Mastering

Nick and I edit the plays and I'll master them, which is basically balancing levels.  

He used to supply me on DAT, but now Nick has a standalone CD-Writer, he just records a track per episode, and then I can use this window system file (link), but it doesn't work on all machines, it might lock up, so you have to keep a backup of the system file.  If it works, when you put an audio CD in the tray, it opens up the track in a subfolder in explorer, with the tracks as WAV files, so I can just drag and drop files straight off of audio CDs. 

So Nick gives me the CD which I can just import directly as a WAV file in cakewalk.  Once it's in there I go over it with a fine toothcomb, I apply a light overall compression to all of it and balance the levels.

Meters

I have a set of Broadcast meters, PPM (peak programme meters), which are different from VU meters, VU meters are rather slow and give an average level reading but PPM meters respond much quicker, in much the same way as we hear to sound, they have a very fast response time, and a slow fallback time.

So when you do get a transient clip you've got a chance to see it before the needle falls back  When I see the sound becoming too loud, I use the vectors in cakewalk to pull the level down, the compression also helps, and makes it sound more transparent. 

Once I've done that I put the entire play through the L1 limiter, which basically turns the whole level of the CD up by 3.7 dbs without clipping, so when you play it on CD you get nice healthy levels.

When we did cassettes, I'd do a different mix, it's quieter, as the cassettes couldn't handle the dynamic range, I would hard limit it for the cassettes, so it couldn't go above a certain level. Whereas I allow slightly more dynamic range for the CDs, and I'd also stereo enhance it, so it sounds wider, but it depends on the play.

If the scene has people that are way hard right and way hard left, I won't put it through the process because it exaggerates this separation. It can sound horrible on headphones, when you've just got the voice of an actor in one ear, and nothing in the other.

Sirens of Time

Today, as we're doing another pressing of Sirens of Time, I've got that on my machine at the moment, because Nick was never happy with the levels on that.  He felt that it was generally a tad quiet, and then when it does get loud, it is so loud in comparison, so again I'm riding the levels.