Your Master Track

[oddstep]

thanks MEMES that's a really clear answer. I spend ages messing around with eq - particularly on drum kits; I like your idea of getting the structure of a track sorted and then once its locked into audio stems start thinking through levels and eq and compression. means that all that mixstuff is dealt with once I know that a track that is worth putting the time into, rather than having the best sounding 4 bar loop ever. cheers.

[evon]

I usually add everything on the master track! However,that is after getting the desired mix and just before mastering to get an idea of what it will sound like eventually. To see if I am on the right track ("track"..umph?)pun intended. If not, I can fix anything in the mix at that stage when I have the opportunity. Of course I shed them all before mastering.I usually render for the mastering stage with nothing on the Master Track.

Usually I use nothing on any track while tracking/writing/arranging but use a limiter (Waves L2) alone on the Master Track while mixing. However, I don't allow the limiter to do any gain reduction. Just use it to boost the gain enough to hear what I am doing when the master is at -6/-12dB.

[memes_33]

Usually I use nothing on any track while tracking/writing/arranging but use a limiter (Waves L2) alone on the Master Track while mixing. However, I don't allow the limiter to do any gain reduction. Just use it to boost the gain enough to hear what I am doing when the master is at -6/-12dB.

not that there is a wrong way to do any of this, but i disagree with this strategy. mixing with a limiter on the master bus and then removing it before bouncing means that you have made all of your mix decisions with the limiter on, and then stripped that factor off at the last minute. every limiter effects the sound more than just with dynamics. i would liken this strategy to mixing with ear plugs in your ears and then sending the master off after you take them out

when you make mix decisions, IMO, you should be monitoring the signal that you will be sending off (in most cases, the master bus) with nothing between the master bus and the monitoring system but cables

[Syncretia]

Thanks memes. I think you're right in most respects. My approach is different though because I find the way you are doing it to slow down my workflow. Although, you're probably doing it the more professional way.

I do my mixing right throughout the creation of the song. I do this mainly for workflow reasons. I find it easier to do the mixing (adding eqs, gains, compressors to each track) throughout the process because once the song is done, the last thing I want to do is sit there for hours going over the song that I've just pumped out. Anyway, everyone has their own apporach so you have to stick to what is comfortable and productive for you.

These days I only put some light compression on the master track. I'm looking in to using a "warmer" because people have told me to do that. But the same people have given me other advice which has turned out to be complete rubbish. That's partly why I opened this thread. I was wondering if putting things like "warmers" on tracks was common practice and exactly what the reason for doing so is.

[kanuck]

Usually I use nothing on any track while tracking/writing/arranging but use a limiter (Waves L2) alone on the Master Track while mixing. However, I don't allow the limiter to do any gain reduction. Just use it to boost the gain enough to hear what I am doing when the master is at -6/-12dB.

not that there is a wrong way to do any of this, but i disagree with this strategy. mixing with a limiter on the master bus and then removing it before bouncing means that you have made all of your mix decisions with the limiter on, and then stripped that factor off at the last minute. every limiter effects the sound more than just with dynamics. i would liken this strategy to mixing with ear plugs in your ears and then sending the master off after you take them out

when you make mix decisions, IMO, you should be monitoring the signal that you will be sending off (in most cases, the master bus) with nothing between the master bus and the monitoring system but cables

agreed.. what's wrong with just pulling down the master fader? limiters affect your sound whether it be light limiting or hard.

[florian_bl]

I use a chain of bypassed plug-ins that I turn on for a short time during production and mixdown to check for certain aspects of a tune:

1. EQ8:

At the end of a mixdown I sometimes notice that a specific frequency range is weaker than it should be. I don't want the mastering engineer to boost it with an EQ since this is only repairing what I did wrong and will most likely change the balance of other sounds too. So I boost it myself on the master channel and have a listen which sounds in the mixdown get affected by this. Now I know the instruments that are strong in this frequency range, bypass the EQ on the master and move to the individual sounds to change the EQs there to taste.

