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Equalization before compression? I am often asked the question whether or not the EQ should be placed before the compressor. The answer, as is most often in post-production, is “it depends.” I have developed a set of simple guidelines that I generally follow to help answer the question of where to place the EQ in […]

There is a black magic in the art of mastering; using different mastering engineers will yield drastically different results from the same source material, there even when they utilize similar techniques and equipment. A “good” or “great” sound is very personal to every set of ears, medicine and is at best elusive. The variations in flavor […]

The final step in mastering  is CD encoding and burning the CD, or in some cases, creating a disc image of the CD. For most cases it is simple. Open your CD burning software, drag your files onto the tac list, rename the songs and press “burn CD.” The software adds a standard 2 seconds between tracks […]

An unprecedented backlash from fans over Metallica’s 9th studio album “Death Magnetic” has cast new light on the music industry’s highly debated and controversial “Loudness Wars.” The album hit the shelves in Sept 2008 to a slew of negative reviews; “It sounds horrible!” “Crushed.” “Dynamically dead.” “Unlistenable.” The criticism was not directed at the songs […]

There is some confusion among artists concerning how to encode and execute  CD information to display song names and album titles on computer screens and CD Players. As a mastering engineer, I am repeatedly educating individuals who ask me why there CD TEXT is not displaying in iTunes or Windows Media Player. To answer this question we […]

When a mastering engineer tells you that they can make your music “ Radio Ready, recipe ” it typically means that they are going to make it very loud by crushing it’s dynamic range – otherwise known as “Brick-Wall Limiting.” Believe me, you should be weary of the term “radio ready” because the phrase itself […]

As a mastering Engineer I field more questions about ISRC (International Standard Recording Codes) than any other topic. There are a lot of myths and theory’s about its use, purpose, and procedures. In this article I hope to clear up any misunderstanding about the ISRC. Put simply, the ISRC is a unique identifying series of numbers […]

In the audio world the term “compression” refers to several different processes. There is data compression which might be used to “ZIP” a data file. There is ‘lossy data compression” which is a type of compression used for MP3s, and there is “dynamic range compression, ” which is what this article addresses. What is compression? To […]

All equalizers have the ability to either cut or boost frequencies, and in some cases do both. The Eqs that only cut frequencies are called “passive” EQs. For instance, troche some guitar amplifiers have passive EQ controls. All they do is arrange for certain frequencies to “bleed off” to ground. Other EQ’s can add amplification to […]