{"id":17470,"date":"2024-05-21T13:18:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T17:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/?p=17470"},"modified":"2024-12-18T14:58:21","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T19:58:21","slug":"how-loud-master-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/how-loud-master-music\/","title":{"rendered":"How loud should you master your music?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Illustration:<\/strong> Michael Haddad<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s just get this out of the way\u2014the answer to \u201cHow loud should I master my music?\u201d isn’t always -14 LUFS.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This number is constantly thrown around without much justification beyond the fact that it’s the loudness normalization target that Spotify cites. In a previous article,<\/a> we discussed how to master to a specific loudness target (in that case, Spotify\u2019s recommendation) using iZotope’s Ozone.<\/a> If you do want to master to a specified level, Ozone is an incredibly useful and powerful tool. But, if you also want to understand more about why<\/em> you might want to master your music to a certain level (rather than how<\/em>), read on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Loudness and dynamic range<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Our brains interpret sound based on signals sent by the vibrations of cilia, which are tiny hairs inside our ears. The louder a sound is, the more it excites our cilia, which in turn means the sound is likely to be perceived as more exciting to our brains. This is one reason why we like louder sounds, and why a louder master can sound “better.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve met an audio engineer, you know that we love to ramble on forever about dynamic range<\/strong>, or the difference between the softest and loudest levels in a piece of audio over a given time. A good commercial master should be dynamic (if there\u2019s no difference between the softest and loudest levels, the song will be basically unlistenable), but it should also be “loud” and \u201cexciting\u201d (or else it won\u2019t hold the listener\u2019s attention). In practice, a part of mastering is about striking the right balance between all of these.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That balance varies based on many different factors, with a primary one being genre. Different loudness levels are appropriate for different genres. For example, pop and EDM tracks are typically louder than classical or jazz records. This makes a lot of sense\u2014in genres like EDM, music is often meant to be as in-your-face as possible, pretty much all of the time. In contrast, in genres like classical and jazz, composers use dynamics to a much greater extent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another wrinkle to note is that a master that has too<\/em> much dynamic range may not translate well to certain consumer audio playback systems or listening environments. Let\u2019s say I\u2019m listening to a song on my AirPods on the subway while going into work. If the master is incredibly dynamic, I might not be able to hear everything that\u2019s actually going on in the song. Additionally, with too much dynamic range, softer elements of the track may be masked by louder elements in similar frequency ranges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s discuss another consideration: Is the track meant to be played in clubs? An incredibly dynamic master might not hit the same on club systems, or might cause DJs to have to constantly adjust the gain knob for the track to fit with others in the set. On the other hand, if your music isn’t intended for these kinds of environments, then there may be additional room for more drastic changes in dynamics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Loudness normalization and DSPs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since dynamic range can vary widely between genres (and even between tracks in a given genre), DSPs<\/strong> (Digital Service Providers\u2014streaming platforms like Spotify, Tidal, and Apple Music) apply a process called loudness normalization<\/strong>. Loudness normalization means that the DSPs will calculate the average loudness of your track, and then adjust the playback volume so that every track you listen to has roughly the same loudness level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loudness normalization is applied by just about every major streaming platform; the reasoning is that it\u2019s a pain for users to have to adjust their volume knobs to different levels for every track they listen to (especially in formats like playlists<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my experience, it\u2019s simply not worth worrying too<\/em> much about DSP loudness normalization algorithms. While it\u2019s good to be aware of reference levels for different DSPs, keep in mind that they can always change. Even if Spotify uses -14 LUFS as a reference level now, it might be revised to -12 or -10 LUFS later, or they may eventually decide to use a completely different system at some point in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How loud you should master your music: 4 tips to consider<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So how loud should you master your music? Here\u2019s the bottom line\u2014there\u2019s no universally \u201cperfect\u201d loudness number. It\u2019s dependent on what you want to do with the track, and part of a mastering engineer\u2019s job<\/a> is to understand and deliver a master that’s appropriate for the artist\u2019s intent. Loudness is only one aspect of the process, too; the overall mastering job should serve your music, and do so in a way that’s aligned with the song\u2019s genre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how do we achieve this? Below are a few tips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Master your tracks to a reference<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Listen to other tracks in similar genres, or better yet, load them up in your project and use a metering plugin like Youlean Loudness Meter<\/a> to see exactly how much dynamic range the references have. Use your references as a guide\u2014if their loudness sounds good to you, try mastering your track to a similar level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Leave some headroom<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When DSPs play back your songs, they may or may not be streaming them in lossless quality. To avoid artifacts that may occur when music is converted from .wav to a lossier format for playback, don\u2019t push your peaks to -0.0 (unless it serves a stylistic or artistic intent). I often like to set my final limiter to have a true peak ceiling of -1.0 dBTP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more considerations on exactly how much headroom you should leave, check out our guide below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How to prepare your mix for mastering: 5 essential tips<\/a><\/blockquote>