modern mastering cm

EQUALISING DYNAMICS STEREO IMAGE MULTIBAND LOUDNESS

42 / COMPUTER MUSIC / January 2015

MASTERINGMODERN

> make music now / modern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern mastering

January 2015 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 43

Grab all the videos and get

the files to do it yourself at

vault.computermusic.co.uk

DOWNLOAD

Finish off your tracks with the

sound of now! We’ll take you inside

a contemporary mastering studio

and show you how to apply 2015’s

sonic polish using only software

With modern music-makers now taking on the multiple

roles once distributed among several engineers, it’s no

secret that the once-mysterious field of audio mastering – the

final stage of the music production process – is now accessible

to all. While many post-processing studios still use rooms full

of expensive gear, the availability of mastering software

(such as Ozone 6, the latest version of iZotope’s flagship

mastering package, reviewed on p94) means that everyone

can have access to pro-quality mastering tools.

However, with the mix engineer attempting more and more to

take on the duties of the mastering engineer – a technical and

often delicate craft that dedicated professionals spend many

years perfecting – there’s now a new generation of producers that

simply slap plugins on the master bus and squeeze the life out of

their music in the hunt for professional loudness and sheen.

It doesn’t have to be that way, though – and Computer Music is

here to ease the pain with our huge Modern Mastering guide!

We’re going to give you the expert insight that you need to tackle

this critical final stage of the music-making timeline like a pro.

You’ll sit in on a virtual ‘attended session’ and shadow

professional mastering engineer and lecturer John Paul Braddock

as he masters a track in an exclusive Mastering Masterclass

video session. Then follow along with our hands-on tutorials to

learn the workflow and techniques that’ll sharpen your own

mastering skills. Discover how to use modern software tools to

master music at home, bring out the best in a well-mixed track,

and help it compete against other commercial records. Even if

you’d rather leave your tracks to be mastered by a professional,

you’ll gain a truer understanding of how a mastering engineer

will approach your track, and thus be able to provide him or her

with the best mix possible. These techniques can also quite easily

be applied during sound design, production or mixing sessions.

And with video for every tutorial, plus tutorial files to help you

along, your greatest masters ever are about to become reality…

modern mastering / make music now <modern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern mastering

“A skilled mastering engineer has the

equipment, experience and ears to help

a mix sit beside other commercial releases”

JP’s mastering philosophy is that a track

should be balanced in all parts of ‘the cube’


> make music now / modern mastering

Mastering fundamentalsBefore you start piling the plugins onto your

latest project’s master channel, we should

define exactly what ‘mastering’ is. Broadly put,

it’s both the final stage in the creative production

of a track or album, and the initial stage of its

manufacture (where a physical product is

concerned, such as a CD or vinyl) or output (ie,

WAV/MP3 delivery to a download portal). In the

early days of mass-produced music, it was the

job of a skilled individual to physically transfer a

final mix from tape to the ‘master’ vinyl record,

which would then be sent for duplication.

As record labels realised that skilfully applied

processing could make a big difference in the

perceived quality of music, mastering engineers

were given more creative freedom to enhance

mixes with equalisation and compression

techniques. In today’s digital age, the mastering

engineer is still essentially the middle-man

between the finished mix and the consumer,

correcting any ‘errors’ in the mix, making

enhancements where needed, and editing/

submitting the final ‘master’ file for release – all

without compromising the artistic vision of the

original artist or creatively altering the mix.

Why master?So why doesn’t the mix engineer simply take on

the task of mastering too? A mastered track

should sound as good as possible on as many

playback systems as possible, achieving a

professional and consistent sound whether

listened to on a car stereo, club soundsystem,

cheap earphones, television, mobile phone, and

so on. A producer or mix engineer has likely

spent countless hours creatively blending

multiple elements together to craft the final mix,

and in doing so has ‘overlistened’ to the track in

the same studio, which may not be the ideal

listening environment. The mastering engineer

is a final, experienced pair of ears that can

objectively listen to the track, correct errors

introduced by an imperfect mixing studio, and

transparently sweeten a piece of music further.

Fans and listeners are used to hearing modern

music coated with a professionally-mastered

‘sheen’ – sparkling highs, deep bass, consistent

frequency spread and dynamic balance. Today’s

songs and albums must compete with other

professional records. A skilled mastering

engineer has the equipment, experience and

ears to help a mix sit beside other commercial

releases, adding that final 5-10% of polish.

Collections of individual tracks – whether

destined for an EP, album or compilation – can

each sound tonally and dynamically separate

from each other. The mastering engineer will

ensure the final collection of songs all sit

together as a single cohesive product.

Mastering masterclassJohn Paul “JP” Braddock of Formation Audio is a

mastering engineer with over 25 years working

experience in the music industry. Not only does

he make his living from mastering, but he’s also an

experienced lecturer and teacher, making him

the ideal man to give readers first-hand

insight into the mastering professional’s craft.

When introducing audio students to the

concept of mastering, John Paul begins by

outlining his take on the ‘cube’ theory. “Imagine

a three-dimensional cube that represents the

ideal ‘space’ a stereo mix should fill,” he explains.

