# Mastering Techniques



## AlexWadeWC (Feb 4, 2011)

I'd like to pick everyones brain about Mastering. It's just something I have recently gotten really interested in. Before I'd just throw Ozone 4 on the Master bus and click the "CD Master" preset and be done with it, which still does ALOT but i've just recently gotten into compressing, eqing, etc. along with Ozone.

So I ask, what are some techniques you use? Tips? How to get that "CD" level of volume and punch with out losing dynamics or over compressing.

Another thing I would like to know is is it better to mix your track, bounce it as a .wav and THEN reimport that .wav back into your DAW for mastering, or is mastering on top of your mix "acceptable" as well, just more CPU heavy? Right now I just master on top of my mixes because I haven't had any CPU problems yet and it just makes it easier to adjust the mix to your master on the fly rather than doing a mix, bouncing, importing, mastering, levels be too high or too low in the mix for the master, go back into the mix, readjust levels, etc. etc.


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## The Reverend (Feb 4, 2011)

AlexWadeWC said:


> I'd like to pick everyones brain about Mastering. It's just something I have recently gotten really interested in.



No shit?  If the clips you've been posting weren't so good, I'd accuse you of spamming!

I can't help you with your specific question, as I do it like you do it, but there are some great stickies in this section that you should check out (if you already haven't).

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/recording-studio/221-know-lots-about-compression.html

Slipperman's Recording Distorted Guitars From Hell

8 Music Mastering Techniques to Make Your CDs Sound Better - Mastering Media Blog

Edit: I know some of these talk about methods you don't use, but hey, knowledge is power, right? There's good tips in here, nonetheless.


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## Taylor2 (Feb 5, 2011)

Hey Alex,


My mastering technique is quite a bit more intricate.

You have to treat mastering in the same sense as you treat mixing.
It's just as difficult, and requires the same amount of detail and attention.

What I do, is bounce the normal track dry into a .wav.
Then I create a new project, and import the track to it.

I then do all the mastering I need to, and bounce it to a high-quality .MP3.


In my mastering chain I use Ozone as well. However, I go about it differently then you do.

Start off like so :


Loudness Maximizer : Set the Threshold to -0.1, change the mode to Intelligent II and the character to 'fast and loud'.

Then move over to the 'Multiband Dynamics'. Make it so there is only one band that it's dealing with. Then set the band gain to 5.0. That's all I do.

Then, play with the 'Input and Output' on the right hand side until you get it as close as 0.0 as you would like.
Too much and you will have zero dynamics.
Too little and it wont be brickwalled. Which isn't a bad thing.

This is pretty general, so experiment.
Play with the EQ as desired.
I rarely touch the Exciter or the Reverb.


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## TreWatson (Feb 5, 2011)

monarch was a bad example because i actually had someone else master my mixes and he squashed it and drowned it in reverb.

i suppose that's the price of "Free" right?

in my actual mastering work, i use a volume maximizer (i never push anything above + or -1) and gently push the volume a little harder. i usually mix dull to accomodate cymbal shimmer so in mastering i'll raise the 3-5 Khz area and slope off everything below 30 Hz

I use a very weak reverb (at about 11 or so) i usually solo the signal just to kind of pick up the cymbals and the mid and high-end of the guitars, the low end generally sounds better tight and without extra boom going on.

stereo imaging, i tend to put the high end up by 2 and the highmids up at 0.1 to kind of give the guitars their own breathing room.

i tend to avoid exciters altogether.

for the multiband, i ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS make it a gentle compression. i'll push the low end SLIGHTLY harder than everything else, just enough to get my mix to sound and feel a little more "together" than before.

in the end i pull out an outside stereo expander and push it to about 1.33 just enough to give it some room without hollowing the middle.

that's just my process.

if i can help any more, let me know.

EDIT: this is all ozone 4 as well.


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## Razzy (Feb 5, 2011)

I'm posting in this thread so I can find it later.


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## AlexWadeWC (Feb 5, 2011)

Awesome info guys, thanks!

