Finagle My Song · Blog
Mixing, mastering & loudness — straight answers
No fluff. Real measurements and real mechanisms, from the tool that analyses your mix.
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I ran 43 real mixes through my own analyzer. It said 42 were bass-heavy.
Percentage-based mix analysis told almost every real mix it was bass-heavy with a thin top end — and hid a genuinely harsh one. What went wrong, what real mixes actually measure, and what to trust in any analyzer.
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Why two masters at the same LUFS can feel completely different
Two masters can read the same LUFS and hit completely differently. Crest factor — the gap between peak and average level — explains the punch that loudness meters miss.
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The MP3 ghost hiding in your "WAV" file
A WAV file only proves the container is lossless. If the audio went through an MP3 upstream, the missing top end is gone for good — here is how to spot it and what to do.
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Why your bassline disappears on a phone speaker
Phone speakers, laptops, and Bluetooth speakers sum stereo to mono. If your low end is out of phase between channels, it cancels — and disappears. Here is how to check for it and fix it.
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Why your -9 LUFS master comes out at -11
You set -9 and the file measures -11. True-peak safety runs last and claws back roughly 2 dB on dense material — so the louder target costs you dynamics and returns no loudness.
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Limiter vs clipper for loud masters
Limiters and clippers make the loudness trade differently. Here's why the transparent, safe choice is usually what flattens a loud master — measured on a real track.
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Can ChatGPT master your song? I measured what it actually does
I mastered one track with ChatGPT twice and measured everything. Here is what an LLM that cannot hear actually does to your audio — and where it falls down.
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What is DR — and why Spotify doesn't care how loud your master is
Dynamic range (DR) explained for producers: what it measures, why loudness normalisation makes it matter more than peak level, and how to read it on your own tracks.
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Why your master sounds worse than your mix
Your master came back louder but flatter and harsher than your mix. Here is what over-processing does to a track — and how to tell if it has happened to yours.
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How loud should my master be for Spotify? (The -14 LUFS myth)
The "-14 LUFS rule" for Spotify is a myth. Here is what Spotify loudness normalisation actually does to your master — and what to target instead.
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