Limiting and compression
Having dealt with some of the tonal aspects of your track, let’s now turn our attention over to dynamic levels and compression
Have you ever been stood in a noisy location, struggling to be heard as you have a conversation, and found yourself shouting? It’s really no surprise that the advertising industry has been employing the exact same tactic for years when it comes to selling us their products in the media. You may notice that when television or radio adverts, or even podcast and
YouTube ads, present themselves, they appear to be louder than the content that you tuned in to hear/see. In other words, the advertisers are shouting just that little bit louder, to get their point across.
The more volume-sensitive individuals among us might have noticed that this increase in volume is not just a literal increase in sound levels. It is actually a squashing of the dynamic range of the advert, in order to metaphorically tap us on the shoulder, and drive the point loudly home. This can be achieved through the use of compression and limiting, both of which are among the core weapons in the armoury of a mastering engineer.