I made it a habbit to check out every episode of certain podcasts. These are amongst them and this list is in no particular order. This is not a top 5 ranking!!! I don't seek out to do that here. But of course, as a mastering engineer, I will put the mastering podcast first for because... :)
...hosted by Ian Shepherd and Jon Tidey
I'm a big fan of Ian Shepherd's school of thought to preserve dynamic range over "unnecessary" loudness. The keyword here is "unnecessary". The decisions made in mastering processing should depend on the sound of the song after the mastering processing. If it sounds good and suits the song, we're good! I think we can all agree on that. But if there is wiggle room for the mastering engineer to decide a song will be either (a) excessively loud or (b) retain a healthy dynamic range, Ian will argue that excessive loudness sacrifices sound quality. I completely agree with that. Over the course of his podcast episodes he will explain why.
Ian is also the founder of Dynamic Range Day, a decade old annual event:
"The 'Loudness War' is built on the idea that 'louder is better'. However this concept is fatally flawed. The goal of Dynamic Range Day is to reveal this flaw and spread an alternative message:
Dynamic music sounds better"
This podcast is targeting mastering professionals and amateurs alike and Ian is making an effort to inform about what he deems important to know and to explain the terms, concepts or matters that he deems complicated. I learned a few things over the years, but for myself (as for many professionals) this podcast is more important as a means to learn another professional's opinion. I like that a lot. I like to learn about other professional's opinions. On the podcast you can learn about all things mastering, like file formats, bit depth, sample rate, dithering, loudness/restrictions/target levels, compression, EQing, analog and digital and so on...
...with Lij Shaw
His words: Listen to Recording Studio Rockstars, the podcast from inside the studio. I created this show so we can learn from the pros and share their tips and tricks. So that you can be a Rockstar of the studio yourself!
Lij Shaw, dives into all kinds of music studio/production related topics with legends like Andrew Scheps, George Massenburg, Steve Albini, Michael Beinhorn or Vance Powell, Bob Ludwig and many more. But he is also presenting us professional audio-workers which are not as legendary...at least not yet.
It is some of those people that I learned some good tricks from. His podcast is aiming for those who want to become "rockstars of the studio" themselves, in whatever position they desire. I believe this podcast is instering to upcoming audio engineers as well as musicians. Lij, in his own inviting and open way, explores his guest's experiences, their failures, their successes, their philosophies, their work environments and in the second part of the show (called Jam Session) they go through the guest's specific techniques.
Lij also offers free courses/free multitracks to learn mixing and mastering yourself and even include the results in your own portfolio.
...hosted by Matt Boudreau
His words: Working Class Audio (WCA) delves into the world behind recording engineers. It goes way beyond the typical “What was it like to work with” or “What is the best eq to use on a kick drum” style questions typical of most recording engineer interviews. WCA gets up close and personal with engineers and asks the questions no one else asks. Business practices, mistakes, equipment choices, financial advice, work life balance, recording workflow, and family life are topics that are all on the table. WCA doesn’t just concentrate on the elite of the recording world, but instead interviews a combination of known and unknown engineers.
Matt Boudreau runs this podcast for interviews with producers, audio engineers and broadcast or live sound engineers. Matt seems to be a very humble man and open about his career successes and his career failures and he teases these ups and downs out of his interview partners as well. His stories and the stories of his interviewees (that is a word!) are authentic and taken from the daily lifes of audio professionals. When I start one of these episodes, I'm instantly sucked into a feeling of comfort and cozyness by his intro words, "grab your coffee cups friends and let's talk about..."
Youtube // Website // Facebook // Matt Boudreau // LinkedIn
(Matt is explicitly welcoming everybody to connect to him on LinkedIn)
...hosted by Warren Huart
Produce Like A Pro is predominantly a Youtube Channel (here) and a forum/academy for professional and amateur producers, mixers, (home) studio owners alike, to get online courses, downloadable multi tracks for mixing and a great community of people who share projects, work and feedback.
The Youtube channel offers Q&As with Warren, interviews and Warren also shares how he produces, records and mixes bands or solo artists. Besides the Youtube thing, his interviews also go on the audio podcast, which is available on all audio podcast platforms like Stitcher, iTunes, etc...
From the moment I first saw Warren Huart answer a few "fan-question", I realized that there is something about him and his humble ways that resonates with me. For a multi-platium producer, he shows no sign of an ego and he comes across with a deep love for music and for producing/engineering it.
If you like learning about other producers, recordists, mixing or mastering engineers, gear manufacturers and creatives in the music industry, you will love his interviews and studio tours and very likely also his passionate style of sharing his tricks. ...which by the way are catered to a home studio audience and to budgets that don't include vintage tube compressors and signature equalizers, preamps or huge sound boards.
...hosted by Brian Hood and Chris Graham
I discovered this podcats a few years ago, at a time when I began to take my mastering studio serious as a real business opportunity and when I began to really see myself as an entrepreneur. Technically I was an entrepreneur before - being an artist and a freelancing live sound and mastering engineer - I just didn't have that entrepreneurial mindset, a mindset that now helps me to run and grow an economically sustainable studio.
I gained a lot of good information and ideas particularly from their first 20-30 episodes. From organizing the business and it's projects/clients better, to what values I bring to the table, to pricing, to marketing and about different ways of thinking and of steering a studio business. I also enjoyed learning about and reading some of the books that inspired both hosts, Chris and Graham, two very successful entrepreneurs. Something else this podcast tought me is that running a business and seeing myself as a business owner, doesn't mean I'm the "bad capitalist guy"...I can very confidently say that I am not :)
If you run a professional studio project (or want to), I recommend to start from episode #1 with this podcast and at least check out the first 15 before skipping through to hit specific episodes.
...hosted by Dallas Taylor
His words:
"The stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds."
I just came across this two months ago. It's an amazingly well produced podcast that is informative and entertaining in its own way. I heard about this from Ian Shepherd on his own podcast, The Mastering Show, where Ian said he was a guest on this podcast. This podcast is about sounds and sound ideas (all kinds), what role they play in our life/society and why.
Other audio podcasts which I do check out often:
The Attack & Release Show, hosted by Sam Moses and Matthew Garber
Tape Op Podcast, hosted by Larry Crane
Music Production Podcast, hosted by Brian Funk
MasterYourMix Podcast, hosted by Mike Indovina
Unstoppable Recording Machine Podcast, hosted by Eyal Levi
SonicScoop Podcast, hosted by Justin Colletti
Any questions ? Hit me up at anti.logic@gmx.de or use the contact form.
Until next time.
Yours truly
Author: Robert Hundt // Date: December 16th, 2019