2. Multiband compressor followed by a limiter:

Both create a density that is the same as in other tunes I like. I can get a kind of "preview" how it could sound after mastering and will notice some problems that might appear. One example is that the reverb could be burried underneath other stuff when the tune's dynamic is flat. If a lot of the vibe is created by e.g. a nice long reverb on the clap I can't affort to lose it later. In that case I should create more space in my loop for the tasty reverb decay.

3. Utility plug-in set to mono:

Most of the time during mixdown I spend in mono listening mode. It's easier to focus on overlapping frequency ranges when the brain is not dazed by all the fancy stereo movement. This utility's bypass switch is assigned to a button on my controller to create a hardware mono button for easy handling.

4. EQ3:

As soon as my first loop is finished I check the lows, mids and highs separately by switching the other bands off on the EQ3. A loop has to be round and making sense in all three frequency ranges. If the kick and subbass make a nice groove, the mids are hypnotic but the high end has a weird hole in there when listenend to alone, the whole loop will never really be off the hook in my opinion. The EQ3 is a good tool to check for this before arranging with a mediocre loop and later regretting it.

5. Metering plug-in (peak & rms):

Not much to say about this. I am used to checking rms levels from my previous years in mastering studios and want to see what's going on there. Maybe you don't need this information for your music.

6. Frequency analyzer:

Same as above. If you didn't miss it until now,...

[Syncretia]

Great advice Florian. There are some great habits there that I'm going to get in the habit of implementing myself.

However, you're basically saying that the only real effect you use for pre-mastering is the "Multiband compressor followed by a limiter". Even that, you would take off before you hand it to the mastering engineer right? The other tools are just utilities to help you pinpoint problems in the mix it seems.

[florian_bl]

You are right. The multiband compressor and the limiter are the only sound shaping tools in the master insert chain. And I have these ones turned off too. I just turn them on for 20 seconds every half hour to check what it would sound like on an rms level the same as other mastered tunes.

When mixing in analogue studios a couple years ago I often had very good rack gear available but not enough of it. A Urei 1178 is beautiful on the drum group. But I would like to have one on the kick drum too. And on the snare, the main vox, the bassline,... Then I would mix through a good compressor to glue the sounds together and get the density I wanted. But with nowadays possibilities in DAWs I simply don't feel the need to do this on the master bus any more. I can open the same plug-in on different tracks again and again. There is nothing wrong about compressing the stereo bus if it helps you to get the sound you want too achieve though.

[3dot...]

my template has...
..'flatblaster2' as limiter (I take it off when mixing)..and multiband
+flux 'stereoTool'.. for imaging..
+'span' for visual freqs.. and meters..
+m4l 'kapture' ..cuz it's the best place to put it..

[3dot...]

also... Lives' 'gate'..

[pepezabala]

I have a limiter on the master track. I play a lot live and the limiter is there to avoid clipping when too many channels are on +6db (which happens during our freakouts a lot). There is a loudness war happening on stage too often.

Sometimes I have Henke's grainfreeze on the master as well to do funny breaks.

[memes_33]

also... Lives' 'gate'..

i'll bite- what fer?

[3dot...]

also... Lives' 'gate'..

i'll bite- what fer?

ehmm...glad you asked!!!
as an fx ...sortof like a broken NY compressor
..when I need stuff to get really aggressive and choppy ..I hit the range knob..
it also helps emphasizing transients when used less aggressively ..
etc. etc. ..
also..the way I see it ..a gate is to silence ..the way a limiter is to loudness ..
an extremely responsive brickwalled version of an expander ..
there are some more uses ..but typing from the phone sucks!

[oddstep]

yeah I've used a gate on the master... to mash stuff up live. I've also used ring modulators and choruses. its not mastering though, more chaosing.

[abletony84]

Good thread man keep it up!!

Right now I'm using a Utility + Gain + Compressor + EQ8 on my tracks as channel strips to allow the outputs to be "amplified to a line level" before shit passes on to the master.. On the master I got Multiband Dynamics + EQ8 + Utility + Limiter, all macroed together like my channel strips to provide fine grained control depending on the content.

Who told me this, some RBMA fancypants, I'm not gonna name no names
Why I decided to follow them - let's just say everybody's trying to copy their style!!