“The height of the box equates to frequency,

front to back relates to dynamic range (-inf to

0dBFS in the digital realm), and the left-to-right

plane is the stereo field. In the first diagram, a

track’s overly dynamic low-mid range pokes out

of the bottom-front of the cube, low-frequency

stereo elements reach too far out of the sides,

and the track’s overall interrelationships are

inconsistent. Mastering the track correctly can

help it fill all three dimensions of the cube, as in

the lower diagram, giving us a tonally and

dynamically even mix that will translate well

across all playback systems – without excessive

brickwall limiting or heavy-handed processing”

For our seven exclusive Mastering

Masterclass videos, we take you on a trip to John

Paul’s mastering facility for an in-depth session.

After providing an overview of the mastering

engineer’s role and a brief tour of the mastering

hardware he uses on a daily basis, you’ll see him

get hands-on with the final mix from 209’s

House Track-Builder feature, helping it fill the

aforementioned virtual ‘cube’ while improving

the mix’s overall tone, weight and loudness

characteristics. Let’s head into the studio…

Monitoring and acoustics

Assuming the mix itself is ‘good’, a dense stereo

mix requires quite delicate processing, as

extreme settings could lead to unnatural side

effects, interfering with its overall integrity or

vision. With this in mind, we’ve used very

subtle settings in our tutorials, so to

appreciate these fine details, watch the videos

and listen through the Tutorial Files on the

highest quality pair of monitors or

headphones you can.

For a pro mastering engineer to subtly

improve a mix, and help it sound consistent

across a broad range of speakers and output

formats, they require highly accurate monitor

speakers, situated in a neutral acoustic

environment. Great monitoring allows you to

hear exactly what’s going on across the full

20Hz-20kHz frequency range, helping you

spot mix errors and inconsistencies. A suitable

studio space and acoustic treatment stops

environmental factors from interfering with

the sound emerging from the speakers.

If you’re looking to master music yourself,

but your own studio or production

environment features less-than-ideal

monitoring or acoustics, we’d suggest

addressing the issue as soon as possible.

Coincidentally, sprucing up your acoustic

knowledge is as simple as turning a few pages

to our Studio Acoustics feature on page 67.

WARNING! HEADPHONES MUST BE WORN

The difference that mastering

techniques make can at times be

subtle. To fully appreciate them,

we strongly advise you to listen

critically and compare the

before/after WAVs (in the

Tutorial Files folder) in as good a

listening environment as you

have access to. That means using

monitor speakers and/or decent

quality headphones!

MONITORS MANDATORY

modern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern mastering

modern mastering / make music now <


“Hopefully, by the end of

this, you’ll have a good

overview of how you can

make your tracks better”

1. Introduction and overview

In this first video, John Paul outlines the technical role of

the mastering engineer in relation to the other creative stages of the production and mixing timeline: to make a track sound balanced across a wide range of playback systems, and ‘fit for purpose’ without creatively altering the artist’s original vision.

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2. Load in, levelling and equal loudness

Before attempting to master a track, John Paul is

adamant that you should be aware of the human

perception of ‘loudness’, and how level

imbalance between tracks and processes can

influence our critical decision-making at the

mastering stage. (head to page 51 for more info,

or Google ‘Fletcher-Munson’ to find out more

about human loudness perception).

“As ‘louder’ sounds perceptively ‘better’, then

any time we apply a process, if that process is

making the audio louder, we’re hearing the

process plus the difference in perceived

loudness. Equally the opposite way around: if we

compress something, but don’t use make-up

gain, the compressed signal sounds weaker

when A/B-ed with the uncompressed signal,

even though in reality it could sound better.”

This is especially important when applying

EQ boosts or cuts. “If we apply one (EQ) aspect,

we also apply another aspect to the negative

somewhere else. Every action has an effect. If

we apply treble, we lose bass; if we apply

midrange, we lose bass and treble; if we cut the

mids out, then in effect we’re creating bass and

treble, once we’ve rebalanced at equal loudness.

It’s really important that, at the mastering stage,

we’re aware of the fact that if we apply a boost

or cut, we’re also applying a gain change. We’ll

constantly be A/B-ing and trying to re-level

every time we apply a process, to make sure

we’re actually changing the mix in a way we

want to, and aren’t being fooled by our ears. Our

ears are our best tool, but equally our worst

enemy when it comes to the loudness issue.”

EQ will lead to

gain change, which

must be compensated

for with re-levelling

3. Mastering hardware and transfer path overview

Take a tour of the Formation Audio mastering studio, and have a good

look at the choice selection of hardware and software processors that can be inserted at different points in the signal chain – otherwise known as the ‘transfer path’.

See JP practically demonstrate how loudness imbalance can fool the ear, and learn how to

perform a ‘sum difference’ test to discover what your plugins may be doing to your signals.


