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Dynamics ::

I spent some time with my nose in Bob Katz’s Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science last night. I had a good mastering engineer for Accidental Beauties; he rescued some very flawed mixes and brought out a lot of detail and articulation that had been hiding in murk. Now I have a faint idea of how he did it—though putting it into practice will be something else!

I zeroed in on the chapters on dynamics. Just being introduced to the concepts of micro and macro dynamics, and the four kinds of dynamic manipulation (downward/upward x compression/expansion) was an eye-openener. I’d somehow gotten the idea that compression was everything, but working with upward compression to bring up the quieter parts, and upward expansion to add a little articulation, made one track much more alive—and perceptually louder—than my earlier attempt.

<< Rewriting the past, dancing with the present

2004 > January

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