Right now my master bus in Logic is as follows:

-Channel EQ (slight dips in low mids to tighten things up, 5k shelf boost for presence)
-Multipress (2 db gain make up on the 5-20k shelf)
-Ozone 4 (CD Master setting)
-EZ Mix (Master 1 setting, which includes an EQ, Transient, Tape Simulator, Compressor, and Limiter all in one setting. I feel like the EZ Mix stuff is like the "mixing for dummies" presets hahaha but that mastering setting really does make everything sound fucking massive, i suggest trying it.)
-Then finally a Compressor with a final limiter set it -1.0 db

It's alot of stuff going on but when I compare my mixes/masters to commercial CDs it still isn't loud enough, I don't know how to get it any louder without clipping or adding distortion and I think my shit is already ready REALLY fucking loud haha.


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## AlexWadeWC (Feb 5, 2011)

Sweet bot post dewd.


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## Taylor2 (Feb 5, 2011)

That's a whole lotta compression going on.

Seriously Alex, give my example a shot and see how it goes.
It got recommended to me when I was doing the same thing you were, with multiple compressors and EQ's.
Then I tried it and loved it.


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## Kurkkuviipale (Feb 5, 2011)

Thanks a lot for all the information on this thread. I've always sucked on mastering and these tips sure gave me a good start to get helluva better!

I'm also gonna throw my own contribution in the thread. If my authority ever matters. 

I've noticed that you can get a hell of a nice punch to your master with one awesome (and rather costy if you're not using reaper) VST plugin. It's the Bombardier by Stillwell. (Bombardier | Stillwell Audio - It&#039;s About The Sound) Try out the demo and see if you like it. For immediate results I'd suggest you to try out the Peak Control presets, but with further tweaking you'll get even more balanced results.


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## Frozmoh (Feb 5, 2011)

My chain is as follows
Limiter
EQ
Multicomp
Nomad factory "magnetic" 
Ozone 4 but just EQ

A clip with that mastering.
But as usual i differs from what genre i mix.

Burnrate - Vibrator by frozmoh on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

//F


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## MakewayforMan (Feb 5, 2011)

AlexWadeWC said:


> It's alot of stuff going on but when I compare my mixes/masters to commercial CDs it still isn't loud enough, I don't know how to get it any louder without clipping or adding distortion and I think my shit is already ready REALLY fucking loud haha.



Alex,

I was having the same problem. Your mixes sound far superior to mine, but in regards to the actual _loudness, _I would suggest playing around with this little technique as it has gotten my mixes _louder._ It's not so much a mastering technique but just makes the mix you have actually louder in volume.

Take the track you have mixed to your liking, then export it to a .wav file. Now open a new project in the DAW and import the file. Now duplicate the track, so you actually have two of the file tracks in the DAW. Throw a limiter on the master channel and set it to -.1 to avoid the inevitable clipping that would occur. Take a listen, and that thing will be much louder! It will compare to the loudness of commercial cds when you listen in the car.
Also, you don't get any noticeable loss to the original mix. 

Hope this helps!


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## Tree (Feb 5, 2011)

I'm a little surprised this hasn't been brought up yet, but how much headroom do you leave, or think should be left, before you mix down the .wav to be mastered? I typically leave between 6-12 dB, though I'm a noob so that could be bad


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## ChuckLee (Feb 5, 2011)

you should try the ozone 4 plug-in, it literally changed my life in mastering


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## Kurkkuviipale (Feb 5, 2011)

I've read somewhere (oh this is a trustworthy source) that -3dB would be around the most effective in the terms of reducing noise. (I guess?)


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## Mattayus (Feb 5, 2011)

Good mixing requires less mastering. I think people who throw on a thousand and one processes on a master chain are doing it out of a sense of duty and/or habit rather than necessity, and probably aren't aware of what half of it is doing to their music.

Don't ever use presets unless it's just to get a ball-park feel. There is no one-size-fits-all master process that will work effectively.

Less is more: Ask yourself what your mix needs, would benefit from, and could do without.

Always audition processes within a mix. Throw a compressor on the master bus and see how it effects your snare transients, the guitar/bass relationship, the click in the kick and so on, and adjust your mix accordingly.

You don't need to crush the fuck out of anything to get it louder. Mix it loud, but mix it _dynamic_.

A good mix should never need a great deal of EQ. Think of it like polishing a car off a production line. It shouldn't need any extra work as you should have got it balanced in the first place. A little high end sparkle and a very low hi-pass will do the track justice in the majority of cases.

Always always always always always CLIP your mix. It's a limiting process that won't kill transients. Use more than one clipper of necessary, maybe one at the start of the chain and another later in the chain. It also enables you to gradually get it louder without any of that horrific frequency separation most loud mixes fall victim to.