Apple Mac Pro

Windows 7 Professional

Magix Samplitude Pro X

RME AES-32

TC Electronic PowerCore

Universal Audio UAD Quad

UAD-2 Manley Massive Passive EQ,

Pultec Pro EQ, Cambridge EQ

Crookwood M3 Mastering console

Lynx Hilo A/D D/A Transfer converter

Chandler Curve Bender EQ (EMI

TG12345) mastering version

Manley Mini Massive EQ

Manley Vari Mu (mastering

version with HPF option)

TC Electronic System 6000 MKII

Reverb & Mastering Pack

Crookwood Monitor Controller

Benchmark DAC1

ATC SCM25Pro monitors

Selected kit list



JP tackles our house track

head-on in this exclusive

Mastering Masterclass

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4. Corrective processing with multiband compressionTo show you exactly how a professional mastering

engineer can improve a track you might be

familiar with, we asked John Paul Braddock to

master the final stereo mix from 209’s ‘House

Track-Builder’ feature – after we removed our

own master bus processing, of course! Braddock

begins the mastering session by loading the mix

into Magix Samplitude Pro X and auditioning

small sections of the mix. “I’m scanning across

the track, to get a sample of how it feels.”

As we previously mentioned, John Paul

imagines a mix within a virtual ‘cube’, which

relates to the ideal 3D space a track should

occupy. “We can hear the mix is too ‘lumpy’: the

bass end is too weighty and is pushing out of the

box. Equally, the top end lacks detail – it’s not

necessarily too dull, but it doesn’t contain

enough transient detail and isn’t ‘spiky’ enough.

We want to make the mix fit nicely within the

cube, then lift the top end so the track occupies

more of the space. If it occupies more of the

space, it will sound more balanced.”

“Because this bass end is a bit ‘floppy’, we

need to apply some multiband compression, to

tighten it up and pull it together. However, we’re

not going to apply [multiple bands] across the

whole track, as that would EQ the entire track

and turn [frequency ranges] up and down in

varying levels.” Instead, John Paul focuses in

on the track’s bass end and compresses that

area in isolation.

The Chandler EMI TG12345 Curve Bender is a powerful hardware equaliser that Braddock uses to full effect

Voxengo’s free MSED plugin is used to separate

our track into its mono and stereo components

After compressing specific

frequency bands, John Paul

turns his attention to the

track’s stereo components

5. Mid/side, tonal and dynamic enhancement

Once the problematic low end is

controlled, Braddock shifts the

track’s overall tone by equalising

the mono (mid) and stereo (side)

information of the track separately.

“The top end needs a lift, but more

to the mid aspects than the side.

Currently we’ve got a ‘scoop’ to the

treble: rather than a linear line of

treble across the top of the ‘cube’,

we’ve got a dipping effect”. An EQ

unit is used to raise the mono

information’s treble and dip the

side signal’s treble. Subtle master

compression then “pulls” the

track together.

Throughout the session, John

Paul always keeps a copy of the

original unprocessed mix, labelled

the ‘reference’, side-by-side with

the version he’s processing, named

the ‘source’, or the beginning of his

transfer path. “At all points, we can

A/B between these two versions, to

see if we’re changing the track in

the exact way that we want to,”

points out JP.

See our pro mastering engineer sweeten the individual mono

and stereo components of the mix.

Here, John Paul

begins to master the stereo mix from 209’s House Track-

Builder feature.




6. Soft clipping and limiting

With the track corrected and enhanced,

Braddock now uses a brickwall limiter to reduce

the peaks and overall dynamic range, and help

the track reach a similar level to other

commercial releases without inducing distortion.

However, he’s keen to emphasise the importance

of all the other previous processing stages.

“We’ve tonally and dynamically balanced the

track, and filled our ‘cube’. Because of this, we

can now apply limiting to it in a positive sense,

so we’re just skimming off the peaks – achieving

perceived loudness because we’ve tonally and

dynamically corrected the track, as opposed to

applying limiting just for loudness. We can now

take the peak information off in an even way,

without it sounding too ‘affected’.”

Using the BL2 limiter from his TC Electronic

System 6000 MkII, John Paul uses an initial

stage of soft-clipping to remove the track’s

highest peaks, before applying brickwall limiting

to raise the track’s perceived level, being

careful to A/B with the unprocessed track at

equal volume.

Check out the waveforms of the unprocessed

and limited track below/left. Although peak

reduction has been applied during mastering,

the waveform hasn’t completely been chopped

off – the transients have been reduced, but

there’s still detail in the mastered waveform.

The original (top) and mastered (bottom) waveforms – spot the difference!

7. Summary

To finish, John Paul compares his finished

master with the original unprocessed track.

“Once we’ve mastered a track, we need to

listen back to what we’ve done. When we’re

using DAWs, and technology in general, it’s

very easy to assume that our technology has

done what it said it would do.

“Because we’re the final stage of the

process, we need to listen through the track

and check that it sounds exactly as we want it

to sound. Have we enhanced all the aspects we

want to enhance? Have we made it better? If

we can’t answer ‘yes’ to these questions, then

we need to go all the way back to the

beginning and start again.”

To check out Braddock’s finished master,

head to the Tutorial Files » Modern Mastering

» Mastering Masterclass with Formation

Audio folder. The first WAV file is the original

unprocessed mix, and the second is the

Formation Audio master, turned down to

match the unprocessed file. By A/B-ing

between the two versions, you’ll hear how the

track’s bass end has been tightened, and the

overall track is more balanced in the high-mid

and treble areas.

The third file is the same master as the

second but has been turned up to a

‘commercial’ level – a loudness that has been

achieved through several stages of careful,

reasoned processing.

