Final mastering chain

[lilsensa]

Re: Final mastering chain

True. Nice avatar, btw.

[jeffrey collins]

Re: Final mastering chain

One thing in particular I do (and you'll hear many other producers do it too) is to play the track in your car stereo. You always know if things sound good or not in there. It'll really help you to hear things better than on your computer monitors. As sometimes these expensive speakers make you hear things that cheaper speakers won't let you hear. And if it sounds good in my Bose stereo in my car. It's gonna sound great in a club. I did my track Pountek that way and I went back and forth a few times tweaking one sound, and then running back in to tweak another. It didn't take long because I knew what I needed to do. I also make sure never to brickwall limit the track. It destroys a lot of the dynamics in your music. I do put a final compressor on my mix...but NOT a limiter and I make sure it is just slightly bouncing into the 0db realm.

Dynamics are important to music.

[danielRR]

Re: Final mastering chain

Really no limiting on the final mix ? I know over limiting is to be avoided but I assumed most people put some sort of limiting on the end. Interesting. Dynamics are in fact important... over limited tracks just sound like a wall of sound. Really unpleasant to the ear.

[jeffrey collins]

Re: Final mastering chain

you can get really great and LOUD sounding mixes by just using regular compression and not pushing the limiter up to the edge. Next time I get on Ableton I'll make a screen capture of what I used on my last track.

[ONDRAY]

Re: Final mastering chain

Hey DanielRR, don't get to caught up on plugins, anything is better then what was used 4 years ago and great tunes were made, just make a killer loop and arrangement and you're 80% there. Basic cubase, pro tools or logic plugins can get the job done. However, there's always better so check out Sonolksis, ozone and T-Racks for starters.

As for the chain. I'd forget about the 30Hz cut, bad , bad.. never cut (also never say never). I find a shelf gentle or hard works better, at higher freq works too. For example, maybe just a -6bd/oct shelf down 9db at 40hz or a bessel cut at 20hz. Today I did a -3db/oct shelf at -6db starting from 60Hz, that's what was needed.

Another key point to a mastering chain is that you want to cut eq more then boost. try cutting out any nasty freq. before compressing, and if needed add/boost the good freq. with eq after compression. That way your not exciting the shitty frequencies.

Also, before limiting or compression, you may want to cut your track up into sections and lower the quiet parts down a few db so when the limiter or compressor takes action, your quiet parts stay Quiet and when the kick and bass come back in, it's more of a BANG.

good luck man

[diegoff]

Re: Final mastering chain

something else I experienced: the tracks that are not very compressed (no use of limiter, i.e.) are the ones that sound much better when played loud, in a big PA. imo, dynamic range is very important.

[danielRR]

Re: Final mastering chain

Excellent info. Thank you.

I often try to get some stereo spread in my mixes by panning individual parts or using sample delays for example, but how about using 'stereo spreader' plug ins on the final mastering chain ? I don't really understand how they work, does anybody use these ?

[jeffrey collins]

Re: Final mastering chain

I'd never use a stereo expander on a master track. Only on a send that I wanna use for certain sounds.

As for cutting the low end. I don't worry about it. It really only matters for cutting vinyl, and about 99% of the time these days your track isn't going to see vinyl.

[danielRR]

Re: Final mastering chain

Very informative article on EQing

http://audio.tutsplus.com/tutorials/mixing-mastering/3d-mixing-part-3-equalization/

[lilsensa]

Re: Final mastering chain

^^Awesome article. Thanks Daniel.

[diegoff]

Re: Final mastering chain

stereo spreaders? I donīt use them for mastering. It works better for me panning the different tracks, and setting the parameters of the reverbs for more stereo ehancing (i.e. diffusion, damping, eq)