How LOUD to Master Your Music (Any Genre)

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How loud should you master your music? Spoiler alert: -14LUFS is almost never loud enough...
In this video, I break down SPECIFIC loudness standards you can shoot for to know your master will be loud enough for your specific genre.
- Colin Cross
#logicprox #garageband #musicproduction

[@TheBandGuide]

‼ Download the free 6-Step PRO MIX Checklist here: www.thebandguide.com/6stepPROmix ‼

[@aartstrong]

Helpful content, as usual. There are some noise heads out here, who judge a master’s quality solely on the basis of loudness, regardless of genre. You pitch your song to those among them who own playlists, and they get back to you with the usual line, “Blah, blah, blah… unfortunately, your song is too quiet. You should find a pro to master it for you,” which is code for “My hearing is gone, and I can only hear sounds played at maximum volume” or “Your song is not my type, so I’ll just say something, anything to explain why I’m not playlisting it.” It is high time we ended this ridiculous loudness war once and for all 😊

[@TheBandGuide]

It's amazing what some playlisters will say 🤦🏼‍♂️

[@lightofchai]

I like how you gave us a continuum based on genre. This was a very well-rounded explanation. Thanks!

[@TheBandGuide]

Hey I'm glad you liked it!!

[@dannyknox4314]

If you don't already have it a video showing the 2 limiters and clipper process would be helpful to see in context with the how, where and why's. Thanks!

[@markushassel2737]

Absolutely AMAZING video! So much bs out here on KZbin, thanks for keeping it real. New sub!

[@DanMia-cd1bm]

Okay...this is key to getting it done A to Z..thanks Colin.

[@StratsRUs]

I've found that -6 to -3 dB for a mix goes well in a rock 'but not too heavy' track. Thanks for all your videos !

[@R0BL68]

Always so helpful ! Easily my favorite channel on You Tube 🎸

[@TheBandGuide]

🙌🏼 Really appreciate that, Rob!

[@davidechavarria387]

thanks!!!

[@ethanwransom]

SOLID GOLD!!! ❤❤❤

[@ForrestOfFangHorn]

Excellent advice and great video as always.

[@TommyLarsson-jb4kk]

Great as usual!

[@TheBandGuide]

Glad it was helpful, Tommy!

[@mikeaustin1]

Although I don't get too lost in LUFS output, this is some good info. Most of the time the recording levels (incl. max) are pretty good for most of the big DAWs (as long as the user has a good level set on his end), but sometimes they're surprisingly weak. I usually try to record everything at 0 DB as it's roughly = LUFS par setting, and gives a lot of headway both directions to adjust; if I can't then I might run into issues - if I have doubts I'll run the mix through the LUFS meter, but most of the time paying attention to decibels (and the "red line") works for my stuff. Logic Pro includes a LUFS meter, as does most of the paid (hint: more expensive) DAW apps. The freebies and Garage Band don't but there are some nice free ones out there. Everyone is different, but I usually use LUFS as a check/backup to regular ol' decibel recording. Maybe some day I'll make the transition over to LUFS metering first, but for now it's not a problem for me to use the old school decibel method.

[@TheBandGuide]

I don't worry about LUFS for anything other than mastering! When I'm recording and mixing I'm focused on regular peak meters and VU meters. Glad you found this helpful!

[@tomaltermusic]

Very helpful Colin. Thanks.

[@TheBandGuide]

Glad it was helpful, Tom!

[@SmashinAdams]

It won't let me sign up for the checklist. 😥

[@TheBandGuide]

That's odd- what is it doing??

[@djerikfox]

...I hope logic 11 will have the internal 32bit recording and summing like cubase, 🙄

[@fredjones7509]

A happy funky pop/party song. Verses have bright (recorded) acoustic guitar with the chorus having some epic synth strings added?

[@lizzie_calisto]

would you put Lo-fi at the far end with jazz?

[@garudasomanna]

Excuse me Colin! I am puzzled at your statements that one can go for even as high as 6 LUFS! My main or rather only share platform is KZbin that brusquely lowers any song above 14 LUFS. Can you please clarify this point. I have watched the 'stats for nerds' for your present video and find that is states: Volume/Normalised 100%/ 100% [content loudness -3.7 db]. FYI, I have examined these stats for other YT song videos that appeared to be loud to me and found that though they have been normalised to 60% with a reading in content loudness of + 3.5 db, the song appeared to be loud enough and had all the instruments sounding loud, energetic and great.

[@TheBandGuide]

It's wild, right?? So yes, it will get turned down by the platforms that have those systems, but the lack of dynamic range can still lead to the songs feeling louder. To be clear, this is NOT for everybody and basically smashes all dynamics. For the type of music you're making, I would expect you'd be more in the -13 to -10 range. But also I find KZbin to be platform that loudness is least important because the nature of play listing on KZbin is so different than Spotify and other platforms that it somewhat negates the "loudness wars" element of this. (aka a louder mix is perceived as better). as long as you're happy with it, you're good!

