0:01

Hey , inside the Mix podcast fans

0:03

, it's Kai with Valley Lights from Los

0:05

Angeles , california . Find

0:07

me on Instagram , spotify and wherever

0:10

you get your music you are listening

0:12

to Inside the Mix podcast

0:14

. Now here's your host with the most

0:16

, mr Mark Matthews

0:18

.

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Hello and welcome to the Inside the Mix podcast

0:21

. I'm Mark Matthews , your host

0:23

, musician , producer and mix and mastering

0:25

engineer . You come to the right place if

0:28

you want to know more about your favorite synth music

0:30

artists , music engineering and production

0:32

, songwriting and the music industry

0:34

. I've been writing , producing , mixing and mastering

0:37

music for over 15 years and I want to share

0:39

what I've learned with you . Hello

0:41

, folks , and welcome back to the Inside the

0:43

Mix podcast . If you are a new listener

0:46

, please do hit that subscribe button and

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if you're watching on YouTube , also hit that notification

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bell so you can get notified of new episodes

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and also when we go live . And

0:55

if you are a returning listener , a big welcome

0:58

back . So at the time of recording

1:00

this , which is approximately the beginning

1:02

of August , I am trying to

1:04

book a holiday at the end of August

1:06

somewhere in the sun . So we're talking like mainland

1:08

Europe or somewhere Southern Europe

1:11

. I want to get a bit of sun because , living in the

1:13

UK , it's been pretty drab since June

1:15

, but I've totally forgot that it is

1:17

an absolute mission to book

1:19

a holiday at a reasonable

1:21

price in August . I should

1:23

know , being an ex teacher , that this time

1:25

is super expensive . So at the time

1:27

this podcast goes live , which will be the

1:30

first or second week of September . It's

1:32

episode 104 , hopefully

1:34

I would have returned from

1:36

a very sunny holiday , fingers crossed

1:38

folks . So in this episode

1:40

we'll be diving deep into the captivating

1:43

world of sound dynamics . We'll be

1:45

exploring the intriguing journey of the

1:47

art of dynamic range as it's put

1:49

by my mastering hero , bob

1:51

Katz , in the amazing book Mastering

1:54

Audio . So we'll define the concept

1:57

of dynamic range and further divide it into

1:59

both micro dynamics and macro

2:01

dynamics . Then we'll explore

2:04

macro dynamics and how we can manipulate

2:06

it using gain riding , also

2:08

known as clip gain . So let's dive in . So

2:10

what is dynamic range ? Dynamic

2:12

range is the difference between the loudest

2:15

and the softest passages

2:17

of a body of music . It's not to

2:19

be confused with loudness or absolute

2:21

level and it is critical in a body

2:23

of music to composers , artists

2:26

, mix engineers and mastering engineers . Popular

2:28

music's dynamic range is typically six

2:31

to 10 dB , but it can be

2:33

as little as one dB or as

2:35

great as 15 dB , but

2:37

that is extremely rare . So we

2:39

can further divide dynamics into micro

2:41

dynamics and macro dynamics . So

2:44

we have macro dynamics , and that is the loudness

2:46

difference between sections of a song

2:48

or a song cycle , crescendos

2:51

and decrescendos and we can use

2:53

manual gain riding to

2:55

manipulate macro dynamics . And

2:57

then we have micro dynamics , the

3:00

music's rhythmic expression , integrity

3:02

, all bounce , to quote Bob Katz . So

3:05

dynamic processes , compressors and expanders

3:07

are best for micro dynamic manipulation

3:10

. Then we could drill down further into the four

3:12

types of dynamic compression . So

3:14

we've got compression , in terms of upward

3:16

compression and downward compression , and then

3:18

we've got expansion , in terms of upward

3:20

expansion and downward expansion . So

3:22

the focus of this episode is macro dynamics

3:24

and how we can use gain riding and clip

3:26

gain in a DAW or our application

3:29

of choice for mastering to control macro

3:31

dynamics . So let's quickly recap the

3:34

definition of macro dynamics . It is

3:36

the loudness difference between sections

3:38

of a song or song cycle . Remember

3:40

earlier I said crescendo and decrescendos

3:42

. So what we want to do is take the

3:44

dynamic movement of a piece where it wants

3:46

to go . So subtle changes can have

3:49

a really profound impact on where

3:51

you want to take the music where it wants to

3:53

go . Internal level changes as

3:55

little as like 0.5 of a DB can

3:58

be perceived to be less aggressive when compared

4:00

to the use of a compressor . So let's give

4:02

it a go . So here we are , folks back in

4:04

Reaper , and what I'm going to do is I've

4:07

got this performance here , rather this song called Lost

4:09

and Found features our nine and guitar

4:11

I think I've mentioned it before on the podcast and

4:13

we're looking at the intro and what I want to do is

4:15

augment the natural flow , as it were

4:17

, of this intro . So I want to just boost it . So

4:20

I'm in a mastering phase now . I just want to boost

4:22

it by like 0.5 of a DB , moving

4:24

into the first verse

4:26

. But before we do that I actually need to

4:28

turn on clip gain in Reaper . Now this

4:31

is on by default in other DAWs , for example

4:33

Pro Tools and , I think , logic , but in Reaper

4:35

what we need to do is this To turn on clip

4:37

gain , I'm going to go to Reaper at the top

4:39

left settings and then I'm going to

4:41

click on media . I've already got it selected . Now

4:43

the bottom is says item volume handle . Here

4:46

I'm going to select plus zero DB

4:48

is center of item and then

4:50

click apply . Okay , close

4:52

that window . And now I've got this horizontal

4:55

bar in the middle of my audio file

4:57

