So I was going about my normal day, doing a few projects here and there, some production, some mixing, some teaching. But something happened as I was doing my last mastering project and I thought I should share it with everyone here for what it's worth. This is a picture of my EQ work after about an hour and a half of tweaking. The moral of this picture is simply this..You gotta do what you gotta do to get things sounding "right," and "right" is whatever you feel needs to be done. Forget what anyone says that you should do this and can't do that..it's all part of the fun of production and it's a continuous learning process. So learn! and don't be afraid to try things. Look at the freakin curve I have..I have a -13dB cut on a master! OMG!

 

wow, usually I boost all my frequencies when using mastering EQ, then tame them with multiband compression, and bring them back up again.

I should try cutting out some frequencies as well to see what happens. Actually I did that once with one of my productions in the 8-10k region because some
dumb random shit was happening there...

but yeah, good point, whatever needs to be done :D

 

See that's exactly what i mean. Everyone has a different way of doing things and there is no one "correct" way. I always leave boosting till the end of the mastering process and I usually do with some kind of harmonic saturator and not eq..unless it's something tiny like a 1dB boost for some sparkle or re balancing the eq curve

 

i usually do that kind of radical equing in the mix rather in the final master. But if it works then it works, not dogging you for that. Just like you said, do what you gotta do

 

Yes, sometimes mixes are THAT bad so you have to ditch -13dB ("Phat kick drum, yo!").
Yay for subtractive EQ'ing.

 

Yeah in this case, the musician that sent me the track for mastering has very little production experience, so I was forced to make these kinds of changes because the master file is all I had to work with

 

I figured that. Sometimes a few guiding words and tips (to the musician/producer) about mixing can go a long way, before going into mastering.
I'm sure he/she will be happy with the outcome of this nonetheless.

 

nah I prefer trolling the mixer and just brick walling his shit. Give me a bad production will you!!?

 

Loool..nice

 

Of course every rule is just an illusion, as your mind is free to do what it wants to. BUT there is a general rule which clearly says: Never boost frequencies
when not absolutely inevitable. The better solution is to subtract the range/amount of frequency on all "colliding" channels when it has to be emphasised/left
on a certain channel (vocals etc.). And not to boost this certain channel (i.e. the mentioned vocals).

EQ-ing in my point of view is about clearity and subtraction, not about making the mix an artificial frequency "mess" (because the added frequencies are not "natural", a result of you source/instrument). Also in the master channel I would not risk to make a "boiled dinner" out of my mix and use a good and simple compressor (cytomic, ssl buscomp, ssl4000 etc.) instead. Of course because I love natural clearity ...

It´s about simple ("simplex sigillum veri" => A. Einstein) laws of energy/universe (resonance/polarity).

 

Incorrect,

Mastering is generally the maintanence of frequencies. When you go into the mastering stage, everything is split up into it's respective frequency bands...generally.
EQ'ing BOOSTS and SUBTRACTS frequencies, it doesn't ADD new harmonic frequencies. That is the job of Harmonic exciters.

The general rule for subtraction is within MIX engineering. In the mastering stage, ADDITION of frequencies is a MUST for sweetening certain areas. Any reason to subtract using EQ'ing is just because there is a problem within the mix and you haven't grouped your channels properly enough.

Especially if you are Mastering as you go along, very subtle increases in MASTERING EQ is essential.

When boosting using EQ, it's not the same as subtracting... you can subtract quite a bit in an EQ but when boosting EQ's it is very subtle, maybe 0.2-0.4 dbFS
increase in whatever band.

Regardless, there is nothing wrong with BOOSTING in certain regions and if anything it can be really beneficial, especially when it comes to processing your own sounds, synths and elements, subtle boosts in certain regions can make your track kick ass.

Let's also not forget about the 200Hz sweet spot...everybody boosts that area just a little...

I'm also a bit weirded out as why you qouted half of that sentence and forgot to consider the rest of the sentence...

 

(a bit off topic but)

While I love all this tech jargan.. throwing a nice Izotope 5 preset on, tweaking it a tad, can really get some fabulous results, for that matter, T-Racks too.

I get the feeling that people that 'lean' towards mastering juuuust might do a lot more work than needs be done for most people ears.

I cooould be wrong

As with a bird in the hand is worth than two in the bush... similarly, I think a good addictive melody and great vocal trumps a spectacular mastering job.. any day.

 

^ 100 percent true. No matter how much of a good mastering engineer you are, it is pointless if the writing and the song itself is boring or has no intelligibility to it.

The most important engineering you could ever do with music, is actually writing a good song. Mastering tbh, is over-rated as fuck... I'm not lying when I say times when I take off the master and listen to JUST the mixed version, it still sounds fantastic...if anything sometimes I wish I didn't have to do mastering and just leave my music as is, because honestly the only reason why I master is so I can get everything sounding loud as hell...usually all other problems can easily be solved in the mix *yes*

 

I like notch EQing. If some things possess similar frequencies I take the less prominent one in the mix and notch down certain sections and then boost the same frequencies a bit in the other track. When it comes to mastering I rarely cut stuff in the EQ, i usually just shelf the highs a tad to make the top end shimmery and pretty and some compression to get rid of mad transients (if there are any) and to post gain up to 0dB.

 

I often do bell cuts, usually on particular mixer tracks though, not the master channel. Ive gotten lazier with my final mixing/mastering lately though.

 

Yeah for me as well when im mastering my own stuff its pretty much just sweetening and limiting because I spend so much time and effort mixing and tweaking the mix until it sounds right. Unfortunately I dont always have that luxury when mastering for others.

One things alot of guys skip is mid/side eq...to me its probably the most important step and makes a big difference

 

Wow you mean people still post about music on here?!?! I was expecting another rant on piracy... the world must really be ending :p


Those were some very good suggestions Btw.

 

haha, yup, still about the music around here