“It’s really important that we’re aware that

limiting is a ‘post-process’ – until we’ve got the

dynamic and tonal balance correct, the limiter

won’t work effectively, if we’re trying to get

some form of volume out of the track, to make

it a ‘commercial’ level.”

You can check out more of JP’s mastering

resources and articles online at

www.formationaudio.co.uk

See John Paul use soft-clipping to remove the track’s highest

peaks before applying brickwall limiting to raise the perceived level – all the while A/B-ing it with the unprocessed track at equal volume.

“The transients have

been reduced, but

there’s still detail in the

mastered waveform”

modern mastering modern mastering modern mastering modern mastering modern mastering modern mastering modern mastering

> Step by step 1. Preparing a multitrack mix for mastering

Here’s a typical ‘mixed’ project

comprising many audio and MIDI

channels. You could apply processing

directly on the master channel, but you

might be tempted to adjust individual mix

elements, too, switching you back into the

mindset of the mix engineer. Instead,

render your track as a single stereo file, so

that it can be tackled from the mastering

engineer’s perspective.

1Set your DAW’s cycle markers around

the entire track – including a few

seconds of silence at the beginning and

end – ensuring you capture any extra

track elements such as reverb tails or lead-

in effects. This is especially important for

analogue mixes or restoration projects, as

isolated noise at the beginning or end can

be used as a ‘noise profile’ for noise

removal plugins or restorative processes.

2If the track contains any global volume

fade-ins or fade-outs, remove them

before rendering the final mix, as they’ll

sound unnatural when dynamics

processing is applied to them. If in doubt,

export a second ‘reference’ version with

fades applied, so that you or the mastering

engineer can replicate them at the end of

the mastering process.

3

Remove any master buss processing

before exporting the final mix, as it

could impair the mastering engineer’s

ability to apply their own processing to

the track. If a particular master effect is

adding a quality that you like, simply make

a note of it so that it can be replicated

during mastering, if desired. Get the

highest peaks hitting around -3dB to -6dB,

to prevent clipping and leave headroom.

4Render the mix at the same sample

rate as the project, and at 24- or 32-bits

to ensure that you don’t lose any quality

or resolution in the final stereo file. It’s

important to maintain audio fidelity at

every stage of the production process, so

be absolutely sure that you aren’t

inadvertently lowering the quality of the

track at this final stage.

5

The majority of computer-based musicians are

stuck in the composition, production and mixing

mindsets. Our projects contain multiple tracks

of building blocks that combine to form large

multitrack mixes, so we’re used to piling on

plugins, applying heavy-handed settings, and

having control over each element of a mix.

This approach is counter-intuitive when

approaching mastering. The mastering engineer

is really just a final, impartial pair of ears. To

master music yourself, it’s important to realise

that the creative mixing role has already been

completed. Your task is now a technical one – to

correct, sweeten and enhance a mix. That’s it.

Disengage from the individual aspects of a

track, and view it as a finished body of work that

can be slightly enhanced, not proactively altered.

Objectivity is one reason why it’s extremely

difficult to master music that you’ve spent hours

producing and mixing yourself. Most artists find

it tough to ‘emotionally detach’ themselves from

their own song and make critical processing

decisions without slipping back into ‘mix

engineer mode’. We’ve all tried to create a quick

‘test’ master – to hear how a track sounds under

the strain of master processing, or to DJ the

track alongside commercially-mastered tracks –

but generally, a separate mastering individual

will perform a better job. They’ll also have the

advantage of hearing your music in a different

(and ideally better) environment, exposing any

mix errors that your studio may disguise.

If you want to master with true objectivity,

source unmastered mixes from other artists and

friends, or, if you’re desperate to master your

own tracks, sit your projects aside and forget

about them for weeks – or even months – before

approaching them with your ‘mastering hat’ on.

Mixing vs mastering

POWER TIP

>How many bits?

We asked John Paul Braddock of

Formation Audio if there’s any benefit to

rendering out your 24-bit mix project as

a 32-bit stereo file. “If you’re aware of

your project’s output level, and not

clipping the master bus, you don’t gain

anything from rendering your project at

32-bit float. In principle, you’re

monitoring through a 24-bit converter,

so what you’re hearing is the 32-bit

signal truncated and dithered to 24-bit

anyway! If your master bus is clipping,

then 32-bit will save you, as the extra

headroom will keep the overs as

rendered. It’s best to keep it within the

correct dynamic range for a mix

bounce. For an actual mix session,

32-bit can be useful – if you freeze a

track, you know it won’t clip.

TUTORIAL

FILES



Making a test master while mixing is

fine, but the mastering mindset is

more than just throwing on plugins


POWER TIP

>On the meter

RMS average metering – as opposed to

normal peak metering – can help you

balance the levels of tracks within a

mastering project, whether it’s a

processed and unprocessed version of

the same track, a session mix against a

commercial reference, or a selection of

album tracks across a project. Once

levelled with metering, turn off the

meters and use your ears to judge

exactly which track is louder. Our

hearing is better at comparing levels

than any meter, so trust your instincts

and fine-tune the last dB or two by ear.

