I see that 2017 is not different from previous years
Most musical producers have a monstrous ego
If you ask something, some trick, some help
You are left unanswered because you do not share your learning for fear of becoming superior to it
Unfortunately that's how it works in this world


A quick but top tip

Glue mix > Tape machine Magnetic2 (nomad factory) Reel2Reel Simulator
Compressor The Glue (Cytomic) SSL Simulator

Very smooth plugins

 

im a fuc**n amature, but i can handle mastering at home well, like someone said in here, every track approach its different, of course there are base elements like you say, glue mix, cut freq below 40-45hz, tape sat, eq, multiband comp, deesss (if needed),adjust stereo image, limit and diether bounce ...but somethimes less is more, if you have a good mixed track, you wont need the tools above, just cut, image, limit and that could be it ...watch youtube for mastering tutorials, find some on Z, but all in all that is the base ...i repeat, years ago, saturation or distorsion was a secret, i dont know if there are any today other than skills ...

 

For what its worth here is my master channel, hopefully you speak ableton. Its not about + this or - that, its about rms and what sounds natural. I don't use all of these modules in every mix but yea, this is the setup and every effect is actually very subtle. For what its worth you've probably heard my mix in some commercials. bong bong

 

Actually you want to do this on a per track basis. It cleans up the low end on the master and aux sends and reverbs and even lessens CPU load.

 

Uhm, what's your point?
Why are you even offended when I was'nt even talking about nor referencing you directly?
Which Blogpost are you refering to? I want to make clear that I was refering to BLOGs not FORUM Posts!
Do you know the meaning of the word "probably" (it's an expression of possibility NOT of generalization). I didn't say, "all people who write about audios tuff don't know anything about it"- or did I?)
Why are you arguing over shit that's not evem related to you then?
So you – as a WORKING Professional – don't validate my argument, that there ARE NO SHORTCUTS to Experience? Because that's my arguement. What was yours again? Besides trying to talk down on me, which I really don't really care about, because your so called arguements don't hold any weight.
And uhm, Dave Pensado actually does Vlogging… don't get it twisted.

 

Post or send a small sample so that I or we can taste it.... otherwise I would feel like a blind man trying to describe how to land an airplane to an other blind man who might be docking a boat

 

Well , you said "And his goal is to acquiere clicks to earn money". Since i was the guy before you posting a link , it seemed logical you were referring to me. If i barked at the wrong tree i am humbly sorry i misunderstood.
My posts show that i generally agree to your "there ARE NO SHORTCUTS to Experience", but "Compression, EQ, Imageing (maybe), Limiting. Done" is just oversimplifying something which can vary from very simple to much more complex than mixing.
Be well

 

Really nice topic, i enjoy thats "all in" random tips/secret topics !

You guys was talking about saturation earlier,im curently using Kramer Tape from waves and build-in saturator from ableton but i will love to have another (really) good saturator, i heard Slate was good.. Any secret saturator you guys use on your master chain?

i'v tried the FabFilter-saturator but i think its sound really non-human non-musical for some reason
( im i the only one ?)

best and hater gonna hate

 

FF Saturn is one of the best out there, but it is not an easy beast to get used to or use. There are a lot of options from modulation to envelopes, to pretty much anything you can think of. Most the saturators out today do a pretty decent job of pushing harmonic content up the line if you know what you are after.

My two favorites have Saturn and Decapitator for a while now (though in a mastering context, takes a very light touch and only if it is necessary.)

 

Oh man maybe is just that i put way 2 much on my mix !

I'm gonna give another try to the Fab but it always sounded too perfect for me.
btw the "mix" knob on the left is equal to a dry/wet effect knob right?

 

No, with "his" I didn't mean you, I was refering to people who write this sort of articles. Otherwise, I would have quoted you. Sorry, if that offended you.