Don't over-think it, and most importantly *DON'T RELY ON IT*. Mixing is where the magic happens, mastering is just polishing it for presentation.


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## AlexWadeWC (Feb 5, 2011)

Mattayus said:


> Good mixing requires less mastering. I think people who throw on a thousand and one processes on a master chain are doing it out of a sense of duty and/or habit rather than necessity, and probably aren't aware of what half of it is doing to their music.
> 
> Don't ever use presets unless it's just to get a ball-park feel. There is no one-size-fits-all master process that will work effectively.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the tips man, I was reading around on the andy sneap forums last night and learn about clippers, I'm trying to find a good download for the t-racks classic clipper (broke musician haha )


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## AlexWadeWC (Feb 5, 2011)

MakewayforMan said:


> Alex,
> 
> I was having the same problem. Your mixes sound far superior to mine, but in regards to the actual _loudness, _I would suggest playing around with this little technique as it has gotten my mixes _louder._ It's not so much a mastering technique but just makes the mix you have actually louder in volume.
> 
> ...



Wow never though of that, will have to try it, thanks man!


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## Scar Symmetry (Feb 5, 2011)

I love this thread.


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## DVRP (Feb 5, 2011)

Scar Symmetry said:


> I love this thread.



Agreed


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## keshav (Feb 5, 2011)

The biggest problem with brickwall limiters is that, as opposed to a clipper which gently tames your transients, a limiter will punch a hole in your mix at that point, pushing the transient and everything else down - including all the crucial mix elements under it. Needless to say, it sounds ugly.

As mentioned, less is more. Get your source right. If you want to play it safe, track and mix your instruments a tad on the dull side. Adding tops from your master EQ to a dull track sounds far, far better than reducing tops from an overly bright mix. Why? When you capture any instrument with a microphone, you're not just capturing the instrument but also how it reacts to your room, or "air". Adding tops to a dull track livens up that air as well, leading to a nice vibrant sound. Cutting highs from a bright track just sounds like you've put a blanket over your mix.


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## Mattayus (Feb 5, 2011)

AlexWadeWC said:


> Thanks for the tips man, I was reading around on the andy sneap forums last night and learn about clippers, I'm trying to find a good download for the t-racks classic clipper (broke musician haha )



Np dude.
If you can't get T-Racks, I highly recommend G-Clip. It's free, and just as powerful a tool.


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## AlexWadeWC (Feb 5, 2011)

Sticky thread?! Hahaha I'd love if Misha came in here and gave some tips on what he does for mastering


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## KoenDercksen (Feb 5, 2011)

AlexWadeWC said:


> Sticky thread?! Hahaha I'd love if Misha came in here and gave some tips on what he does for mastering


 
Haha that'd be awesome wouldn't it?


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## MakewayforMan (Feb 5, 2011)

AlexWadeWC said:


> Right now my master bus in Logic is as follows:
> 
> -Channel EQ (slight dips in low mids to tighten things up, 5k shelf boost for presence)
> -Multipress (2 db gain make up on the 5-20k shelf)
> ...



Dude I fucking love it. Every time I read an Alex thread my mixes get better. So the only thing I had been using on my master bus in Nuendo was an eq. After reading this, i decided to throw on a multiband compressor and screw around with it for a while. WOW! Just that alone made my mix sound so much bigger. 

When I tried experimenting by adding Ozone tho it really just overloaded everything. When I applied it afterwords on the mixed down, doubled track with limiter (as mentioned earlier) it just sounded too crushed. 

I LOVE the sound with just the multicomp and eq tho!

Havent screwed around with EZmix but I've got it, might have to give it a try. 

And some people will say the limiter takes away from the sound, but I disagree. Your ear doesn't pick up any freqs it limits, imho. But to each his own


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## Mattayus (Feb 5, 2011)

AlexWadeWC said:


> Sticky thread?! Hahaha I'd love if Misha came in here and gave some tips on what he does for mastering



Oh that's easy dude, he just uses one of these...


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## Kurkkuviipale (Feb 5, 2011)

Mattayus said:


> Oh that's easy dude, he just uses one of these...





BTW, this thread is full of win.


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## TheSilentWater (Feb 5, 2011)

I, too, love this thread.


