Mixing Music for TV

[CHRIS AIKEN]

I know this is going to vary from country to country and perhaps station to station.

But how loud (in Lufs) do people generally mix music made for a tv broadcast?

I've heard some stuff I've done broadcast that was around -13 lufs and it sounded too compressed.

So whats a safe level to aim for so the station compressors/limiters don't kill it too much?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Chris

[EarHole]

Are you the last stop or is it going to a mixer to add SFX & Dialog and get mixed. Here in the US, it's -24LKFS so you're music would be way too hot.
I find composers mix hot and I alway have to bring it down significantly.

If you're the final stop and doing the mix, you need to mix to whatever specs you get based on where it's going to air.

[CHRIS AIKEN]

I'm submitting mixes for the show someone else is doing the final mixing.

To be more clear it's a music show...basically singers lip synching to the mix. So the music is the feature...no dialog at that moment.

Thanks!
Chris

[BScout]

Mix to what sounds good.

Don't compress at all if you don't need it/want it (ie, compress if it is part of the sound but not just to make it louder.) You aren't making an album. Let the re-recording mixer decide if any compression is necessary verses tying his/her hands.

[Leverson]

As others have mentioned, in the US the loudness spec for broadcast is -24lkfs average, I believe Europe is -23lkfs. So know that is what your average loudness will be aiming at and mix appropriately.

You don't have to be exactly on spec, that will be the mixers job, but know what you are aiming for as it'll help you make it sound good. Remember that TV and film allow you to have dynamic range, which mastered music doesn't really. Dynamics are wonderful!

When I get music from composers it's usually a little hot and I adjust it down, that's no problem. It kills me though when I see music come in that is mastered like it's for radio. I end up turning it way down so it plays nicely with the broadcast specs but you loose all those wonderful dynamics that way and you have all this empty headroom and it does a disservice to the tracks.

[noiseboyuk]

Personally, I honestly don't care what the music is mixed to, its kinda irrelevant to me. Commercial tracks are of course routinely used, and these are super-hot. Turning the gain down is at the extreme low end of the trivial scale in mixing. (side issue - I always keep low gain music and SFX tracks in my projects to make a trivial job even more trivial, at -8db and -14db levels just to get it sort of nearer the correct ballpark without me touching anything at all).

That said, if there's a chance that your show isn't getting a proper dub and you're reliant on an editor to mix the sound, it might be a good idea to get it in the right ballpark. Nightmares do happen - have heard real world tales of of editors who slap huge dynamics on the entire show to make it hit Loudness specs. So you might want to add your own tasteful compression and / or limiting, and get it to hit roughly the right LUFS for your region. It shouldn't matter, but just in case...

[Henchman]

Calibrate your monitors.
If it's a feature, mix it at 85 and have it sound right to your ears.
If it's a TV show, mix it at 79.

And as others have said, don't over compress it like a CD.

[TVPostSound]

Originally Posted by Henchman

Calibrate your monitors.
If it's a feature, mix it at 85 and have it sound right to your ears.
If it's a TV show, mix it at 79.

And as others have said, don't over compress it like a CD.

Agree!!

Im so tired of slammed over compressed music at 0dBFS.
Pull down 25dB to work with dialogue, and theres absolutely no life in the music.