 

I would love to help anyone starting to unfold mastering their own tracks. It seems though, you don't believe that there is no secret chain of plugs that applies to every case. As mentioned many times within this thread, every mixed track/song has a different sonic and harmonic character. So the first step to mastering a given track is thorough listening so you understand completely what those different characteristics are, their flaws and strengths, so afterwards you begin to visualize what the "correct" tweaking procedure should be.
When the track/song you master is yours, this is even more difficult in a sense, because you have to listen to your track and criticize its characteristics from a 3rd person view. This is why most artists like to opt for another person to master their track, and in some extent is the same reason why some others even like to go to another person to mix their track(s). Another person's aesthetic is always different, and when this person is an acclaimed professional, at least he/she can justify both scientifically and artistically what they do to your track. And because it all boils down to a matter of preference and aesthetics you might not like what a master engineer did to your track and opt for another one.
So, a community like this (myself included as well), could possibly provide you with a free master, but throwing a chain of fx that worked for a track in a thread, just doesn't work for all the rest, not even yourself unless all your tracks sound identical, which i doubt it.
The only case where there may be common ground among tracks is when mastering an album. There, master engineers face an additional major problem, all these tracks have to sound close to each other, to make sure that first and foremost, listening to the album is a seamless experience. So now it's not only about bringing out the best in a track but also compromising where you must, to adjust accordingly to the rest of the tracks. So here, there may be an identical finalizing chain applied to the whole bunch but usually adjusted differently for each and every track. In my case, i do this by designing a dynamics curve/fx chain that fits the best in my opinion tracks (usually two or three) and after i'm done with the individual tweaks on every track, i start working my way to bringing the rest of the tracks close to the ones i think they sounds best. Therefore even with a whole album's content, this is never a batch job.
So to sum it, even a small tip like eg. "how to boost a kick drum in a mixed stereo track " has numerous different approaches depending on the case and the person in control. My "advice" if i can give any, is learn the science, and then, if you are an artist apply it to your art. Take it from the start and don't jump the various "chapters" to reach the end, just as you learn how to count from 1 and not from 100. There is no magic wand to weave and ta-dah voila! And most importantly what works for one doesn't necessarily for others.
Take care

 

Last edited: Jan 13, 2017

correct

 

Well FF suite is looking perfect because... It IS perfect?! Talking about sound it's your choice, they can do anything. If you want dirt and warm you can do it too.

 

Careful, for most sub heavy electronic music, 45hz HPF is too much imho. For those genres I prefer a 30-32Hz HPF @24db/oct with Pro-Q2 (Linear phase activated, most important), if you dont own FF you have to use a Linear Phase EQ.

 

Mastering is subjective, confused and biased these days. Of course it's recommended to send of your tracks to be mastered but I have sat in mastering rooms and communicated with my mastering engineer in the past which has helped me improve my mixes, and my basic understanding of mastering.

I do recommend you find a guy to communicate with who is happy to talk to you about what they are doing, you can learn a lot. Maybe you won't ever get as good results but you can get closer.

It's all based on cost as well. It's all very well skating people for mastering at home but I do it. I might not be as hot as the top guys but what's the point? Unless you can justify it money wise learning yourself is fun, interesting and useful to know even into the future when you may pay others as you know what to consider.

Problem I see with many is they bash others. There is no secret and someone's idea of crap is another's gold.

typically I use (picked up from some top mix engineers I worked with) - oh and no surprises.

Glue>Multiband (C4 or OTT stylle)>Tape such as slate and Satin is good too>EQ if needed, L2>L3 or similar limiting/clipping.

And the thing is it's not hard really, I substantiate stuff in and out and play with the order sometimes, but what you are doing here is controlling the overall tightness and dynamics, tweaking the balance as gently as possible, Tape to add a bit of smoothing, then limiting clipping to get some volume. Done right, even at home, you can make your mixes sound pretty good on a car stereo.

I am fed up with others saying you shouldn't master your own stuff like it's going to kill someone. Here is my suggestion to them - don't try anything you don't know because it's dangerous. All that might happen is it might sound crap, but hey you gotta start somewhere.

I tell you something I'd trust my mastering decisions at home over a mastering not!

 

actually giving tips is really DANGER! you have to get the feeling what an eq has to do. it makes no , really NO sense, to look up any youtube tutorial about mastering, and copy this for your template!

actually get the feeling, what an eq and a L2 does..... learn how to compress... (by working with!)

and for the euro recording standard always limit to -0.3DB

 

mastering.

 

Mastering secret

use harmonics to specifically shape your transients to be equal width and depth throughout the frequency response.
once this is accomplished ANY change in frequency response can be done without altering the perception of "timbre" of the impact of the transients.
ex. you can make a really deep punchy kick drum which can be heard on a quarter of an inch phone speaker.