Music & Audio Advice Mixing and Mastering Fundamentals 3

Question 1

What does the 'ratio' setting on a compressor determine?

Accepted Answer

How much the signal above the threshold is reduced

Answer

A ratio of 4:1 means for every 4 dB over the threshold, only 1 dB passes through.

Question 2

What is parallel compression?

Accepted Answer

Blending a heavily compressed copy with the dry signal

Answer

Parallel compression mixes a squashed duplicate under the original to add density while keeping dynamics.

Question 3

In mastering, what does a limiter primarily do?

Accepted Answer

Prevents the signal from exceeding a set ceiling while increasing loudness

Answer

A brickwall limiter caps peaks at a ceiling so you can raise overall loudness without clipping.

Question 4

What does LUFS measure?

Accepted Answer

Perceived loudness over time

Answer

LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale) quantifies perceived loudness, the standard for streaming normalization.

Question 5

Why do streaming services often normalize tracks to around -14 LUFS?

Accepted Answer

To deliver consistent perceived loudness across songs

Answer

Loudness normalization keeps playback levels consistent so listeners don't adjust volume between tracks.

Music & Audio Advice Practice Test