Energy

• Published: 2022-03-09 08:22
• Updated: 2023-02-07 14:40

Context: Sound Design / Sequencing

Energy emerges from the interaction of sound design and sequencing decisions as momentum over time.

Context: Mixing

In the context of mixing, energy determines the relative 'RMS level' of a signal, disregarding the peak headroom to 0dbfs.

What's the difference between 'energy' and 'RMS level'? Without further clarification, 'RMS (level)' is most commonly referred to as absolute measure to 0dbfs in the mastering context.

Why is this differentiation important? Despite sharing a similar set of tools, both focus and goal of mixing and mastering are different.

Mixing is about creating and refining energy (bottom-up), whereas mastering is about containing it (top-down). Whilst sharing similar tools, mixing and mastering have different approaches to using them.

Despite sharing the same tools, mixing and mastering are inherently different processes, serve different purposes and have different goals. The goal of mixing is delivering a

1. Music production is the process of continuous decision making in a complex system of intertwined complex systems: composition, sound design, sampling, arranging, mixing and mastering
2. Each discipline has its own set of tools, strategies and processes
3. On music production, our brains constantly wander between open (creative, playful) and closed (analytic, strategic) modes
4. Each discipline has its own mindset
5. Each mindset has its own tools, processes and strategies