@flotownmastering.com
Owner/operator at Flotown Mastering, Assistant Professor at Berklee College of Music, co-developer of Basslane Pro plugin by Tone Projects, independent contributor for the iZotope blog. More at www.flotownmastering.com
stat showing that 15.2% of the people entering are full time audio profesionals
Really appreciate the replies so far. One thing im hoping is that we can get more so that we can start looking at the differences between subsets of data. E.g. we only have 40 entries by full-time audio professionals so far.
Take the survey:
forms.gle/u2Wr9pezJPC2...
I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a more apt description of us than “dynamics Ian” and “mid-side Ian” 🤣 reposting now
A wooden rack-mounted mastering setup with meters, three pieces of analog audio gear, and an insert switcher. From top to bottom: Dorrough 40A meters, a Buzz Audio SOC-M stereo optical compressor, a Maselec MLA-3 stereo triband compressor, a GML 9500 EQ equalizer, and a DuTCH Audio custom 1 RU insert switcher. Behind the rack is a monitor displaying an aerial landscape image and a speaker on a stand. Some acoustic foam blocks are placed on top of the rack. A Stream Deck device is visible on the lower right.
A close-up of the right side of a GML Model 9500 Mastering Equalizer, showing several rotary frequency knobs labeled in kilohertz and a white control panel below with buttons labeled “bypass” and “active gain.” A large black gain knob is marked from -5.5 to +5.5 dB. The logo “DuTCH” is printed in a hand-drawn style on the bottom right. The unit is mounted in a wooden rack with visible black screws.
New EQ, who dis?
It’s funny how program-specific certain bits of #audiomastering gear can be. I have a Buzz SOC-M I hadn’t used in ages and was starting to consider selling, and then along comes this lovely hybrid soundtrack album and I’ve used it in more than half the tracks. For now, it stays.
It has just occurred to me that it must be very muddy for a while after an ice age…
Ok, that’s kinda interesting. I was just talking to someone yesterday about a way to visualize LRA over time and I can show that in WaveLab, but this could be helpful. Cheers :)
The most solid center, adjustable image width on one fader 👌🏻
I’m a mastering engineer, but I’ll never let go of my VP88.
At the end of the day, even if you get the OG quality stuff, there’s never been a better or more affordable time to make music.
Anyway, I digress. M/S is the shit.
…manufacturing, or labor costs. We see similar things in the plugin market too. It just feels intellectually lazy to me. And look, if you can copy something and also make meaningful improvements in ergonomics, interface, performance, features, etc. that’s one thing, but that is so rarely the case.
More to the point though, it just irks me that that’s where the industry is at. Rather than innovate and bring something new to market, we clone something that has already made all its R&D money back ages ago, which means the only ways to make it cheaper are to cut corners on materials…
I hear ya, and I’ve been there. And also, in 2025 is it? I can barely get out of the grocery store with food for a few days for less than $100, so for a mic that’s built like a tank and will literally last decades, with great customer support from a company that’s not going anywhere…
My absolute favorite sounding stereo recording technique.
They make clones of SM58s now? Because a legit one is soooo expensive? What the actual eff. Not mad at you, but like, how is that where the industry is at?
Is this in REAPER? Can it overlay other metrics like LRA and such now too?
As successful as one can be in such an endeavor. The driveway is passable*
*with all wheel drive and snow tires
A close-up selfie of a bearded man with snow and ice clinging to his facial hair. He is wearing a black beanie, blue ski goggles pushed up onto his forehead, and a heavy winter jacket. His eyes are wide open, and he has an intense expression with gritted teeth.
I’m not normally one to complain about cold or snow, but starting your day at 6AM with 2.5 hrs of snowblowing (kinda more like iceblowing) in -7° F weather is enough to change a guy’s mind…
A digital map of the Boston area and the surrounding Massachusetts coastline, including Gloucester, Plymouth, and Cape Cod Bay. The Gulf of Maine label has been partially crossed out and replaced with ‘Boston’ in red handwriting, and Cape Cod Bay has been similarly altered to read ‘Bruins.’
As long as we’re making things up:
Sometimes it can be cool. Sometimes linear phase is the ticket. Sometimes a shelf (LP or MP) is better suited. Horses for courses and all that.
bsky.app/profile/flot...
Eek! Please be careful with minimum phase HPFs on the side channel!
That can definitely happen when it’s pushed too far or the mix just doesn’t suit it in the first place. When done well – applied carefully, paying attention to phase interactions, etc. – it can sound very transparent IMO.
I don’t blame you, but can you articulate why?
How well do you really know mid/side processing? Do you understand the role phase and polarity have in stereo placement? Did you realize a hard-panned signal is 50% mid, 50% side?
For [much] more, check out the chat I had with Marc Matthews!
youtu.be/7XjHqKAxqas?...
#audiosky #midside
First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me - M. Niemöller
A good reminder.
Don’t neglect to check minimum vs linear phase. They are uniquely different tools.
We saw Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. Through my childhood telescope we were even able to make out Saturn’s rings and 4 of Jupiter’s moons. There was much mutual excitement and rejoicing. Huzzah!
A small telescope mounted on a tripod sits in the snow at night, positioned in front of a tan-colored garage with white trim. The scene is dimly lit, with dark trees visible in the background. Hunched over, a child dressed all in black peers into the telescope.
Inducted the kid into the astronomy club last night. On the coldest night of the year (-12 F/-24.5 C), we went outside, at her urging, to look at the planetary alignment.
#spacesky #astronomysky
Welcome! Basically it searches for skeets that contain “M/S” “mid/side” “mid-side” etc. and populates a feed with them. You can follow the feed to see what it picks up, but all you have to do to chime in is say the magic words :)
Put on my mix hat for the first time in ages this week and am really loving what I’m getting out of Soothe2 as a side chain-able space-maker/unmasker.
What other fun updates to old techniques are people using these days?
#audiosky #mixing
Gotcha, so probably a downward expander/gate? In that case check out FabFilter Pro-G and Sonible smart:gate.