#14 What Is Mastering? | With Special Guest Lawrence Biancardi from Alt Mastering

Stokes Sound

Podcast Summary

In this episode, we bring you Lawrence Biancardi, Mastering Engineer at Alt Mastering, to talk about all things mastering.

Lawrence Biancardi has worked alongside artists such as Michelle Revins, Finalist of The Voice Live, and Hunter Hayes, 4X Grammy Nominated US Country Star. Lawrence is also a distant relative of virtuoso pianist and composer, Frederic Chopin.

Today, you’ll hear about in and out of the box mastering, Lawrence’s mastering process, using compression, using limiters, delivering mastered files, mastering for film and streaming, and hear the three things that Lawrence wishes he’d known sooner.

Episode Timestamps

• [00:51] About Lawrence.
• [03:55] What is mastering?
• [05:27] In or out of the box mastering?
• [06:05] Lawrence’s process.
• [12:18] Lawrence’s routing setup.
• [16:12] Compression.
• [22:57] Limiters.
• [27:19] What is the right ceiling?
• [31:50] File delivery.
• [32:55] Dithering.
• [33:25] Differences in sample rates.
• [36:19] Meters for streaming.
• [39:08] Mastering for film.
• [41:05] Mastering an EP.
• [45:20] Mix bus vs mastering.
• [49:04] Three things Lawrence wishes he’d known sooner.

Notable Quotes

• “Audio mastering is essentially the last creative step in finishing a song.”
• “You can make a record sound worse.”
• “You can apply what you want to a track as long as it sounds good.”
• “The less friction you have with people, the better experience they have with you, and the more likely they’ll come back as customers.”
• “Your connection with people is what matters the most.”

Connect with Lawrence

Email:[e-mail].

Website:www.altmastering.com.

SoundCloud:Lawrence Biancardi.

LinkedIn:Lawrence Biancardi.

Instagram:@altmastering.

@l_biancardi.

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