Anti Loudness Loudness Club

@mickey.nox
@412dreamer
@iamflvve

Welcome to the anti-loudness loudness club, where each morning while I get things set up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering, and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Today is is R U OK Day, an initiative run by a national suicide prevention charity here in Australia.

According to research done by the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University here in Melbourne, Australia, a survey of 1,304 of people working in the music industry and live performing arts showed that 59% have experienced suicidal thoughts.

It's important that we help each other and ourselves. If you're struggling, don't hesitate to reach out for support.

and A CONVERSATION CAN CHANGE A LIFE, reach out to others and ask, R U OK? Listen, encourage action and check in.

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

What time in the morning did you finish your session?
How much takeout did you slam down?
What number of coffees are you up to now?
All these concessions we make for working harder and longer for what?
It's not just me, but many of us have felt the weight of anxiety, stress, and health issues.
But what’s the alternative?
Working less? Losing jobs?
Trying to find this balance can feel like a never-ending struggle, like a see-saw that never levels out.
Over the past five years, I’ve formed habits at the studio to help me with this, which we’ll go over.

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

When Ed Thorne and Paul, third from Working Audio Tools, proposed the idea of a 3-way mix-off, I was immediately on board. However, when I first heard the stems, I couldn't help but doubt myself and my skills.

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

By understanding that no mix has a predefined path, you make yourself available to steer mixes toward your client's vision. This involves actively listening to your client's feedback, making adjustments that align with their preferences, and communicating effectively about the changes you're making. This is how you get clients singing your praises at the end of a project.

Unfortunately, mixing engineers' most significant challenges often unlocks the best-sounding records and the happiest clients, providing valuable learning opportunities that can motivate you to improve your skills.

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

AI Mixing is here, and I'm excited!

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

I'm going to share why producers and engineers suck at setting their rates.

By learning from these mistakes, you can actively engage in the process of improving your rate structure, which is a crucial step towards turning a profit and growing in this industry.

I've doubled my rates in the past decade, from USD 50 a master to $150 and from USD 200 a mix to $800! The biggest challenges music producers and engineers face when it comes to setting rates are:

1. Fear of losing a job
2. Attracting the wrong clients
3. Sell the wrong things

Don't make mistakes these mistakes; Let's dive into better ways to address each.

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

If you understand how phase, summing and processors interact with the sound of a mix, you'll be able to craft better mixes.

Unfortunately, most people ignore these details and scratch their heads when they can't achieve the sound they want. The biggest challenges are:

1. Sound source phase issues
2. Signal flow phase issues
3. Processing phase issues

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Learning how pro and top-tier mixers secure the best gigs empowers you to apply these strategies in your career.

By grasping the strategies of these mixers, you'll not only enhance your mixing skills but also attract more clients, gain more referrals, and work on more significant projects. This understanding can be a game-changer in your career.

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Today, we will compartmentalise and methodically pick apart the most significant issues to each frequency range of a mix, detailing how to navigate each one!

Suppose you can understand the nuance and limitations and exploit each frequency range. In that case, you'll have a much easier time mixing records that translate and sound great.

Unfortunately, these things are often overlooked, and this oversight can lead to mixers' chasing their tail ', a situation where they are constantly making adjustments but not making any real progress, ultimately compromising the sound of their mix.

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Boom-and-bust cycles in studio work refer to the fluctuating periods of high and low demand for your services. Managing these cycles effectively is the difference between being stuck on a hamster wheel and building and growing a thriving career.

With over 10 years of experience in the music industry, I've navigated through the boom-and-bust cycles, consistently building my studio year after year.

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

It's a common scenario-someone sends work off for mastering, only to realize it needs more work, and more money. I've seen this happen all too often, and it's frustrating to see people having to double-spend.

You'll save money on mastering if you avoid a few critical errors.

This generally happens when;

1. There are unaddressed concerns in the mix
2. Lack of HONEST communication
3. The mastering engineer overpromises and underdelivers
4. Accolade or gear-based hiring
5. Going with the highest prices mastering engineer
6. Going with the lowest prices mastering engineer

Today, we'll delve into the common pitfalls that lead to wasted money on mastering.

Let's dive IN!

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

In today's issue, I'm going to discuss the things people do to get blacklisted in the music industry, to inform and educate you about these potential pitfalls.

Unfortunately, most people don't exercise self-awareness and control when they get themselves in trouble. But by being self-aware, you can avoid these pitfalls and stay on the path to success.

The biggest things people do to get blacklisted are;

1. Talk shit about other people
2. Don't follow through with promises
3. Politics, religion and money
4. Poaching
5. Gaslighting

By avoiding these negative behaviours and embracing positive ones such as humility, reliability, open-mindedness, respect, and responsibility, you'll be inspired and motivated to build positive relationships and successfully pursue a career as an engineer.

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

In today's issue, I will share my game plan that will guide me in enhancing my mixes over the next six months. This plan is not just a roadmap for me, but a shared journey that I invite you to be a part of.

