I'm starting to get plugin creep where I am using too many similar plugins for each instrument, instrument bus, mix buss and then in the mastering chain. For example, in my latest mix, I'm using a Pultec EQ on my guitar bus, but it also sounds good on my mix bus and even in my mastering chain. The amount of plugins on my mix bus is definitely pushing my CPU to its limits. Exciter, Saturation, 3 flavors of EQ, Parametric EQ, Bus Compressor, Metering, Leveling, etc are all on there.

I've noticed some mixers load up a ton of coloring EQ plugins on their mix bus and then use minimal plugins in their mastering chain. I've also noticed some mixers use a simple EQ and a bus or glue compressor on their mix bus but then use a ton of plugins in their mastering chain. Then there are mixers who combine mixing and mastering in one process. Which type are you?

Do you use an exciter or saturation plugin on your mix bus, mastering chain or both? What does your mix bus look like compared to your mastering chain and what is your thought process that decides which plugin to use and when?

 

I am the type who calls the last channel "Stereo Out" and get's around all this weird wording stuff.

 

On my mix bus are several measuring tools, that's it.

For mastering, I use whatever I think is appropriate (plus the measuring tools, ofc).

 

Mix into this plugin kind of type and just this one, everything else is done on the group bus or the track.

 

If i'm the one doing the mixing, i try to leave very little for mastering. The reason being every now and then when mastering stuff i didn't mix, there are some problems that come up as a result of the processing (and my little inferior dog brain) that leave me with three options: Get in contact with the mixer (ideal, but giving precise instructions that work requires a lot of experience from both sides that i don't have), don't process it that way, or process it and then process it more to get rid of the problem the fist processing caused. Either way, a pain in the ass that i'd rather avoid if possible, which would be if the mixing guy was in fact me.

So that's for the ammount. As for where i draw the line and which plugins i use, anything that affects the "idea" of what the sound of the song "should be" goes into the mixing stage, the glue, the dirt, the dynamics, the frequency and level ballance and whatever word you can throw at it. Everything more oriented to the "let's see how far this can go without ruining the main idea" and some technical stuff falls into mastering. Again, assuming i'm the one doing both.

And finally as for multiple sessions vs single session, i go for multiple, partly because i like to keep things simple visually speaking and my mind is in a beter place knowing i can't go back so easily to the mix, but mostly because my computer is pretty outdated and in some scenarios it may simply not be able to handle a big ass session with everything in it.

Edit: Oh and the exciter thing, i do use them sometimes as a send, i just don't like putting them on the mixbus and i really like them as sends. Saturations are a bit more versatile for me, but i also don't like putting them on the mixbus directly. I'm not affraid of using either for mastering if necessary, but only when i'm not the one mixing, because then it would be part of the mix probably.

 

Last edited: Mar 10, 2023

Generally speaking, I do my "mastering" on the mix bus. But once I have a stereo file I have one other special thing I usually add in Sound Forge. (Not a SF plugin of course. Yuck.)

 

CLA Vocals

 

I tend to use minimum processing on the mixbus, usually it's just tape emulation and a Pultec EQ (low end trick and and smoothing out highs by attenuating 5K and boosting 10K or so; the values are not absolute and depend on a particular mix), or no effects at all. When the mix sounds good enough, I send it for mastering. I avoid using compression on the mixbus, except the inherent compression from the tape emulation plugin (UAD Oxide Tape Recorder in my case). The reason to avoid mixbus compression is that I am not confident enough that I can do it without overcompressing the sound unintentionally, as I only have a pair of Yamaha HS7 and not the best room in terms of acoustic treatment, so I ask a mastering engineer to apply some gentle compression during mastering. Otherwise I use plenty of compression on individual tracks and instrument groups.