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## The Omega Experiment (Feb 5, 2011)

Mattayus said:


> Good mixing requires less mastering. I think people who throw on a thousand and one processes on a master chain are doing it out of a sense of duty and/or habit rather than necessity, and probably aren't aware of what half of it is doing to their music.
> 
> Don't ever use presets unless it's just to get a ball-park feel. There is no one-size-fits-all master process that will work effectively.
> 
> ...



+1 across the board


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## The Omega Experiment (Feb 5, 2011)

I also agree with the comment about leaving headroom. It makes for a much cleaner and smooth mix. Volume will happen naturally the better you get at mixing. Mix your song like you want it to sound when it is mastered. Mastering IS an intensive process to get right, but it SHOULD be about less is more. If you have to cake a bunch of plugs on the master to get it sounding decent, or loud...you should probably re-mix. 

I use Ozone in a seperate project file, on the master track. I only use the multi-band dynamics section, and generally compress around -10 in the 65-400hz range...maybe more or less depending on song. Also, I will bring up somewhere around the 10-18k range if it needs any sizzle, but I usually try take care of that in the actual mix. I've found it also really clears things up to just get rid of frequencies in my mix that I'm not going to use. Like, proper low and high cuts. Also, I don't use Ozone's Maximizer. I use L3, which some people think is blasphemy. For my music at least...it sounds uber-smooth. Lastly, I add a master compressor in a buss. It's sort of like parellel compressing, but not. This way...you don't have to squash your entire mix. You can squash the buss mix, and just inch it in and blend with the regular mix until you get a sweet spot. Waves SSL G-buss or API master buss compressors are really good for this sort of thing. Cheers.


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## myucussman (Feb 6, 2011)

This thread is porn for my ears....


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## MakewayforMan (Feb 6, 2011)

The Omega Experiment said:


> I use Ozone in a seperate project file, on the master track. I only use the multi-band dynamics section, and generally compress around -10 in the 65-400hz range...maybe more or less depending on song. Also, I will bring up somewhere around the 10-18k range if it needs any sizzle, but I usually try take care of that in the actual mix. I've found it also really clears things up to just get rid of frequencies in my mix that I'm not going to use. Like, proper low and high cuts. Also, I don't use Ozone's Maximizer. I use L3, which some people think is blasphemy. For my music at least...it sounds uber-smooth. Lastly, I add a master compressor in a buss. It's sort of like parellel compressing, but not. This way...you don't have to squash your entire mix. You can squash the buss mix, and just inch it in and blend with the regular mix until you get a sweet spot. Waves SSL G-buss or API master buss compressors are really good for this sort of thing. Cheers.



Definitely going to play around with this. I love the idea of the master compression bus. One thought: wouldn't using Ozone on the seperate master track be almost the same as using Ozone on the master channel in the mix, though? I can see how it would save some CPU, and obviously you are then adding your mutipress after the mixdown has occurred, but isn't it basically the same other than that? Just a thought. 

Oh, and I too would love to donkey punch this thread.


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## The Omega Experiment (Feb 6, 2011)

MakewayforMan said:


> Definitely going to play around with this. I love the idea of the master compression bus. One thought: wouldn't using Ozone on the seperate master track be almost the same as using Ozone on the master channel in the mix, though? I can see how it would save some CPU, and obviously you are then adding your mutipress after the mixdown has occurred, but isn't it basically the same other than that? Just a thought.
> 
> Oh, and I too would love to donkey punch this thread.



I suppose...I just like to save CPU I guess, and maybe it's an OCD thing of seeing my wave form before it gets touched with anything.


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## illimmigrant (Feb 7, 2011)

Lots of info on this thread.
I'm new to mastering, and I most definitely cannot get my levels up to par with commercial CD's. That's my biggest issue


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## Mattayus (Feb 7, 2011)

My biggest advice to you then would be to stop trying, at least for now. Get stuck into mixing, editing, processing, anything else that helps audio come alive, and just get good at getting a really well balanced wholesome mix.

You will probably find in a few weeks/months time that your mixes will naturally have the ability to be raised in volume, simply because you learned more about how to not eat up too much headroom. Don't make loudness the biggest priority for mastering, and just get it sounding great whatever the volume!


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## thedrummerkid (Feb 7, 2011)

This is a great threard! I'm definitely going to try these out when I get home..
possibly before and after examples?