[@garudasomanna]

Thanks for your reply. By God's grace I am aiming for mastering my songs to be below 14 LUFS and I have been happy with it's loudness content on KZbin. @@TheBandGuide

[@TheAidenWrestling]

I’m currently in a band and we are recording our studio album. Do you have any advice for mixing separate tracks recorded from a Focusrite Scarlett. We have guitar, drums & piano recorded but the problem is since it’s plugged directly in. Everything is raw and has no plug-in sounds or ways to mix it to sound good. Do you have any ideas how to fix that? Do we add EQ, treble, compression? We just want it to sound like a good mix without it sounding like demo work.

[@TheBandGuide]

Awesome, man! Super exciting. What software are you recording into?

[@TheAidenWrestling]

@@TheBandGuide Garage Band. We recorded everything direct. So instruments, Scarlett into GB. Problem we ran into was it was so raw sounding. When I watched you do your 30 steps of recording or whatever it was your mix was fantastic sounded raw but like as if you did it as a concert mix

[@TheBandGuide]

Could you shoot me an email with an mp3 of a rough mix and I'll see if I can give you any tips? [e-mail]

[@TheAidenWrestling]

@@TheBandGuideAbsolutely

[@jonvincentmusic]

Mostly I'm happy with the loudness of my masters, what I *am* tired of is commercial releases being too loud. 'Competitively loud' shouldn't be a thing. I'm happy to lose listeners who skip by my music because it isn't loud enough. One thing you can't restore if it's already been lost is dynamics. How the heck is a climax supposed to hit hard if there's just nowhere further to take it. The reason music generally just sounded better 30-40 years ago wasn't the writing, it was the production.

[@TheBandGuide]

I agree completely with some commercial releases being too loud. Many songs going for the peak possible loudness hurts more than it helps. I do think there's a sweet spot where dynamic control helps the master feel fuller and more present with little to no downsides, but when it's a dynamic song that's just being squashed to bits... that's no good. Luckily I'm definitely seeing a trend away from it though. A lot of commercial releases have come out in the last few years at much more conservative levels.

[@terrykennedy-lares8840]

I haven't worked with LUFS yet. What I've been doing is bringing my RMS standard up to hitting in the 12's as you mentioned in one of your earlier videos. This seems to be giving me consistancy of volume and it seems loud enough. But I haven't got to the stage of attempting to get my stuff on any sites as of yet. Do you think this will work? My music ranges from the folk to classic rock genres.

[@TheBandGuide]

As long as you're happy with the results you get, that's all that matters! RMS was the standard for years. I still check it but LUFS have become the main loudness meter. For KZbin uploads, I don't think it's as important to know your exact LUFS, but if you decide to upload to Spotify etc, I would grab Youlean loudness meter (or Logic multimeter if you're using Logic) and at least see what they are.

[@terrykennedy-lares8840]

@@TheBandGuide Thank you.

[@psycowezel948]

Two questions. 1 when I used a limiter on one of my songs to bring up the volume it clipped it which probably means my mix was off but I used bb tubes and it made it sound decent? 2 why does my rms get so high when I get my lufs up?

[@TheBandGuide]

Be sure the limiter is the last plugin processing in the chain to avoid clipping. As long as it is, it should catch anything that would peak. By the way- red on the GB/Logic meter isn't necessarily clipping. When mastering, it will show red on the meters- which is why accurate metering in a plugin is important. So maybe it's not actually clipping? In terms of RMS. How how are we talking? Sometimes they are calibrated in a way that throws it off. But generally up to -9 is common

[@psycowezel948]

@@TheBandGuide I use the meter that you recommended for GarageBand and I could hear the clipping or whatever compressing it down when I used the limiter. Especially in the vocals. As for the rms even on an acoustic song with only 2 tracks I’m hitting -3 on my meter and -13 on lufs. My heavy song was like -1 on rms.

[@isoladellerosetv]

very usuefull, as always. But I dindt understand what about the limiter? It should be -1 or we can aim also to 0 or -0.1?

[@TheBandGuide]

Great question- There isn't 100% consensus on this. My current approach (and what most engineers I know do, as well) is to just protect from any intersample peaks with a true peak limiter and the limiter set to -0.3. -0.1 would likely also be safe, but -.3 is my go to for a little extra buffer

[@isoladellerosetv]

@@TheBandGuide thank you so much 💜🤟🏻

[@paggre]

How do you go about measuring LUFS?

[@TheBandGuide]

If you're in GarageBand, grab the free Youlean Loudness Meter plugin. If you're in Logic they have LUFS on the built in "loudness meter" and "multimeter" plugins

[@paggre]

@TheBandGuide awesome thanks! I have presonus but I've been working on garage band lately.