I'm having a rethink, so looking for some inspiration!

 

It really depends on what the song needs.

It varies but most of my mastering arsenal includes a:

1. Compressor
2. EQ
3. Limiter/Clipper
4. Exciter/Saturator
5. A Spacial Enchancement Plugin
6. Dither (this is mostly bundled in the DAW itself or limiter)

 

I usually have the following:

1. Acon Equalize
2 or 3. Some exciter (UAD Vertigo, Reviver)
2 or 3. Waves SSL comp, VBC Red, or UAD 33609 (depending on the program material)
3. Acqua Pink EQ (for broad strokes to approximate Tonal Balance control curves
4. Stealth Limiter (for dithering, ear candy)
5. Magic A/B
6. Tonal Balance Control

But nothing is written in stone. Things vary a lot depending on each case and not everything gets used necessarily.

 

1. Kazrog True Iron
2. Cytomic The Glue
3. Black Rooster VEQ-1P Program EQ
4. Black Rooster Magnetite or U-he Satin

 

Usually, I'll do something like:

Console summing emulation (e.g. Waves NLS) -> Buss compressor (like the glue) -> Ozone 8 (for EQ, widening, limiting, and dithering).

Sometimes, I'll throw in a tape saturator, etc. But simple setups seem to get the job done for me. Mastering is preparation for a particular medium--not the chance to fix mistakes (that should all happen in mixing). So, generally a little widening/loudness/"hardware" summing/dithering is all it really needs if the mix is where it should be.

 

I like to keep things as basic as possible, mainly because any problems should be fixed within the mix.

1. Oeksound soothe
2. Zynaptiq intensity
3. Vengeance Multiband compressor

 

Do you guys mix and master at the same time, or do you start a new mastering project to work on the rendered stereo tracks that have already been mixed?

Anybody sending out their mixed tracks for 3rd party mastering?

In the old days, you just had to write the songs and record them, and let someone else worry about the rest of the stuff

 

Last edited: Aug 26, 2018

I mix with the Two bus compressor on. That's indeed the only plugin active on the two-bus at the start of a mix. as the mix gets to be completed, I use Acon EQualize to even things out, but just broad, minimal changes with wide Q, and shelving hi and low end instead of HPF/LPF. Once the mix iis in shape, I use Pink for flavor and to align it with Tonal Balance Control. Finally, I activate the limiter. Whenever I sned out a mix for mastering (it barely really happens), I remove the limiter. I'd say the mix ends at the inclusion of the master bus compressor and the EQs.

 

I usually only haveTrue Iron or something like it (in addition, as of late, I've also been adding the RX950 to certain tsongs, if it seems appropriate,) for a warming/analog vybe, EQ for *very* lite fine-tuning, a very slight bit of compression (sometimes multi-band, but if the mix is solid, it's usually unnecessary,) a limiter/clipper, Slate's Tape Machine, u-he Satin or BR Magnetite and usually a few A/B at the end of the chain: Reference, Magic A/B, etc. There are always others that I add if the need arises but it's usually something that I should have included in the mixing stage. When it comes to mastering, I'm going with Army of Ninjas:

Also: Yes, I start a new project for mixing and one for mastering; and no, I have never used 3rd party mixing or mastering.
As for inspriration, I am always trying different companies plug-ins, especially ones with distinct tones, anything that might give the track a unique vybe. Sometimes, I throw in an EQ or channel strip without even using it for more than the *slightest* tweak for a change in tone. Also, in the mixing stage, I see a lot of people using the same channel strip on top of every channel; I find that it lends to a more cohesive mix (not always, but usually, with my music,) if you find which channels strips or EQs sound best for, strings, horns, piano, etc.
Just some ideas to mess around with....

 

vsc-2 compressor
Slate VCC, usually on the Trident setting.
MJUC, not doing compression, just for the tone.
BRA veq-1p, or TR5 432 eq.
Sonnox Inflator.

Then Pro-L2 for a db of limiting, and Goodhertz dither.

Vsc-2 is a great SSL replacement, everything else just adds tons of clean harmonics and a bit of top/low end shaping, bring out that boom and sizzle.

 

The newest Addition to my chain in 2018 is actually not an effect but a utility plugin for pretty comprehensive monitoring and ease of use. It's free. And it's pretty great.

TB Pro Audio ISOL8.

It lets you solo/mute 5 bands of the audio spectrum to listen for issues in each band with selectable frequency ranges. It also has a mono/stereo and m/s section, which I use all the time on the first insert. Thinking about it now, I probably should put it at end of the chain

 

Usually it's just the Ozone Maximizer. A compressor like VBC-Grey if the song calls for it, rarely a console/tape emulation or an EQ boosting a 15k shelf in case I need more top end.

 

Waves Puigchild and Fabfilter EQ2

(And the "Super Secret Hit Machine" plugin programmed for me by my old pal Quincy Jones)

 

I have no set templete in stone, though a multband comp usually lifts it's fair share of weight. There is always a reverb to get all the busses fed into the 2 buss aligned with the universe and one of the free Aqua equalizers to add some color if the track calls for it, or if not, a clean one that tries to get out of the way.

Why isn't anyone putting a verb on the 2 buss? It to me is the only thing that can act as an instant common denominator to nudge all the individual elements into the same familial vibe for the sake of coherency...One love, let's get together and be alright.

 

None. I can see if you want to throw something on there, maybe Ozone 8 or T-RackS with a generic mastering preset, just to hear what it sounds like with some bells and whistles on it, but I like to get the mix straight before doing that, double-check my mix, then take it off and record the stereo mix with nothing on the master fader. I'll end up doing all my mastering-type processing for when I edit the stereo master inside of a two-track editing program.

 

SPAN, sMexoscope and a VU meter are on the 2bus.
The master depends on the mix. The most recent one was this:

Graphic EQ - adding body and brightness
Filtered compression - catch peaks in the low end
Multiband limiting - raise volumes a little
Multiband compression - ad punch in the lows, smooth out the mids/highs
Imaging - enhance stereo width
Fairchild 670 - touch of presence and colour
Console EQ - minor EQ adjustments
Multiband maximizer - Loudness
SSL compression - I wanted to hear compression
Limiting - to catch the SSL peaks