Studio credit
Elephant Audio
Audio production · Sound design · Music production
LahorePKEngineering sound since 2018
Guides
The answers before the brief.
Written for the people who commission audio rather than the people who make it — producers, agency teams and brand marketers deciding what to ask for, what it should cost, and what has to be in the file before it goes to air. No sales pitch, and no answer that only works if you hire us.
01Delivery referenceBroadcast and Streaming Loudness Specs for Commercials
-24 LKFS, -23 LUFS and -27 LKFS: which number your spot has to hit — and why Spotify's -14 LUFS is not one of them.
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02DefinitionsSonic Branding, Audio Branding and Sonic Logos
The terms get used interchangeably and they are not the same thing. What each one covers, and which one you are actually buying.
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03Buyer checklistWhat to Ask For From an Audio Post House
The deliverables list to put in the purchase order, and the four questions that decide whether a late change costs an afternoon or a re-record.
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04Decision guideCustom Music or Library Music for Your Campaign
When a library track is the right answer, when it is not, and the rights question that decides more of this than the creative one.
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05Buyer guideHow to Brief a Composer for a Commercial
What a composer needs from you, how to use reference tracks without accidentally ordering a copy, and the one line that changes the price.
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06Cost referenceWhat Custom Music for a Commercial Costs
The variables that move a quote far more than the length of the music, and how to get quotes you can actually compare.
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07How it worksWorking With an Overseas Audio Studio
The time-zone arithmetic, what an overnight turnaround actually buys you, and the two things that genuinely are harder from nine hours away.
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08Buyer's guideHow to Choose a Recording Studio in Pakistan
What to check before booking a studio in Lahore, Karachi or Islamabad — and the questions that separate a room from a service.
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09Buyer's guideWhat Music Production Actually Costs
Not a rate card — the seven things that move the number, so you can scope a budget before you ask anyone for a quote.
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10Streaming referenceIs My Song Too Loud for Spotify?
Spotify never rejects a loud master. It turns it down to −14 LUFS — here is what that costs, and when a quiet master cannot be lifted.
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11Listening setupHow to Tell If Your Speakers Are Out of Phase
Thin bass and a vague, wide centre usually mean one speaker's wires are swapped. How to hear it, confirm it in a minute, and fix it.
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12Listening setupHow to Test Speakers and Headphones
Six checks that find the faults people actually have — a dead side, swapped channels, reversed polarity, a rattle, a missing top end — and what each result means.
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13Working with a studioWhat to Send a Sound Designer
The handover that decides whether audio post runs smoothly: locked picture, the right export, separated production sound, and where the piece is going.
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14Working with a composerSpotting a Film for Score: Deciding Where Music Goes
The session where a director and composer decide which scenes get music, where each cue starts and stops, and what it is doing. The decisions that cost the most if made late.
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15Episodic productionAudio for a Series: Delivering a Season, Not an Episode
Sixty episodes is not one job done sixty times. Why each episode is measured on its own, why the M&E decides whether the series can be sold abroad, and what a phone speaker changes.
Read the guideStill not sure what to ask for?
Describe the project in plain terms. We’ll tell you what it needs, including when the answer is that you need less than you thought.
Not sure which of these applies to your project? Sound design, scoring, mixing and mastering.
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