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## Sacha (Feb 7, 2011)

Your loudness potential really comes from the mix, and from being able to hear what's going on. Hi-pass and low pass filters where needed keep tracks from eating up headroom with useless frequencies you don't need. 

Your general EQ makes a huge difference too (obviously), the crucial midrange is where the ear is most sensitive so you have to balance the mids just right. Sometimes a bit of saturation (distortion) can help with making this area more audible without taking up more headroom by adding harmonics.

Compression is another key area of course, limiting your dynamic range can help you push the overall level. However too much / wrong kind of compression can make your stereo image narrower and your overall mix sound small and pumpy.

Strategic clipping can be useful to help preserve your snare transients but like anything it comes with a trade-off, make sure you listen and decide if it's worth it for you. 

The Ozone limiter is great, you could also check out Slate Digital's mastering processor which can be pretty transparent on some mixes IMO.


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## DVRP (Feb 7, 2011)

So how much headroom should I be leaving approximately? I usually leave about -8db but sometimes feel like I should be leaving more. 

Only just getting into mastering now finally. Pretty stoked to get into all this! This thread rules.


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## Triple7 (Feb 7, 2011)

This thread has proved very helpful.


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## Kurkkuviipale (Feb 7, 2011)

Sacha said:


> Your loudness potential really comes from the mix, and from being able to hear what's going on. Hi-pass and low pass filters where needed keep tracks from eating up headroom with useless frequencies you don't need.



That's a real eye opener there. Thank. You.


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## AlexWadeWC (Feb 8, 2011)

Just dropping in a tip that I learned today. Forgive me if I sound noob-ish but I just learned about "stereo spreading" on the master and holy mother of god does it make a difference. It's like it takes every piece of the mix and says "this is your spot, now stand here and be heard instead of running around meshing with each other you dumbasses".

The website I was reading said this:

"Sometimes some light stereo enhancement can go a long way in the mastering process. Of course, dont apply this as a rule of thumb as every tracks requirements are different.&#8232;&#8232;There are a many different available processors for this purpose, so choose a plug-in that suits your needs.
Here you can see Logic Pro 8s Stereo Spread. Whatever you choose to use, remember to only spread the upper frequencies of your mix, leaving the lower end of the spectrum intact. Otherwise, you will end up with a confused low-end mix and the master will not translate well to other systems."

and here's the example setting they gave for any other Logic users like myself:





The guitars separated better which uncovered the vocals, tom rolls sounded insane rolling from left to right in my headphones, it just gave the music more room to well... spread hahaha, everything just seems to have it's on place now instead of fighting for space in the mix!

Like I said sorry for sounding noob-y but.... it just made my masters sound ssooo much better.


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## Plankis (Feb 8, 2011)

That will introduce phase issues instead. Sum it to mono and check it for yourself.


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## AlexWadeWC (Feb 8, 2011)

Are you saying it will phase when it's monoed? or just easier to hear the phase? Doesn't seem like it would be a concern because if I was bouncing a mono master that'd be a whole other problem haha. I don't hear any phasing right now, it's just a slight spread


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## Plankis (Feb 8, 2011)

It basically does the fake doubletracking trick. Maybe a bit more subtle but that's it. You can get the same spread by going back to the mix and eq a bit differently. 

And strangely enough all good sounding productions sounds just as good in mono. 
It's a good way of checking if there are any fighting frequencies, instrument levels and more. I think my mixes has gotten a lot better since I started checking in mono.


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## AlexWadeWC (Feb 8, 2011)

Plankis said:


> It basically does the fake doubletracking trick. Maybe a bit more subtle but that's it. You can get the same spread by going back to the mix and eq a bit differently.
> 
> And strangely enough all good sounding productions sounds just as good in mono.
> It's a good way of checking if there are any fighting frequencies, instrument levels and more. I think my mixes has gotten a lot better since I started checking in mono.



Hmmm i'll have to try the mono trick then!


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## AlexWadeWC (Feb 8, 2011)

yeah I just read up more on it and everyone is pretty much saying it's a big no no... that if you want your master bigger and wider to pan your instruments that way in the mix. But my question is like, my guitars are hard left and hard right, and before I used the stereo spread i never noticed anything wrong but then when I used it it felt like the guitars slid out left and right farther and made the vocals a lot more clear because they weren't in the way, so how would i get the same effect without the stereo spread because i can't pan the guitars anymore left and right in the mixer hahaha.

