From the course: Audio Mastering Techniques

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Achieving competitive level

Achieving competitive level

From the course: Audio Mastering Techniques

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Achieving competitive level

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The volume level wars really began way back in the vinyl era of the '50s, when it was discovered that if a record played louder than the others on the radio, the listeners will perceive it to be better sounding and make it easier to become a hit as a result. Since then, it's been the job of the mastering engineer to make any song intended for distribution medium like radio as loud as the competition and of course this also applies to situations other than the radio as well, take the iPod, CD changer, or digital music stream. Most artist, producers, and labels certainly don't want one of their releases to play softer than their competitors, because of the perception that it doesn't sound as good if it's not as loud, which is not necessarily the truth. Take a listen to these two song examples. (music playing) Your ear naturally gravitates to the louder one. Now all the listener has to do is turn the volume control up to make them sound the same, but that usually doesn't happen, that's…

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