The Mastering Show – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Mastering Show

The Mastering Show Podcast

Music

Education

Frequency: 1 episode/34d. Total Eps: 110

This is the show where we cover all aspects of mastering. If you're interested in mastering, want to learn how to get better results mastering your own music, or even want to be a mastering engineer, this is the show you want to hear!

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https://the-mastering-show.captivate.fm/leapwing
109 shares
https://the-mastering-show.captivate.fm/resources
108 shares
https://the-mastering-show.captivate.fm/plugins
14 shares

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Colton
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Lillywhite
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Score global : 48%

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The Mastering Show #100 - Matt Boudreau from Working Class Audio interviews... me !

Friday, June 20, 2025 • Duration 01:17:14

I wanted to do something a little different to mark the 100th episode, but wasn't sure what. I was wondering about interviewing myself but that seemed a little weird...

And then Matt Boudreau from the excellent Working Class Audio podcast invited me back onto his show, and it occurred to me - I could get Matt to interview me, which would be way more fun and get some much more interesting questions !

So here it is. Matt and I talk about all kinds of things including:

My background in music, production and music technology
How I got my start as a mastering engineer
The responsibilities of the mastering engineer (and the mistake that nearly cost me my job)
My first mastering chain, and how it inspired my Perception AB plugin
How I feel about being 'The Loudness Guy'
Hardware versus 'in-the-box' mastering
Why mastering matters

And loads more !

Full links on our website:

www.themasteringshow.com/episode-100

Mentioned in this episode:

Learn to master !

Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

Tools

For Ian's mastering plugins, click HERE

Leapwing

Find out more about Leapwing's plugins

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The Mastering Show #99 - Recording, mixing and mastering acoustic guitar (with Richard Durrant)

Thursday, May 29, 2025 • Duration 53:49

Stereo, mono, binaural or surround-sound ?

I've worked with this episode's guest in all these formats and more over the many years we've been working together - but which does he prefer, and why ?

Richard Durrant describes himself as an "Indie Classical" musician, which I think is a pretty good summary - but doesn't really take into account the fact that he also toured with Sky, worked as an accomplished session musician for many years and has released albums in a brilliantly eclectic variety of other genres and styles over the years.

In this conversation we talk about:

Why Richard records in an "acoustic igloo" (and what that is)
Mic techniques for guitar and dealing with "wolf notes" on stringed instruments
Real spaces versus digital reverb
Touring (and performing) with a bicycle
Performing Bach's cello suites on Banjo and Ukulele - how and why

Full links on our website:

www.themasteringshow.com/episode-99

Mentioned in this episode:

Learn to master !

Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

Leapwing

Find out more about Leapwing's plugins

Tools

For Ian's mastering plugins, click HERE

The Mastering Show #90 - Inter-sample peaks and True Peak limiting - the devilish details

Saturday, October 14, 2023 • Duration 49:52

Everyone is talking about inter-sample peaks and True Peak limiters - or in fact it’s more accurate to say they’re arguing about whether ISPs are audible or not, and whether True Peak limiters sound bad ! In this episode I’m joined by Alexey Lukin, iZotope’s “godfather of RX”, to talk in detail about exactly what ISPs are and why they’re so confusing - including: * How are inter-sample peaks measured, and why do you see different results with different meters ? * What are DSP overshoot peaks, and how are they different ? * What does over-sampling have to do with all this, and why is it important ? * Do True Peak limiters really sound bad, and how should we test them ? * Why will they NOT prevent lossy decoder clipping, sometimes ? And * What the hell are we supposed to do about all this ?!?

Mentioned in this episode:

Learn to master !

Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

Leapwing

Find out more about Leapwing's plugins

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The Mastering Show #89 - Sonic Fundamentals for Podcasters with Matt Boudreau

Sunday, August 6, 2023 • Duration 49:26

If you’re not already listening to Matt Boudreau’s fantastic podcast Working Class Audio, you need to start now ! Matt is a highly respected mixing and mastering engineer who has recently moved into working in Dolby Atmos, where he’s already picked up some seriously impressive credits - oh, and also produces one of the top Audio podcasts around. Which is why if I try to think of anyone better to learn the fundamentals of good audio for podcasting and journalism from… well, I can’t. And the great news is that Matt has put together a new “PodClass” course to help people with just that. In this episode we talk about the course and what inspired it, but also plenty of other great stuff, including Making the move from pro musician to audio engineer Getting started in Atmos - workflow, dynamics and more Work-Life balance - is it better to be a lark, or a night-owl ? The secret advantages of running your own podcast... …and the crucial importance of great audio (And what it has to do with COVID lockdowns !) Enjoy - and if you want to try Matt’s course, make sure to use the discount code TMS to get a 30% discount and help support The Mastering Show at the same time !

Mentioned in this episode:

Learn to master !

Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

Leapwing

Find out more about Leapwing's plugins

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The Mastering Show #88 - Do DJs REALLY want loud masters ?

Wednesday, February 15, 2023 • Duration 01:26:52

DJs get a lot of flak, especially about loudness. There’s a deep-seated belief that “loud” masters are still a requirement for club music, and that DJs are somehow to blame.