And it also made the drums sound huge too.... so i dunno, the mastering gurus act like it's satans spawn of plug-ins but i think it sounds awesome ? then again what do i know hahahaha.


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## sebby123 (Feb 8, 2011)

AlexWadeWC said:


> yeah I just read up more on it and everyone is pretty much saying it's a big no no... that if you want your master bigger and wider to pan your instruments that way in the mix. But my question is like, my guitars are hard left and hard right, and before I used the stereo spread i never noticed anything wrong but then when I used it it felt like the guitars slid out left and right farther and made the vocals a lot more clear because they weren't in the way, so how would i get the same effect without the stereo spread because i can't pan the guitars anymore left and right in the mixer hahaha.
> 
> And it also made the drums sound huge too.... so i dunno, the mastering gurus act like it's satans spawn of plug-ins but i think it sounds awesome ? then again what do i know hahahaha.



as for vocals sitting and guitars try cutting a very small amount around 1k-2.5k on guitars this will carve a a pocket for vocals to sit better also hi passing higher then you are used will make your bass fill in and make your guitars sound bigger and the same goes for bass and drums. i rarley use any frequency under 60hz as its just adds noise and flub, your punch lies in the 60hz-250hz range.
you may know all this but it will make your mastering job easier!
hope im not feeding info you already know.

Cheers


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## GinoBambino54 (Feb 8, 2011)

what i normally do is mix with my mastering chain running aswell, so that way theres no suprised when it hits the final stage,

best advice is to use a bus compressor on the mix, ssl works nicely but any compressor could work, get a 2:1 ratio goin, 10ms attack with auto release, 4-6 dec. gain reduction

then use ozone to master it, i only use the limiter nothing else, slight eq maybe in the mids area to clean up the mix, and of course using high and low pass/filters where appropriate is allways helpful

your mix should be pretty damn awesome, mastering should really only get you the loudness and nothing else.


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## Nats (Feb 8, 2011)

EQ to cut the super low and super high crap.

Multi band compressor to tame anything that jumps out. Even though I don't really know how to use it that effectively.

Limiter to bring up volume.


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## PTP (Feb 8, 2011)

*MOD EDIT: Piracy is not tolerated on here. Cya back in 2 weeks. *


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## illimmigrant (Feb 8, 2011)

GinoBambino54 said:


> what i normally do is mix with my mastering chain running aswell, so that way theres no suprised when it hits the final stage,
> 
> best advice is to use a bus compressor on the mix, ssl works nicely but any compressor could work, get a 2:1 ratio goin, 10ms attack with auto release, 4-6 dec. gain reduction
> 
> ...


 

This might sound a bit retarded, but I have to ask because I am not used to the recording "lingo" and English is my second language, as undoubtedly hinted at by my user name ...

What do you mean by "bus" compressor? If I understand correctly, what you're saying is, you can "stream" a combination of all of your tracks through just one audio track (or "bus" I'm guessing), put a compressor on it and then, as you playback your recording, you can tweak your individual tracks and hear the difference in the compressed bus without having to do a mixdown of you tracks first???

Is this making sense? If it is what I think, then it sounds like a really good idea, as you do eliminate the surprises.

Also, which DAW do you use? I only have Cubase 5, no external vst's or any other mixing or mastering software, but i assume putting a compressor and a limiter in Cubase is no different from a comressor and a limiter in Ozone... they are what they are, right?


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## Kurkkuviipale (Feb 8, 2011)

Ozone is a VST used for mastering purposes.

The bussing is called "A Group Channel" in Cubase.

The difference between Cubases compressor and Ozones compressor is that Ozones compressor is made for mastering purposes, Cubases inbuilt compressor is made for general use.

Master bus (press F3 in Cubase and check channel named "stereo out") is a bus channel that sums all your individual tracks together. It's basically the thing that you hear out of your speakers. You may add your whole mastering chain to the master bus, but unfortunately you can't use Cubases inbuilt EQ (in the master bus track) as it comes after the chain and not before it. Remember to add a limiter to the last piece in the chain to eliminate clipping and to make the mix go loud.

IMO you should never actually mix with your master chain applied. You can check things, like if the drum transients are going wild or something, but never make changes with the mastering chain applied. Always go back to mix and fix the source.