> Step by step 2. Referencing, levelling and equal loudness

Here we’ve loaded Session Mix.wav,

a short section of an unmastered

stereo file, into a fresh project. By

comparing this mix to a professionally

mastered reference track that’s proven to

sound good on a wide range of playback

systems, we’ll be able to assess exactly

how ours can be improved. We load

Reference.wav onto a second audio

channel and mute it.

1Our professionally mastered reference

track has been limited to 0dBFS,

making it far louder than our unprocessed

session mix. As we’ve seen in our

Mastering Masterclass tutorials, a louder

track sounds subjectively ‘better’; to

counteract this phenomenon, we balance

our tracks’ levels to a calibrated reference

point, so that there’s no gain difference to

influence our objectivity.

2RMS metering gives an accurate

indication of average level over time –

far more closely related to our perception

of loudness than peak metering. We load

an instance of iZotope Ozone 6 on each

track and watch their RMS readouts as the

tracks play through, with both muted so as

to keep things entirely ‘visual’. The session

mix peaks at -16 to -18dB RMS, while the

reference reaches around -6dB RMS.

3

To match the reference track’s RMS

value to our session mix, we turn the

region’s gain down directly on the clip

itself, leaving the channel faders free for

later adjustments. Turning the reference

down to -11dB brings its RMS value more in

line with the session mix.

4It’s important to use your ears and fine

tune the gain difference between the

two tracks, too. Our reference still sounds

subjectively a little louder than the

unmastered track, so we turn it down to

-12dB. Now we can A/B compare our mix

and the reference track at equal volume,

without the level difference influencing

our perception of tone and dynamics.

5

The Fletcher-Munson ‘equal loudness curves’

are the results of a series of audio experiments.

Subjects were played test tones at a particular

frequency, and told to note when these tones

sounded as loud as a set reference frequency.

The results prove that not all frequencies are

heard equally – our ears are far more sensitive

to midrange than to low and high frequencies,

and what’s more, the ‘response curve’ of our

ears changes at higher listening levels, with

bass becoming easier to hear, for example. This

is why some hi-fi’s have a ‘loudness’ or ‘bass

boost’ button, to bring up the bass level when

listening at low volumes, giving the bass-heavy

effect of high-volume listening, thus increasing

the impression of ‘loudness’. The dips in the

graph at 2-5kHz show that those frequencies

must be at a far lower level than bass and treble

to be perceived at the same loudness.

To illustrate this, load a well-mixed, vocal-led

commercial track in your DAW, then turn your

headphones or monitors right down. It might be

difficult to perceive the deepest bass or highest

treble, but the midrange frequencies and high-

mid of the vocal will likely still cut through. Now,

turn the volume up gradually, and listen to how

the track’s bass weight increases and the treble

cuts through more. It’s the exact same track, but

it sounds ‘better’ the louder it becomes.

Mastering engineers will often use dedicated

average level metering systems to keep levels in

check, such as RMS, K-System (invented by

mastering guru Bob Katz), Dorrough, and

broadcast formats outlined by the International

Telecommunication Union (ITU) and European

Broadcast Union (EBU).

Equal loudness across the spectrum

130

120

110

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

-10

10 100 1000 10k 100k

Sound pressure level (dB)

These curves show how loud various frequencies must

be played for us to perceive them at equal loudness


modern mastering / make music now <modern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern mastering

Fixing mix problems at the mastering stageBefore you begin applying any

overall enhancement to a mix, you

must correct any errors or mistakes

present in the source material. If

you have the opportunity to return

to the mix, then this is always best,

but sometimes this is not possible –

when mastering a track you have

been supplied, for instance.

There may be glitches, pops, or

clicks due to poor editing or caused

by software – these small details can

go unnoticed, but they’ll be

magnified with later broad

enhancement, so consider checking

the mix with headphones to

pinpoint these small details. Noise

removal plugins can help remove

these sort of errors, but it’s always

advisable to correct these within

the original mix first.

‘Honking’ resonances or

frequency clashes can also be

problematic. Listen out for areas

where instruments overlap and

particular frequencies get too loud,

or grungy-sounding bunches of

adjacent frequencies are caused by

harmonics stacking near to each

other. Tools such as multiband

compressors or dynamic EQ allow

you to focus on these very specific

areas and correct them in isolation.

A poor mixing environment or

inexperienced engineering can also

lead to dynamic issues within a

track. Overly sharp transients can

poke above a mix, or certain areas

may appear too dynamic, or ‘flappy’.

Again, one or two gentle bands of

careful multiband compression can

smooth out problem areas. Be

careful with regular static EQ, as

you’ll likely affect other areas of the

mix too, so leave this for the later

‘sweetening’ stage.

Listen to the track’s separate

stereo components in isolation – the

left channel, the right channel, mid

signal and side signal. Understand

that you can monitor and process

these parts individually if needs be

– for example, if a hi-hat on the left

side of the mix is too piercing, you

can apply processing to the left side

of the mix, leaving the balance of

elements on the right side

unaffected. We’ll be addressing the

topic of stereo processing in a few

pages’ time.

To reiterate, while pinpoint

master processing and correction

can go a long way in tidying up

issues, remember that it’s always

easier to correct errors at the source

within the original mix project.

Before you add enhancement or

‘sweetening’ to a track, you need to fix

any problems introduced at the mix stage.