and I can drag it up and down to adjust the volume

4:59

. There we go clip gain in Reaper . So remember

5:01

, our objective here is to control

5:03

the macro dynamics of this performance . So

5:05

I want to boost this intro by

5:07

about 0.5 of a DB . So let's listen to

5:09

what it sounds like without any processing

5:11

, any sort of critical changes going on

5:14

ot鉱

5:19

Damn Howdy

5:31

. Okay

5:51

. So I really like this track . It's got some really really

5:53

nice guitar going on here . So for the first

5:55

20 seconds I think I just

5:57

want to boost it by about 0.5 over

5:59

dB and then some more instrumentation

6:02

comes in for about another 10 , 15

6:04

seconds and then the drums come in . So

6:06

what I'm probably going to do is stagger

6:08

this clip gain . So for the first

6:10

20 seconds I'm going to put it for

6:12

about 0.5 dB and then , between

6:14

20 seconds to about 35 seconds

6:17

I think it is I'm then going to bring it down by

6:19

a quarter of a dB and then , when the drums

6:21

can come in , I'll bring it back down to 0

6:23

dB . So let's give that a go . So for the audience

6:25

listening , I'm going to split this audio file

6:27

into regions on this track . So I'm going to

6:29

use the Command S and I've got this

6:31

. The playhead set here just

6:33

over 20 seconds , press S and it

6:36

creates a separate clip . Then I'm going

6:38

to do the same again at about 35

6:40

. So I'm just going to move the playhead to there and press

6:42

S . Then what I can do is

6:44

I can come over to this audio region on the left

6:46

here , right at the beginning , the first one and

6:48

I can use clip gain and just boost it by

6:50

0.5 dB . There we go

6:52

, 0.52 . And then the second

6:54

one is approximately

6:57

sort of 22 seconds . I'm just going to

6:59

bring it down or up , rather , to about

7:01

25 . So there we go . That's half

7:03

. And then what ? I've got this . So now , if you're

7:05

watching this on YouTube , you can see the staircase

7:08

, and what this does is it makes it less noticeable

7:10

. So the audience won't . The idea

7:12

is , the audience won't be able to hear . Obviously

7:14

it will be louder as such , but

7:16

the audience won't be able to perceive that step change

7:19

, because I've got this gradual reduction

7:21

in volume . It's really really subtle . So

7:23

let's have a play and see what it sounds like . There

7:57

we go , really

7:59

really subtle , and it might be quite hard to discern , but

8:01

I can assure you it's there and those changes

8:04

aren't noticeable . And to make it even better , what

8:06

you could do is this . Now I often do this If

8:09

you hover over in Reaper and the other DAWs I don't know what

8:11

the command would be and

8:13

I drag to the left . I can actually create fades between the regions just

8:16

to make it even smoother , and

8:18

I think the longer the better here . So I'm just going to create these fades

8:20

going in here and

8:23

I'm just going to go ahead and do this Going

8:25

into these sections , and

8:29

they're approximately what

8:31

have we got there ? Three seconds . So

8:33

let's give it a listen with these fades and see if it sounds any

8:35

better . So I'm not going to play the whole thing , I'll just do

8:37

it from just before where these level changes

8:40

start . Music

8:42

PLAYS OK

8:52

, and we're going to move in . So here's the next change

8:54

MUSIC PLAYS . In

9:01

fact , I think it made it more noticeable . It might be

9:03

my ears , but I'm just going to take them off again

9:05

. So I'm just going to press Ctrl Z to undo

9:07

and I'm just going to play going from

9:09

the second section , the

9:11

second clip , into the main section with

9:13

the drums . Let's have a listen . Music

9:19

PLAYS yeah , I think

9:21

I preferred it without the fade . I think the fades

9:24

really good to use . If you're doing sort of clip

9:26

gain and clip gain manipulation

9:29

like this , I think the longer

9:31

fades probably work better . You might have an intro

9:34

or a bridge section whereby you

9:36

want that really gradual build

9:38

and level and have a much longer fade

9:40

leading into it . In this instance , I think the

9:42

short fade that I've got here doesn't work and

9:45

I'm quite happy with just the really harsh

9:47

and abrupt change of

9:49

cuts that I've made there to this audio region

9:51

. So there we go , folks , really

9:53

simple way , a really simple way

9:56

, rather to manipulate macro

9:58

dynamics using clip gain . So there

10:00

we go , folks macro dynamics and

10:02

how you can use clip gain to control

10:04

the macro dynamics in your

10:06

performance , in your music , in your mastering

10:09

. So what we've done today is this We've

10:11

looked at dynamic range and we defined it the

10:13

difference between the loudest and quietest passages

10:16

in a musical piece . Then we looked at

10:19

the differences between macro and micro

10:21

dynamics okay , and then we drilled

10:23

down further into the four different types of compression

10:26

Expansion , compression upward

10:28

and downward . Then we

10:30

drilled down further into macro dynamics and

10:32

how we can control macro dynamics

10:34

using clip gain , and I showed you how to do

10:36

this in Reaper , using this sort of staircase

10:38

approach to make it less noticeable

10:40

to the listener . So give it a go

10:43

in your next mastering session . Rather

10:45

than jump straight into compression

10:47

, think about how you can manipulate macro

10:49

dynamics using clip gain . Also

10:51

, before I forget , look out for episode 105

10:54

, where we dive back into macro dynamics

10:57

and how we can use upward compression

10:59

rather than clip gain to control

11:01

macro dynamics . But before you go

11:03

head over to synthmusicmasteringcom and

11:06

download my five essential

11:08

free mastering plugins . You

11:11

can also download it by clicking on

11:13

the link in the description .