"Mastering" at home, the chain, limiting

[mwlad17]

So let's be honest, a lot of us are just "bedroom producers" having fun making our own music, I know I personally am doing the "mastering" at home before I post/"finish" a song...now granted I'm a super newb, and only have 2 songs posted, but you can (or at least I can) tell the second one is miles better than the first, that's just with better kick samples, one or two synths, etc...my question concerns limiting, as I read on forums and countless posts about "NEVER USE IT TO MAKE A MIX LOUD" but here's the thing...when I'm writing/mixing (kinda do it all in one process) I'm always careful to make sure my track is peaking at about -2 to -3 db, then my extremely EXTREMELY simple mastering chain I know, is a glue compressor, some slight EQ, then the limiter...from what I hear on multiple sources, multiple outputs, headphones/car speakers/even the iphone, the limiter isn't "destroying" my original sound at all...it literally is just making it slightly louder, i.e. at least comparable to "pro" stuff...it's EDM, yes I want it loud, there is dynamic range with some filtering, volume control, sidechaining, etc...I watch the limiter as the track plays too, and it never even comes close to like -6 gain reduction (that apparently a lot people do???) I just have the gain set to basically to a little below the headroom I left...is this completely wrong? I just am not hearing any of these "crackles" or anything like that people talk about...if they're there, that's just part of my white noise on an oscillator of a soft synth...am I just not skilled enough/not experienced enough to understand this, or am I actually using the limiter in a "tasteful" way? my first mix I'll admit, not very good, but the ideas were there...second was MUCH better, and this third one I'm working on is my favorite yet...I just tend to get bogged down in all these "pro audio tips" but what I'm doing seems to be what they say to do with a limiter...

[ZaBong69]

"NEVER USE IT TO MAKE A MIX LOUD"

Ahem... making things a bit louder is what God created limiters for. That and saving your loudspeakers.

You are doing it right. Get a good mix together with 3 to (better) 6db headroom, mix into your Glue (gain reduction of about 3-4db, slow attack, let the needle dance with release time), then raise gain on the Glue so that you shave off 1-2 db with your limiter at peak levels. Always leave at least 0.5db to 1db headroom in the limiter before rendering to MP3 or whatever.

This may not be what some people regard proper mastering, but it also does not kill the dynamics and it raises the levels so that it sounds a bit better and more coherent.

Best,

K

[Tarekith]

Agreed, nothing wrong with approaching it that way at all.

[inkjt510]

Totally agreed that there is nothing wrong with what you're doing - but just remember that tons of people squash the shit out of their music so that it's loud as fuck. you need to temper your expectations in terms of loudness if you want to preserve any semblance of dynamic range, especially if you're trying to compete with most edm tracks you hear nowadays.

(extra credit - read up on the fletcher-munson curve and the loudness war)

[mwlad17]

it's not even so much about competing with them...just that i don't wanna have to blast the speakers if i put on a track of my own after a different track you know? from what I can tell, it seems as though I'm approaching it in at least a mildly gentler way than many people....? that's really my goal and just wanted to know if I was way off base...I don't have the money to spend on decent mastering plugins at this stage but perhaps in the future

[ZaBong69]

I don't have the money to spend on decent mastering plugins at this stage but perhaps in the future

Hi,

a professional producer recently pointed me to Limiter No6 https://vladgsound.wordpress.com/plugins/limiter6/ as the thing he would use. This plugin is actually a sensible mastering chain on its own - starting with a gentle, slow compressor and ending in two peak/brickwall limiters. Give it a try, it's free. Put a nice coloring EQ in front of that (TDR Slick EQ, also free, the German mastering preset is great) for adding a bit of warmth and you should have a very decent chain together already for no money at all.

Best,

K