A mix engineer’s monitoring environment

might conceal frequency clashes and

recording errors, and it’s the mastering

engineer’s job to clean these up first, so

that further processing doesn’t exacerbate

them. Import Clean Up Mix.wav onto a

new audio track in your DAW and loop it.

1We briefly play through different

sections of the track to help us decide

what our mix needs. It’s important not to

‘overlisten’ and let your ears get used to

how the track sounds. The mix is relatively

dull and weighty, but an overly-harsh

hi-hat occurs every so often. We need to

control this resonant high frequency, so

that broad tonal adjustments later don’t

make the harshness even worse.

2

A narrow band of multiband

compression could solve this

problem, but instead we’ll turn to dynamic

EQ, which combines the frequency-

shaping flexibility of EQ with the level-

dependent triggering of compression.

Load iZotope’s Ozone 6 Dynamic EQ

plugin onto the track. We can see the high-

end resonance in the analyser display.

3Set Band 4’s Frequency to 15.5kHz –

the exact point of the resonant peak –

then select the Peak Bell curve. Set a Gain

of -25dB and narrow the Q width to 4.00.

Now, pull down the Threshold – a setting

of -28dB causes the resonant spike to

trigger the EQ’s notch. Shorten the band’s

Release to 100ms, returning the EQ notch

to unity more quickly.

4

Make sure no other part of the track

exceeds the threshold at this

frequency, as that would trigger the EQ

band’s gain reduction, notching the area

unnecessarily. Compare the track before

and after EQ to hear how we’ve efficiently

tamed that high frequency peak without

affecting any other mix elements.

5

> Step by step 3. Cleaning up a mix at the mastering stage

POWER TIP

>Bands-u-need

When you load up a multiband plugin,

its bands are usually all active,

showing off just how many features,

bells and whistles are available.

Remember that, just because a

multiband plugin has lots of bands,

that doesn’t mean you have to use

them. Overzealous multiband

processing will unnaturally and

uncontrollably shift a signal’s tone and

dynamics around. Instead, begin by

switching off each band’s processing,

then carefully isolate a problem area

with a single band or two – ensuring

the processing is being triggered only

by the desired mix issue.


> make music now / modern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern mastering

Import CM200 Track.wav onto an

audio track in your DAW, then load

CM209 Reference.wav onto a second

track and mute it. Briefly audition each

one in isolation, and note how the first

track’s overall tone appears to be slightly

weighted towards the low-mid and treble

areas, while lacking high-mid presence, in

comparison to the reference.

1Let’s gently shift the overall tone of

our track (CM200) towards that of the

reference track, which has a better tonal

balance. We load iZotope’s Ozone 6

Equaliser plugin onto the first track, click

band 3 on the display, and change the

filter type to Analog Low Shelf. Set the

band’s Gain to -1dB at a Frequency of

500Hz with a gentle Q of 3.0.

2

To reduce the excess of treble, select

the EQ band 7, which is set to a

Baxandall High Shelf. -3.0dB Gain at

9kHz gently shelves down the track’s high

frequencies. To lift the bass end up

slightly, set band 1’s Baxandall Low Shelf to

0.5dB at 150Hz. With a well mixed track,

broad shelves like these are often all you

need to gently shift the mix into the

desired frequency area.

3Bypass the EQ and you’ll hear that the

unprocessed signal is now louder than

the newly-EQed one, so increase the

Output Gain to +2.0dB. Not only have we

reduced the track’s low mid and treble, but

we’ve also added emphasis to the high-

mid area, bringing its tone more in line

with the reference track.

4

> Step by step 4. Broad tonal tilting with mastering EQ

Linear-phase vs. ‘regular’ EQ

When we boost or cut a certain

frequency using a ‘regular’ (or

‘minimum phase’) EQ, the phase

of that frequency area is shifted

ever so slightly, delaying the

timing of that frequency and

possibly resulting in transient

‘smearing’ and colouration – an

effect which a mastering

engineer may wish to avoid over

a full mix. In this instance, a

linear-phase EQ can be used,

which will keep the timing/phase

relationships consistent across

all frequencies.

There are benefits and

drawbacks to each. A linear

phase EQ offers a cleaner

processing alternative in terms

of phase but can cause audible

‘pre-ringing’, especially in the

low frequencies – plus it can

introduce a higher CPU hit and

added latency. In addition, the

phase distortion caused by a

traditional minimum-phase EQ

can also contribute to the

character, adding ‘mojo’ to a

sterile mix.

Overall, we’d advise you to

reach for a linear phase EQ when

absolute cleanliness and

transparency is required when

applying broad tonal

adjustments, but consider a more

‘characterful’ minimum phase EQ

when a mix already seems a little

cold and clinical, or you need to

make tight cuts (which can

exacerbate pre-ringing in linear

phase EQs). Linear phase EQ is

also desirable for left/right or

mid/side stereo processing, to

minimise phasing artifacts

between the two channels.

> Step by step 5. Master ‘feathering’ EQ

By distributing EQ boosts and cuts

over several stages, you can minimise

resonance and phase shifting when

mastering. Here, we’ve loaded Feather

Mix.wav into our DAW. The track could do

with a mid-range EQ boost to even out its

tone. FabFilter’s Pro-Q 2 is used to apply a

+5dB bell boost at 450Hz, with a Q width

of 1.00.