By honing in on my weak points in mixing, I'm not just aiming to bridge the gap in critical areas, but also to open myself up to new knowledge and skills that I can aspire to work on in the future.

These pain points in my mixes create mental blocks and workflow blocks that often lead to frustration and can slow down the mixing process.

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

1. Work
2. Relationships
3. Marketing

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

You'll build value that compounds for years to come

And Remember:

It's what value you can bring to others.
Not what value can you get out of them.

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

I'm sharing five simple practices that transformed my mixes and may change yours.

1. Listening at low volumes
2. Throwing faders in mono
3. Manually balancing each bass note
4. Using low-end fundamentals
5. Parallel stacks for vocals

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

I'm going to share 3 skills successful mastering engineers actively embrace

If you can build up each of these skills, you'll exponentially improve your work as a mastering engineer.

The problem is that these skills are notoriously under-rated when discussing “successful mastering”

I've spent over a decade building these skills up; They are

1. People skills
2. Tech-knowledge
3. The power of No 

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

What I’d do if I had to mix a song in record time. 1 Hour. and DONE

By exploring this thought exercise, we’ll objectively examine how to improve efficiency and effectiveness in mixing.

Unfortunately, most people tackle mixing as a bunch of fragmented tasks, which all end up chewing up efficiencies to get to a great-sounding mix because they’re stop-starting the progress of the mix as they jump from one to the next.

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

I'm going to talk about building a network vs burning a network in the context building relationships that help grow your career

If you can understand the subtle difference between the two, you'll build a good reputation amongst your peers, open up doors to new opportunities and get more work in the door at the studio

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

If you can understand the subtle differences of dynamic compression, you'll make better mastering decisions, prevent yourself chasing your tail in mastering and ultimately have better sounding masters

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

One of our prime responsibilities in mastering is to produce masters that streams faithfully and doesn’t sound wildly different when it leaves your studio.

Unfortunately, most people miss the “small” details and nuance when it comes to this topic.

So I’m going to one-by-one discuss in context from what I believe are the most important aspects to focus on when producing masters for streaming and socials.

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

By following these techniques on every master, you achieve objective improvements which is how you get the best sounding masters

Unfortunately, most people skip these steps, and spend countless hours chasing their tail doing things the hard way.

1. Level matching and the different types of level matching
2. Gain staging processors and the different types of gain staging processors
3. Monitoring the delta and what to listen for.

Let’s dive in!

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

In a world of “quick business hacks” I'm going to walk through 3 tasks that have been slow, consistent and a necessity to the growth of my studio. And this approach will be solely focused on long-term success not quick fast hacks.

If you master these 3 tasks, you'll ensure you’re covering the based for a health studio business.

Unfortunately, most people skip consistent focus on these arenas in lieu of the “quick cash grab”

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Today I’m going to share with you a listening exercise i’ve been doing at the start of each mastering session to prime and calibrate my ears.

By recognising particular noise curves and variations of them, you’ll strengthen your ability to identify and recognise anomalies in passages of audio.

Unfortunately I’ve never done exercises like this before and aural training is something we often neglect.

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

By knowing what to listen for, you can objectively assess mixes before mastering, which is how you ensure you get the best sounding records

Unfortunately, most people listen blindly without a checklist and often go back having missed things that otherwise might have been picked up if they had a consistent formula.

This list is broken up into the following

1. Audible distortion / artefacts
2. Low end translation
3. Energy balance
4. Mid range balance
5. Tonal Shape
6. Dynamic composition
7. Stereo field
8. Sibilance

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Unfortunately, 808’s are hard because it’s sub frequencies are long waveforms both addative and subtractive in the synthesis of the 808 and the way it interacts with other elements.

But by following this my 808s always sound massive by;

1. setting consistent levels
2. managing tone
3. controlling it’s interaction with the mix

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

Today on my calendar, I have 3 mixes with notes to update. This is squeezed in alongside a fully booked schedule and I’d be lying if I didn’t say this can be overwhelming.

But there are a few things I’ve learnt which helps me meet revision requests, keep things organised, as well as satisfy my clients needs.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t always this easy, because a busy schedule, with ego, and the stresses of visiting a project you otherwise thought should be finished isn’t always a recipe for a clear mindset.

So I’m going to address what I think are the biggest challenges when it comes to mix revisions.

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter

I've got a vinyl mastering project lined up to work through today and it’s always fun to revisit some of the practical considerations we make in the process.

I’ll detail simple steps, that if you follow will make your cutting engineers life a breeze.

Unfortunately, most people are copy-cutting dribs and drabs of advice on vinyl mastering blindly without context.

So i’ll be sure to share proven tactics that help achieve great sounding masters for vinyl and those will be;

1. How we consider side lengths and sequencing
2. Managing levels between tracks 
3. Excursion
4. Width
5. Velocity
6. Assembly of files
7. References and documenting

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Welcome to the anti loudness loudness club; where each morning while I get things set-up at the studio, I share commentary on mixing, mastering and running a studio that services around 1,000 projects per year!

Join here - Panoramamastering.com/newsletter