Guide to Mastering

[AaronDylan]

Hey! Just recognized that i´m killing my mixes with overcompression during the mastering process!

Does anyone have a quick guide for mastering or different step by step suggestions??

What to start with when the mix is finished! And what to be carefull with?

Not asking to learn mastering real fast because that´s impossible!

just some ideas and suggestions please.

im currently using Ozone 4

thx

 

[KBMoser]

yeah well for the most part its generally compression and limiting that will kill a good mix...

http://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=007593470310830667409:4qw46y8lnza

I prefer a simple chain of a compressor and a limiter. with a compresser theres really two (chooes one) effects you can apply to your mix. one is for hard hitting compression, the other is for "glue." if your mix is really dynamic and things pop out, i suggest using a really low threshold and ratio, semi fast attack and a slower release. for the "hard" hitting effect i recommend a higher threshold with a slightly higher ratio.

as with any compression its often over done so youve got to know when too much is too much. your going to hear pumping if youve done this or even a flat dull sound. just because you dont hear the effect that second or in a fast section doesnt mean you need more compression, listen for those pauses and slower sections, thats where it will shine. if you find yourself wanting to take off more than 5 or 6 db than i suggest fixing it in the mix... though there a people who can achieve more gr with analog gear, doubt much of them get those results in fast metal.


as far as a limiter i like to use ozone. i use usually the fastest release time and aim for an rms of -10 to -6. these levels are accomplished by a good balance mix. if you need eq, again i suggest doing it in the mix.

 

[AaronDylan]

thx KBmoser!

Makes sense what you say!

 

[jimwilbourne]

The more I use Ozone, the more I dislike it.
I started off without using Ozone. then I got it. now I'm starting to go back to some of my older plugins & searching for new ones.
for some reason, when I use Ozone, I get too confident and ruin my masters.

 

[Melodeath]

When mastering my own stuff, all I use is a hi-pass at 30Hz, and a limiter (usually FG-X). I mix into compression though, and I get the mix perfect first.

When mastering other peoples stuff I usually toss an EQ in there, and maybe compress. I used to use multi-band compression in mastering, but not anymore. Doesn't seem necessary to me most of the time.

 

[waltz mastering]

Hey! Just recognized that i´m killing my mixes with overcompression during the mastering process!

Does anyone have a quick guide for mastering or different step by step suggestions??

Have you read the guide that comes with Ozone?
http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/guides.html

What to start with when the mix is finished! And what to be carefull with?

Not asking to learn mastering real fast because that´s impossible!

just some ideas and suggestions please.

im currently using Ozone 4

thx

Very basic...Get your eq balances set first, then go for level.

It's easy to be tricked into thinking that just because something is a dB or 6 louder that it sounds better, when in actuality being able to A/B pre and post mastering at matched levels will give you a much better indicator of what you're gaining or losing. Using a different system, different room, different day, always helps with getting a new perspective when you are the one also doing the mixing.

 

[AaronDylan]

yeah the guide is preety cool thx bro

 

[Plec]

The great thing about mastering metal is that if you really got everything perfectly right in recording and mixing... you don't even need mastering.

 

[AboutBlank]

The great thing about mastering metal is that if you really got everything perfectly right in recording and mixing... you don't even need mastering.

One thing I have a total struggle with atm is to keep the balance...
I made a mix I like and when I throw my loudness tools in the chain many rooms I#ve created totally get lost.

FG:X is a pretty good example:
Mostly I have turn down the guitars, bring up the snare and then I loose my created mix I really liked.

With the UAD Limiter I loose a little bit of the snare but also crush the mix.
Is there any other neutral way instead of clipping high-tech AD's like Lavry?

 

[Plec]

The FG-X is pretty much as close you'll get, even sounding better a lot of times due it's adaptive algorithms. You're hitting the same wall as everyone else does because they think about it the wrong way. If you want a loud mix, you need to mix it as a loud mix. You can't do a mix at something like -20db RMS for instance and expect to have it up around -8 without changing the character of it.

You need to mix with your loudness tools ON from the start and constantly have it as loud as you want to have it. Only that way will you get a mix that holds up when pushing the envelope.

 

[AboutBlank]

what a luck that FG:X is such a CPU saver^^

I got your way and it makes really sense, indeed.