1After copying the settings over to the

‘B’ state, we halve the boost to +2.5dB.

Now we add two smaller boosts either

side of the first, and at half the gain level of

the centre boost – so +1.25dB bell boosts

at 400Hz and 500Hz (both at 1.00 Q). We

then use the A/B button to switch between

the single larger boost and the three

smaller ones.

2The three smaller bell boosts are

affecting the same frequency range as

the first single boost, but the EQ

processing is divided over three gentler

stages. This softens the effect, resulting in

less harshness and focus than you’d get

with one large boost, while also

minimising the phase shifts that can be

introduced by extreme EQ boosting.

3


> make music now / modern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern mastering

> Step by step 6. Mid/side master processing

Let’s look at how we can monitor and

treat the mid elements (the mono

information) and the side elements (just

the stereo information) of a stereo mix in

isolation. Load up MS Track.wav, found in

the Tutorial Files folder, onto a new audio

track in any DAW. Again, we’re using

Cubase 7.5 here.

1We’ll load up the free bx_solo by

Brainworx (free from bit.ly/bx_solo)

on this channel. The plugin allows us to

monitor either the left, right, mid or side

channels by toggling the corresponding

button. When we isolate the side signal, it’s

clear that the track’s stereo information is

rather dull and quiet in comparison to the

mid information. Now bypass bx_solo.

2Now load up Voxengo’s free MSED

(available from bit.ly/MSEDplugin).

As well as letting us monitor the mid and

side signals via the Mid Mute and Side

Mute buttons, the plugin also features a

gain control for each – meaning you can

adjust the levels of the mono and stereo

signals independently. Turn the Side Gain

knob up by 3dB, and hear how the track’s

stereo width is increased.

3

Many EQ plugins allow you to affect

the frequencies of the mid and side

information separately. With MSED still

active, load iZotope’s Ozone 6 Equalizer

next in the chain. It’s set to regular Stereo

mode by default, so hit the M-S button

over on the left of the plugin. We now have

access to two independent EQ controls,

switchable by hitting either the Mid or

Side buttons on the left side.

4Select the Side signal’s EQ, then click

on Band 7 and apply a high shelf boost

of 5dB at 1kHz. This brightens the side

signal, emphasising the high-mid and treble

in the hi-hats and bass riff. Move bx_solo

last in the plugin chain and solo the side

signal to hear this more clearly. We’ve been

heavy-handed with our settings in here –

usually, you’ll want to gently sweeten rather

than drastically alter the width in this way.

5

Four elements of a stereo mix can be treated

separately – the left channel, the right channel,

the mid signal, and the side signal. To the

uninitiated, mid/side (or M/S) processing can

seem complex, but it’s actually rather

straightforward. A stereo signal’s ‘mid’

information is simply the information that can

be found identically in both the left and right

channels – or everything that’s mono. Its ‘side’

information is all the information that isn’t equal

in the left and right channels, so anything

that’s stereo.

Panned instruments, stereo reverb, wide

effects and stereo sources are present in the

side signal, whereas core mono mix elements –

drums, bass, lead vocals and instruments – will

generally occupy the mid signal. Sounds that are

entirely out of phase in a mix will always feature

in the side signal, but not in the mid, and panned

instruments will usually feature in both the mid

and side signals to some degree. These aren’t

hard and fast rules, as every mix is different, so

we’d advise you to strap a simple M/S tool across

a track’s channel and isolate the mid and side

signals for yourself. Voxengo’s MSED (free from

bit.ly/MSEDplugin) or Brainworx’s bx_solo

(bit.ly/bx_solo) are two great free options.

By altering or processing the mid and side

independently, a mix’s stereo balance and width

can be corrected and/or enhanced. If a track

needs more or less ‘width’, the side signal’s gain

can simply be turned up or down. Perception of

width can be applied with simple EQ shelves or

boosts to the side signal, and a particular

frequency range can be ‘evened out’ across the

speakers, as we’ve seen in our earlier Mastering

Masterclass tutorials. If a track’s stereo

information is too dynamic, compression can

increase its solidity – again, adding perceived

stereo presence. Many modern plugins now

feature an inbuilt left/right or mid/side mode,

enabling simple M/S processing without any

extra routing.

Stereo processing

POWER TIP

>Peak freqs

As we learned on p51, our ears are

more sensitive to high-mid and

midrange frequencies – especially

the 2-4kHz area. If a track seems to

lack stereo width, ensure its side

signal has enough presence in this

area in relation to the mono signal,

and vice versa. Broad bell or high

shelf boosts or cuts will help gently

re-balance the upper-mid

frequencies of the two signals. As

with all master processing, don’t

feel you need to apply mid/side

processing just because you can!



You can visualise your mid and side signals using

Flux’s free StereoTool plugin from fluxhome.com

modern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern mastering

When mastering a track, you might

find a verse or intro section to be

comparatively quiet in relation to a louder

chorus or drop section. Rather than rely

upon a dynamics plugin, simple volume

automation or audio region levelling can

transparently balance track sections. Load

Manual Track.wav on a new track in your

preferred host software.

