hear the result as "better".

If you like that modern sound, iZotope Elements is on sale for $29 until 8/14.

If you don't like that overly compressed sound, there's no need to master it that way. But if your song ever gets wide radio play (as if people still listened to the radio ), the station will automatically apply compression to the song anyway.

I thought this video was great.

One of the many reasons I love Band in a Box as a production tool (although I also play numerous instruments) is that is helps you guard against the stuff they are talking about on the video if you let it, and are careful with your mixes and effects.

For example, the Xtra styles pretty much come "pre-mixed." Listening to them, they have set the levels of the instruments about where they should go, though you can add other effects to your own taste. In the demo selections of BIAB styles, there are thousand of demos that suggest unique and interesting chord progressions. All you have to do is study them.

I use audiophile tracks, and the richness of the electric and acoustic tracks is phenomenal. Using a dynamic range meter, I can see many compositions done using BIAB audiophile achieve a dynamic range of 18 to 20, or higher, which is like Cat Stevens. You can boost the heck out of the volume and still get a respectful DR of 16 to 18. In other words there is "timbre" out the wazoo.

I spend a lot of time EQ-ing each track and then doing a final master with several high quality products on the market.

I won't name any names, but there are some people on this forum who are producing tracks in Band in a Box that are vastly superior to a lot of what you might hear on the radio, in my opinion. Vastly superior. Not just better. Way better.

People argue about "changing tastes" and all that--yada yada--but when you listen to a synth and sample driven song that is maxed out to zero with maximum compression and you check the DR on the song and see the dynamic range is 4 or 5, you just have to say a piece of crap is a piece of crap.

But is does not have to be that way. You can still create awesome music if the music is what you care about.

If you are in it for something else, you can and will produce a piece of garbage.

The happy news for BIAB users is that with BIAB, a few regular music lessons on your own instrument, and a little bit of time and patience, you CAN bring back the magic.

I know because I hear it on this forum every day.

David, if you don't mind can you give some more info about the dynamic range meter you are talking about?

P.S. I also thought the video was really well done and informative. Thanks 2bsolo for posting the link!

Dave,

It's called a TT-DR meter, you just have to google it. It used to be free now I think you have to pay. I loaded a screeshot.

I have way more expensive loudness meters but this seems to be simpler, and more accurate and dials in on what I want to know, what is the dynamic range--as in, are there enough sounds across the spectrum of timbre, bass, treble, mid-range, etc, or is it all squashed? The higher the number, the more dynamic range you have--i.e., more variance among tones along the sonic spectrum. It doesn't do anything to change the sound, it just let's you know where you are in the mix. It is very useful in that it allows you to click effects or tracks on and off to see where the "squash" is coming from so you can fix that and get back to a richer sound.

At a Dynamic Range of 3 or 4, you have that blue sound brick that is so infamous these days. To me it is noise. I can't tell what I am listening to. Hope the picture works ok.

FWIW, I've used Ozone for years. IMO Ozone doesn't inherently give you a modern sound unless that's what you want. I typically use a tweaked preset called Light Cleanup and a couple "vintage" ones. They do about what an engineer would have called mastering years ago. Of course with the end stage maximizer module you can, well, maximize to your heart's content if that's ones goal. Not mine

Yeah Bud,

Right on. What also frequently gets missed in these discussions is what is going in and going on before mastering. Mastering to me is minimal tweaks after a long process.

At the extreme of old school, you have guys like Tom Petty who refuse to record on anything but tape and who throw in a lot of twelve string, and carefully mic'ed drums, etc. You can expect a lot of warmth in that scenario and the "mastering" engineer doesn't have to do a lot after it is MIXED (another five hour discussion) which as we all know involves some "mastering" of each track in term of EQ, levels, etc.

BUT, if you have bad or noisy or boring tracks to begin with there is no "mastering tool" that can save you. In fact, any preset in Ozone is going to take what you have done to make things sound bad and make it sound 100 times worse.

This is a point that often gets lost in these discussions--garbage in, garbage out.

Thanks, David! It is still free, I downloaded it here: http://www.dynamicrange.de/es/es/download

I ran my latest song through it, dynamic range was 9 so I guess I'm not over compressing.

Every tool can be used or abused. It's ultimately up to the person with their hands on the faders or the mouse.

I use Ozone all the time and have some great dynamic range in my music. It all depends of how much you lean on the compressors and limiters. Compression, like salt, in my opinion, goes a long way so use a little bit and keep the sound from getting squashed.

In recent years, after the infamous "loudness wars", the tendency is now moving in a more reasonable direction towards less compression and a wider dynamic range.

A good way to tell how much compression you are using is to use a wave editor that lets you see the wave "picture". Often it's hard to hear the compression unless you are really familiar with what it does to the music at the higher levels. So being able to see the finished wave can be very helpful. If the wave has flat tops... looks like a brick with very little open space in the wave and almost nothing peaking out if it, you have way too much compression. You want a wave that has peaks and valleys, and open space in it.

A nice limiting compression to smooth the stray peaks is fine to use. There is always a happy medium that can be achieved but it's up to you, the engineer to find that point.

I will often "print" a wave to see where my final settings are set regarding compression and limiting.

edit: You don't always need to use compression to get something loud. One of my louder tunes is not very compressed. Remember, the final product begins with the very first track you record. Be sure to get the process right, from the beginning and you won't need very much compression at the end.

Cool Dave! 9 is great for rock and roll and blues. That is just about where is should be.

Again Dynamic Range is a different number than most people use (like the numbers -18 to -20 on a perceived loudness meter for example) but in my opinion, it is the number to watch because it tells you how you are doing texture wise.

Sounds like you are doing it right!!

BTW, the meter, also tells you if you go "over" on the loudness specs, so you can adjust. Really helpful little tool.

Spot on Herb.

Heck... I heard the other day that Metallica was getting ready to reissue the album that supposedly started those loudness wars....

remastered of course.

It's because Alice Cooper converted Dave Mustaine to Christianity and he finally saw the light.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwDbiajBEbk