Radio Master Spectrum With Har-Bal

If you are looking for advice on how to use Har-Bal best, or you have some tips of your own, post them here!
Post Reply
Bracelet Z
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:12 pm
Location: LT

Radio Master Spectrum With Har-Bal

Post by Bracelet Z »

Hello.

I have a perfectly balanced mix. Would it be better to make a special spectrum for Radios? Which frequencies should I boost or Cut?

Thank you!

Sincerely,
Bracelet Z
HarBal
Site Admin
Posts: 761
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2004 8:18 pm
Contact:

Post by HarBal »

I personally don't see the need for it. Radio stations being radio stations will use broadcast air chains to alter it any way so I don't think you will gain much there. The only thing I'd recommend is that if you have made a loud master (higher than -9dB average re.full scale sine) then make a soft one for radio. Air chain compression along with flattened loud mixes tends to sound small and lifeless and sometimes distorted.

Cheers,


Paavo.
Bracelet Z
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:12 pm
Location: LT

Post by Bracelet Z »

Thank you, Paavo.

But would it be better for radios if I boosted 2 or 3 dB let's say from 2000 Hz to 6000 Hz. How to balance the spectrum of a song to make it sound loud or louder on the radios?

Thank you!

Sincerely,
Bracelet Z
har-bal
Site Admin
Posts: 647
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 8:00 pm
Location: Atlanta/Australia
Contact:

Post by har-bal »

Bracelet Z wrote:Thank you, Paavo.

But would it be better for radios if I boosted 2 or 3 dB let's say from 2000 Hz to 6000 Hz. How to balance the spectrum of a song to make it sound loud or louder on the radios?

Thank you!

Sincerely,
Bracelet Z


Bracelet Z

It is not necessary to boost these frequencies. Radio stations have their own audio chain, as a matter of fact the master you give to a radio station would be ideal if it is not loud at all. This way when the song is played on the radio the dynamics are present and the song sounds fantastic.
Try and keep the rms level no louder than -15dBs

Please read this article below and it will clear up any misconceptions.

http://www.omniaaudio.com/tech/mastering.htm

I always master the radio editions at a much lower volume than the versions that are to be played in the clubs. We usually call these versions "Promo copies".

Cheers

Earle
Bracelet Z
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:12 pm
Location: LT

Post by Bracelet Z »

Thank you, Earle.

It's clear and I know how to prepare my music for radios now.

But let's say I have only a loud, an old master -10dB. Is it a good idea to lower its volume peaks to -3dB? I mean output -3 not -0.1. Would my too loud master sound better then on the radio?

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Bracelet Z
har-bal
Site Admin
Posts: 647
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 8:00 pm
Location: Atlanta/Australia
Contact:

Post by har-bal »

Bracelet Z wrote:Thank you, Earle.

It's clear and I know how to prepare my music for radios now.

But let's say I have only a loud, an old master -10dB. Is it a good idea to lower its volume peaks to -3dB? I mean output -3 not -0.1. Would my too loud master sound better then on the radio?

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Bracelet Z


Lowering the volume won't solve the problem where there is an absence of dynamics. Removing the overall compression will solve this issue. You can always use a technique called upward compression to re-introduce the dynamics. 'The problem is when a track is too loud and then played on the radio it actually sounds lifeless, not louder.

See here http://www.gersic.com/static.php?page=s ... 421-224837

Only give them your loud track if you have absolutely no other choice.

Cheers

Earle
Bracelet Z
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:12 pm
Location: LT

Post by Bracelet Z »

Interesting:)

Is this a good product? Good quality?


Sincerely,
Bracelet Z
uncajesse
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:53 am

Post by uncajesse »

Also to go more into your question about if you should EQ up certain frequency ranges... That won't do anything because of the way radio processing works. The only thing it might do is cause your limiter (if you're using one) to over-act on that range...

Now in some cases that can be a good thing.

You CAN bias how a track will sound on a radio processor by controlling the peak to average ratio within a frequency range. That's how you can give your song a specific character on the radio. But as Earle was saying, there isn't a need for it, and personally I don't recommend it.

But taking the knowledge of this one step further, with some skill and very careful listening, and with visual feedback from Har-Bal to help you learn to hear this... You can use band-pass or multi-band expansion on certain frequency ranges to alter the peak to average ratio, so that you don't have a specific range of audio that has too much average level.

This is especially apparent on the radio when it's above like... 1kHz. Partly because many radio stations are already going to be smashing the living daylights out of everything above there, but the radio processor also has to deal with pre-emphasis limiting & clipping, usually multi-band. So that can really kill the SNAP of transients if the average sound is too close to the peak sound.

Some band-limited expanders I've had good luck with fine tuning certain peak/average ratio issues with, are:

Sonalksis CQ1
http://www.sonalksis.com/index.php?section_id=100

Voxengo Transmodder
http://www.voxengo.com/product/tmodder/

And there are others out there, feel free to reply back if you have any luck with them, especially if they are as transparent & good sounding as these. ;)

It also helps a lot to have a knowledge of WHY radio processors are responding to average/peak ratios this way. If you are looking to get serious about creating masters for radio, read yourself up on not only how modern radio processors work, but the history of radio processors. All but the most modern of digital radio processors (like IDT DVP) are only glorified analog circuit emulations anyways, including Omnia 6, and Orban 8500. So at least research the major breakthroughs in radio processing history, at least into the end of the 1980s, and you will understand the basics of HOW radio processors handle average/peak ratio by design, and you will also then be able to recognize peak/average trouble frequencies in a particular track or musical phrase, and how to properly and adequately compensate for them.

I've gotten to the point now where I don't make a different master for any format at all, CD/radio/vinyl/etc, and it seems to be working out great for my clients. Due to my work somehow getting popular in the UK (so far), I usually have 2-3 new tracks I've mastered playing on BBC every week, among other networks. And I haven't had any complaints yet.
Bracelet Z
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:12 pm
Location: LT

Post by Bracelet Z »

Hello.

Oh, great ! Thank you for your post!

Could you write me your email?

My email is:

info@zilvinasrecords.lt


Sincerely,
Bracelet Z
Post Reply