Mixing and Mastering Tips

I bet only 50% of members will know what this is. 😃
And possibly 25% can tell how many tracks it's for.

𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮
Something a little different than your typical mixing and mastering tips. But very important.
If someone on social media asks you to listen to a song, work with them or even do work for them, you should never post your email in the comment section of a group full of strangers.

This is the oldest trick in the book hacker’s use to phish accounts.
Instead, you should be asking for a link to the sample to be posted in the comments and give feedback there in those comments.

If said hacker is able to gain access to the same email you use for your social media accounts, they can use phishing scams to potentially lock you out of your accounts permanently.

If absolutely necessary for business purposes, do not give them the same email you use for your social media accounts. Always keep that one private. Have a second email account for business purposes. This way if you are hacked, they won’t gain access to all of your accounts.

dB/Peak/LUFS
First off what is a dB ? It means decibel. It is simply a way to measure sound. If you are using an SPL meter you can ask how many dB is that airplane noise ? (approx. 140 when its engines are revved up). Or how many dB is that whisper (approx. 20 to 30). But let’s just say for reference we are speaking strictly within a DAW.
You’re looking for 2 measurements here...
1- dbtp (true peak)
2- Lufs (loudness)
These 2 measurements are different in that one (dbtp) measures your true peak. This is the highest point of the waveform and the loudest your meter measurement will see in a DAW. As your meters are dancing up and down, you will notice one measurement that stands above the rest, it is typically the one that (if your meter is set up to “hold”) will show you the highest point in which the signal reaches. For short purposes here, we are not going to get into ISP’s (Inter Sample Peaks). We will save that for another cartoon.
And loudness (lufs) which is the overall loudness of your track. Similar to measurement like the true peak it differs in that it is measuring the perceived loudness. Not the highest point in the peak. It is averages and those averages are calculated as such:
Lufs INT- The integrated value. This takes an average from the whole song and gives you the total sum.
Lufs Short term: Usually a calculation taken from the last 4 seconds. This measurement is critical at times when you have a song that may look great in the integrated spectrum but your short term is -5 lufs.
Momentary: Think of momentary as “In the moment” it is the now. It is the real time measurement happening live in the track as you see it.
Here are my personal theories.
You want your final master to typically fall around -1dbtp.
You want your INT lufs (for Rap) to be in the area of -10 to -8.
Dance music a little higher. EDM even higher than that.
These numbers however are simply a guide, many mastering engineers believe it is imperative to stay within the -14 lufs value that is suggested by many streaming sites. I however, have never been one to stay between the lines when using a coloring book.
If you are not familiar with Lufs. Download this free plug in. Learn it like it was the most important technique in your workflow because without measurements, you simply are doing work blind and deaf. It is perfectly fine to just “use your ears”. But sometimes our ears lie. Use the tools you have. Like this plug in. Youlean lufs meter.

Youlean Loudness Meter - Free VST, AU and AAX plugin Youlean Loudness Meter is your ultimate free VST, AU and AAX plugin for loudness measurement. Featuring LU, LUFS, LKFS, LRA and PLR measurements.