But is this fair ? The reality is much more complicated and interesting than the popular cliche that DJs will only play loud masters, and in this episode Ian dives deep into the issue with Joe Caithness, who works as both a DJ and a mastering engineer. Topics include:

The reality of DJ-ing

The problem with peaks

Loudness ? Or consistency ?

The power of Pioneer

The shocking missed opportunity of loudness metadata

The ‘sound’ of loudness

And much more !

Full shownotes on our site

https://themasteringshow.com/episode-88

Mentioned in this episode:

Learn to master !

Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

Leapwing

Find out more about Leapwing's plugins

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The Mastering Show #87 - Fix mastering problems - in the recording !

Saturday, December 17, 2022 • Duration 01:15:12

It’s amazing what mastering can achieve - but it’s also amazing how many things can influence the results we get right from the recording stage.

In this episode Ian talks to Mike Senior about how to fix mastering problems at the recording stage, without using a time machine ! Topics include how to avoid:

Muddy mids

Harsh guitars

Sibilance

Resonant snares

Boomy or hollow vocals

Exposed vocals

Stereo image issues

And many more !

Links

Mike has put together a fantastic page of resources for this episode, including an excellent video about stereo mic technique - click here make sure you check it out !

https://cambridge-mt.com/misc/mastering-show-2212-resources/

https://themasteringshow.com/episode-87

Mentioned in this episode:

Learn to master !

Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

Leapwing

Find out more about Leapwing's plugins

The Mastering Show #86 - Mastering plugins - technical versus creative

Wednesday, November 16, 2022 • Duration 43:49

As mastering plugins become more sophisticated and more technical, there’s an interesting trend towards making the interfaces… less so.

As well as traditional technical terms and numbered scales, controls labelled with less technical terms like “warmth”, “bite” and “colour” are becoming more common. And some interfaces are just… bizarre !

Is that good ? Or not ? In this episode Jon and I like at some more unconventional plugin user interface designs, and discuss:

Why technical interfaces can be a problem

When a more creative approach can be a good thing...

…and when it’s not

Some of our favourite ‘unconventional' plugin designs

But are they better than just closing our eyes ?!

Should plugins emulate the design of the hardware

And does it make them sound better ?!?

Full show notes - http://themasteringshow.com/episode-86

Mentioned in this episode:

Learn to master !

Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

Leapwing

Find out more about Leapwing's plugins

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The Mastering Show #85 - Mixerman versus Mastering

Thursday, July 7, 2022 • Duration 56:39

You’ve probably heard of Eric Sarafin, aka Mixerman, but have you heard what he has to say about mastering ?

As always it’s entertaining, potentially controversial but also thought-provoking, so it seemed like a good idea to get him on the show and ask him to explain himself ! We talk about:

* Why he thinks if you don’t make money from your music, you shouldn’t pay for mastering

* Whether an online mastering service is actually a better option for a musician starting out (gasp)

* Eric's favourite limiter, how he uses it and why

* How loud he makes his mixes

* Recent potentially game-changing developments...

* And why they might make mastering engineers obsolete !

Full show notes on our website

https://themasteringshow.com/episode-85

Mentioned in this episode:

Learn to master !

Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

Leapwing

Find out more about Leapwing's plugins

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The Mastering Show #84 - Apple switch to LUFS and enable Sound Check by default

Wednesday, June 8, 2022 • Duration 44:53

This is huge - Apple have finally started using LUFS for their loudness normalisation, which means all the major streaming services now use the same method to measure loudness ! And perhaps more importantly, they’ve enable Sound Check by default on new devices. As always there are plenty of devilish details to be aware of though, so in this episode we talk in detail about this change, including: * Why it’s so important * How much music online is REALLY normalised anyway ? * Why the answer is surprising to many musicians and engineers * Why Apple finally made this change * A few quirks and gotchas * Why it’s good news * And what to do about it (and what NOT to do!) Full show notes on our website https://themasteringshow.com/episode-84

Mentioned in this episode:

Leapwing

Find out more about Leapwing's plugins

Learn to master !

Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

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The Mastering Show #83 - Mastering for clubs & DJs with Luca Pretolesi

Tuesday, May 10, 2022 • Duration 58:52

In this episode we tackle one of the biggest challenges in modern mastering - the demand for super-loud masters in the dance & EDM genres. Our guest is Luca Pretolesi, and we talk to him in-depth about his approach to mastering for clubs & DJs. Luca’s masters are loud and we're always emphasising the value of balanced dynamics in mastering on this show, so you might think it would be an uncomfortable conversation... or you might be surprised. Some of the topics we cover include: * Why do DJs demand loud masters for club playback ? * Luca’s strategy to deliver this without sacrificing dynamics for streaming * Hint - it’s NOT all about limiting and compression * How loud Luca's masters are (which may not be quite as loud as you think) * The club genres that DON’T demand extreme loudness * Where things might go in future Full show notes on our website https://themasteringshow.com/episode-83

Mentioned in this episode:

Leapwing

Find out more about Leapwing's plugins

Learn to master !

Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

Read moreCollapse

The Mastering Show – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

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The Mastering Show – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other99+

Youtube4

Wikipedia2

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other99+

Youtube4

Wikipedia2