At which point you would enable the loudness tools? Really at first, when you set up Drums and Bass?

Very interesting topic.

 

[Plec]

Just use a chain that you like the sound of. Ozone does a killer loudness job for instance and is a whole lot less CPU intensive than FG-X.

The whole thing with dynamics is this... the amount of material you try to get across in any specific amount of time will dictate how loud you can make it at any point in time. Now what this means is that if your mix only consists of a vocal. Congratulations, you're ready to make the loudest record on the planet!

Basically, you want to always keep the mix at your desired dynamic envelope. So what you want to do is load in any other finished album master that you like to reference for loudness and start with the most constant sound having the least amount of transients in your mix (most likely the bass) and just match the level of that instrument to what you hear in the reference. Just basic level, not EQ or anything, just a good basic level match all while having your "loudness tools" going on your mix bus while not actually doing anything yet preferably. Thing is if your loudness tools are already working on your bus while just having one single element going and which basically has very few transients, you're in for a lot of trouble.

But after this level match, you've set your dynamic envelope and all you need to do is mix away. If you're going for a super loud mix, it will start to crap out early. For every new element you introduce into the mix the harder your loudness will be to uphold without having it sound like shit. If you just can't get it sounding right at that level.. guess what... you need more dynamic range in your mix so all you need to do by then is to back off the loudness until it sounds good to you again.

 

[AboutBlank]

very cool post.
Thanks man, I will try that workaround.

I dont know if this method is working out for me but it sounds kinda promising.

thanks for sharing your knowledge:Spin:

 

[Jaymz]

Plec, if your using Ozone what mode do you generally have the Maximizer set on? I've been exprimenting with it on transparent *quite slow* then using a second limiter after it pushed harder.

 

[Plec]

I've found the best compromise to be somewhere around 0.4 which is "very fast" on intelligent 2. FG-X is in itself a better loudness maker if you don't want to mess around with the sound of your mix, but the Ozone I'd say is second in command.

 

[Jaymz]

I've found the best compromise to be somewhere around 0.4 which is "very fast" on intelligent 2. FG-X is in itself a better loudness maker if you don't want to mess around with the sound of your mix, but the Ozone I'd say is second in command.

I see, im never after a super loud mix. Im mastering a single song at the moment and im about -11RMS, curious to take it to 10.5 maybe 10...but ive already started to degrade my nice fat snare with clipping Don't want to trash it much more!

 

[Virgil.]

Buy this book, it should help you learn what the hell you're doing and how to master instead of just using ozone presets. lol

Mastering Audio - by Bob Katz

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Audio-Second-science-Book/dp/0240808371/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300378628&sr=8-1[/ame]

 

[Zombietakeover]

Basically, you want to always keep the mix at your desired dynamic envelope. So what you want to do is load in any other finished album master that you like to reference for loudness and start with the most constant sound having the least amount of transients in your mix (most likely the bass) and just match the level of that instrument to what you hear in the reference. Just basic level, not EQ or anything, just a good basic level match all while having your "loudness tools" going on your mix bus while not actually doing anything yet preferably. Thing is if your loudness tools are already working on your bus while just having one single element going and which basically has very few transients, you're in for a lot of trouble.

Plec can u explain this a bit better for dummies.....So you would pull a song that you want to reference ...for example a Gojira song and pull it into Your project.....then solo the bass in the project and match bass levels of the reference track? how would i bring up the loudness without messing with the reference track?

 

[Williamn]

Plec can u explain this a bit better for dummies.....So you would pull a song that you want to reference ...for example a Gojira song and pull it into Your project.....then solo the bass in the project and match bass levels of the reference track? how would i bring up the loudness without messing with the reference track?

If using cubase (guess you can do it in any daws aswell) you can make two output busses.

So just route all your mixing stuff to stereo output 1 and slap on your "mastering chain" and then route your reference track to stereo output 2 without anything on.

 

[Plankis]

If using cubase (guess you can do it in any daws aswell) you can make two output busses.

So just route all your mixing stuff to stereo output 1 and slap on your "mastering chain" and then route your reference track to stereo output 2 without anything on.

In Cubase: Open the Vst connection window(F4), go to output, right click, add Bus. Route your track to that output.