Master is peaking but none of my tracks are
- Thread starter kylendm
- Start date
ahjteam
Anssi Tenhunen
It's called "build up". Low end build up is very common if you don't highpass the excess low end from most of the tracks.
bryan_kilco
Member
Yep, what are all your other tracks peaking at?
If you have, say 14 tracks all peaking at -3db, your master will most likely be clipping. Your master is a combination of all other tracks summed down to stereo.
If you have, say 14 tracks all peaking at -3db, your master will most likely be clipping. Your master is a combination of all other tracks summed down to stereo.
bryan_kilco
Member
Not necessarily, unless you are treating the drum bus. Try lowering your faders so the meters on all tracks are peaking around -18dB and see what your Master looks like then. Remember - the mix isn't supposed to be loud. That's what mastering is for.
bryan_kilco
Member
NO. Don't raise the master fader! Do you have a lot of low frequencies in the mix? This is a common thing, where too much low end is sucking up headroom. You want to let your Master fader at 0.0 dB........lower everything else and see what happens.
Damage, Inc.
Member
If your master is peaking, lower all your tracks. There is no reason for the master bus to peak at all. Your mix should be much quieter than a mastered CD. The mastering engineer will bring the level up.
Lower them all considerably. You dont get loudness in a mix, you do that in a mastering setting. I'd start with selecting all the channel faders minus the master fader and putting them down until the master bus is peaking at -6.
bryan_kilco
Member
Yeah, read up on it. For the longest time when I first "started out", I made mixes that were clipping to hell. I didn't really know any better, and I was just happy to make demos/music to show my bands. Over time, you learn....slowly, in some cases, how to get cleaner, louder mixes/masters.
What I do for volume in my home "Mastering" is use slight compression, maybe GClip to hack off some of the snare peaks, and maybe even another compressor with very light settings. Then I normally throw a limiter on and lower the threshold until I start to hear audible clipping then back off a bit. Ceiling of like -0.2. Not sure if this is a very improper method, but it seems to work for me.
What I do for volume in my home "Mastering" is use slight compression, maybe GClip to hack off some of the snare peaks, and maybe even another compressor with very light settings. Then I normally throw a limiter on and lower the threshold until I start to hear audible clipping then back off a bit. Ceiling of like -0.2. Not sure if this is a very improper method, but it seems to work for me.
RedDog
Humanoid typhoon
Mixing is about balancing your frequencies. During the mix, if you want to hear it loud, crank your monitors. Then mix, once complete, turn down and master.
Jarkko Mattheiszen
The FU guy.
You print the stereo mixdown, send me an email and we'll get you a fabulous mastering deal!
bryan_kilco
Member
REAL mastering should be done at a mastering studio with professional gear and a treated room, by a mastering engineer who has Million $ ears haha! I'm sure you can dig up some books on mixing/mastering and start there.
timislegend
Member
- Jun 8, 2010
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Jarkko Mattheiszen
The FU guy.
Truer words are seldom spoken. I can't recommend the book enough. Not only does it give you valuable information you can use in your own projects, it also makes it clear to even the most beginner reader that mastering isn't just slapping a limiter on the 2bus, squashing the fuck out of the mix and calling it a day.
Seriously, grab yourself a copy. You won't regret it!
