How to measure LUFS (Integrated) for a song you're working on

It’s important to know how loud the things we’re making are. Are we sending music out into the world that’s way too loud? Way too quiet? It’s a basic variable to have under your control.

And here’s how you can measure it!

First: download this plugin. It's a free metering plugin that will help you see what the levels are doing in your song!

Put it after the limiter — you want the meters to reflect the results of the limiting.

Here is the manual for the plugin; go to page 4 and follow the instructions to set it up to measure Integral¹ / LUFS 9. It's just a couple of mouse clicks.

LUFS stands for Loudness Units Full Scale, which is a way of measuring how loud your song is on average over its duration (this is what Integrated means). You can search the Jamie's list archive for "LUFS" to read more detailed thoughts about how that works, if you're interested.

To use this plugin: once you have it set up to measure LUFS (I) 9, go to the beginning of your song, and hit play, and let it play all the way through. You will see the LUFS (I) number integrating over the course of the song in real time, and when you get to the end of the song, the LUFS number below the meter is the loudness measurement for the song!

This is AWESOME, because it gives you control — actual, numerical, measurable control — over the loudness of the songs you're putting out into the world. It will feel like you have a superpower! 🦸🏻‍♀️

To negative infinity (and beyond) — jamie

1. This plugin is German; native English speakers more commonly say “Integrated,” which is how you’ll more often see it referred to in other plugins.