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## TreWatson (Feb 8, 2011)

Kurkkuviipale said:


> Ozone is a VST used for mastering purposes.
> 
> The bussing is called "A Group Channel" in Cubase.
> 
> ...


i agree completely.

i mix with NOTHING on my master chain, and send my mix out to a blank project, where i add ozone

also, dont send a mp3 to master. bad idea.


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## Kurkkuviipale (Feb 8, 2011)

Yep. You're gonna end up with double loss on the data. That's a bad thing 'eh?


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## illimmigrant (Feb 8, 2011)

got it! thanks.
I usually import a wav file of my mix, which is at a pretty low volume into another project as mentioned, and then apply the compressing and limiting there before making the mp3.

Ozone really sounds like it's worth getting, from what I read.


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## Kurkkuviipale (Feb 8, 2011)

Well yea that's what I do when I'm doing kind of a "final master" to a song. Like someone else mentioned in this thread, it's nice to kinda see that your waveform is healthy before applying anything to it.

Fast mixes can go with the usual mastering chain... (Bombardier->Ozone with the settings that Taylor mentioned)


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## Taylor2 (Feb 8, 2011)

Ozone is a fantastic plugin. Very powerful.

When I am mastering, I only use Ozone, I don't need anything else.

For anyone who is going to become more serious, regardless if it is professional or not, Ozone is a great tool to have.


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## Kurkkuviipale (Feb 8, 2011)

Yep, I could definitely go only Ozone, but Bombardier is just a handy compressor and adds a freaking metal punch to the sound.


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## -Nolly- (Feb 8, 2011)

AlexWadeWC said:


> yeah I just read up more on it and everyone is pretty much saying it's a big no no... that if you want your master bigger and wider to pan your instruments that way in the mix. But my question is like, my guitars are hard left and hard right, and before I used the stereo spread i never noticed anything wrong but then when I used it it felt like the guitars slid out left and right farther and made the vocals a lot more clear because they weren't in the way, so how would i get the same effect without the stereo spread because i can't pan the guitars anymore left and right in the mixer hahaha.
> 
> And it also made the drums sound huge too.... so i dunno, the mastering gurus act like it's satans spawn of plug-ins but i think it sounds awesome ? then again what do i know hahahaha.



Apply the stereo spreader to the rhythm guitar bus and you'll be fine. Do check in mono though, as Plankis says.


As far tips, this is an amazing tool: 
Bombardier | Stillwell Audio - It&#039;s About The Sound
A couple of instances of that with some well-chosen RMS values and you'll smooth your transients very naturally so your limiter can do a nice and transparent job of expanding. Reading the manual is an absolute must to understand how to use it effectively though.


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## Splees (Feb 9, 2011)

You're on Logic, right? 
Get yourself some airwindows plugs. More specifically NC17. I used ozone before and it always seemed kind of plasticy. If you want loudness, nc17 will most definitely help you get there the cleanest/cheapest way possible. You can even use it on busses. works great on drums. I haven't tried guitars yet. 

You'll be golden as long as you have a good mix.


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## Scar Symmetry (Feb 9, 2011)

...and now I love this thread even more.


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## Customisbetter (Feb 28, 2011)

I'm going to hop in this thread with my work for today...

This is my remix for the Chimp Spanner competition. Skip to :35-40 for the beef.

Straight mix with no master bus.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7987807/TMMIX.mp3

Here is my little Master

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7987807/TMMAster.mp3


And here is my slight mastering changes. PRetty much tweaked the "broadcast ready" setting in Logic...












Here is the mix and the master wave forms...







Any thoughts on my results? Its not super loud but I don't think I've compromised the headroom much.


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## Heineken (Mar 1, 2011)

Great thread, good to see some new tricks I haven't used yet!!


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## Josh BTE (Apr 19, 2011)

Yo Alex!

Any chance we might see a Whitechapel song up for mixing? Or in this case a remix?


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## Antenna (Apr 19, 2011)

Why do people bump threads this old to say little things like that. 
Just fuckin PM him guy.


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## kamello (May 21, 2013)

Massive Bumpity, but I think that anyone getting into recording should read this (come on, atleast 4 guys voted sticky ), I had no clue about in what consisted the mastering process so this thread was a extremely useful  

also, we don't have any mastering Sticky


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## Rook (May 21, 2013)

Necrobumping






You're doing it right.


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