Ep. 2: Level Talk with Rachel Field

The Truth About Recording & Mixing

Welcome to episode 2 of the Truth About Recording And Mixing hosted by Crackle & Pop!'s Johnny Sangster. This week's episode features mastering engineer Rachel Field for a discussion about mastering, vinyl in the current day, levels for streaming audio and the need for more women in audio.

1:00 - examples of phase discrepancies from a recent drum recording at Crackle & Pop!

6:25 - Listener topics - Zoom’s “original audio” feature

8:00 - Listener topic - beginner recordist & condenser mics

11:15 - Welcome Rachel Field / observations when listening to vinyl

15:20 - a little history on the loudness wars and what’s happening today with streaming.

21:40 - brickwall limiting and how that affects vinyl cutting

24:35 - Rachel’s mastering chain, box by box.

31:35 - which first, level or tone?

35:15 - using analog tape in the mastering chain

37:40 - recent projects in the mastering studio

39:50 - advice for the home recordists / mixers

45:20 - listener question about using spectrum analyzers

49:00 - listener question on navigating the mastering process and more on standards from streaming services. More info on what the various streaming platforms are doing to process files.

1:03:00 - why aren’t there more women engineers & producers? Resources for women in audio.

1:08:30 - more about Rachel’s path from student to engineer.

Submit your questions for Johnny by sending us a voice memo or email to [email protected].

The Truth About Recording & Mixing is a bi-weekly podcast produced by the Fretboard Journal magazine, loosely based on our Truth About Vintage Amps Q&A podcast.

www.johnnysangster.com www.cracklepopstudio.com www.fretboardjournal.com