1The small one-bar ‘fill’ effect before

the second drop is extremely quiet in

comparison to the rest of the track. We’ll

carefully chop out this region of audio and

turn the segment up by several dB on the

region itself. To prevent clicks at non-zero

crossings, we’ll carefully crossfade the

regions at either edge.

2

Levelling whole sections manually is

useful if an entire section of a track is

too loud or quiet, but it won’t work if some

of the mix elements stand out above

each other in level – in this case, you’ll

probably need to affect the mix’s

interrelationships on a micro level with

compression techniques, which we’ll get

onto soon enough.

3

> Step by step 7. Master ‘manual’ compression

Macrodynamics and microdynamics

A song’s dynamics can be defined

as its variation in volume over

time, and how loud or quiet it is in

relation to other songs and itself.

When mastering, consider the

dynamic relationships of entire

track sections working together

across a song or album. Is the

verse too quiet or loud in relation

to the chorus sections? Do any

particular areas stand out as

being too loud or quiet? Is the

loudness of the intro detracting

from the impact of the chorus?

Any macrodynamic

inconsistencies like this are best

addressed using basic ‘manual’

compression techniques. Simply

chop out the offending audio

region and turn that section up or

down by a dB or two, or automate

the track’s volume.

A song’s finer dynamic

interrelationships – or

microdynamics – are the shorter-

term dynamic variations

between individual instruments.

It’d take a lot of time and effort to

draw in volume changes over

such a short span of time, but

thankfully compressors and

dynamics processors can work

automatically over a far shorter

time period.

> Step by step 8. Adding average weight with master parallel compression

Parallel compression involves

blending an unprocessed dry signal

with a heavily-compressed duplicate copy.

This technique offers a great way to add

average weight to an entire track while

maintaining transient detail. Load Parallel

Track.wav onto a new audio track, loop it

up, then open up an instance of DMG

Audio’s Compassion on this channel.

1Master parallel processing should be a

lot less extreme compared to mixing.

For parallel use, attack settings should be

set as fast as possible (ideally 0ms) to

ensure that no transients poke through.

We’ll dial in a -30dB Threshold amount,

3:1 Ratio, minimum 0ms Attack, and a

Release of 400ms. Bring the Makeup

gain up to 12dB to re-level.

2We can now turn the Dry/Wet knob

counter-clockwise to mix between our

dry and compressed signals. We’ll set this

at 15%. Bypass the plugin to hear how we’ve

added weight and sustain while keeping

transients. If your compressor lacks a Dry/

Wet control, compress a duplicate copy of

the track, or send the signal to a return

track with the compressor inserted.

3

POWER TIP

>Tiny shifts

In this tutorial (and accompanying

video), we turned our quiet audio

region up by a huge +6dB. This is, of

course, an exceptionally large gain

increase, and is only necessary thanks

to the custom track we’ve used for

illustrative purposes. In a real

mastering scenario, huge adjustments

like these aren’t usually necessary.

Only a decibel or two of level-shifting

can still make a profound difference

upon the perceived balance of a piece

of music, adding extra life, contrast

and emotion between track sections.



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Loudness

The dynamic range of a song

refers to the difference between

its loudest and quietest points.

By reducing a track’s dynamic

range (by bringing down the

highest peaks), the overall track

can be turned up, resulting in an

increase in average level and

perceived ‘loudness’ – at the

expense of dynamics and

transient punch. Music has been

steadily increasing in average

level over the past few decades,

and this trend rocketed with the

invention of the digital brickwall

limiter. Labels and artists have

always wanted their music to be

as loud as the competition. As we

know, ‘louder sounds better’, but

this race for level led to a public

outcry a few years ago, dubbed

‘The Loudness War’.

Whether you’re a fan of

loudness trends in popular music

or not, it’s unavoidable that a

modern record must reach

similar loudness levels to other

commercial tracks within its

intended marketplace. However,

inappropriate application of

limiting can easily lead to

unpleasant ‘hypercompression’

and distortion, so it’s important

that your track is well mixed (ie,

tonally and dynamically

balanced) before master limiting

is applied. Simply cranking a

limiter’s input gain over your

master will make your track

‘loud’, but at the expense of

clarity and fidelity.

At this stage, your track should be

tonally and dynamically balanced,

making it sound perceptively ‘loud’ in

relation to other commercial examples at

equal level. Now it’s just a case of reducing

peaks with a brickwall limiter. Here’s

CM205 To Limit.wav – lightly compressed

from our previous tutorial. We’ve inserted

AOM’s Invisible Limiter on its channel.

1Just increasing the Input Gain will

disrupt our balance of equal loudness,

so make sure you turn down the Output

Gain by the same amount to re-level. Many

limiters allow you to link the In and Out

Gain parameters for this purpose. To do

this here, we’ll toggle the Unity Gain

Monitoring button, then apply 11dB of

Input Gain for 3-4dB of gain reduction.

2

We place T-RackS’ Classic Clipper

before the limiter, set to 10dB Gain and

-10dB Output, to clip off 1-2dB of the track’s

highest peaks. This reduces the limiter’s

workload, meaning we can increase its

Input Gain to +11.5dB. A/B the result at an

equal level to the unprocessed signal.

There should be a slight loss of transient

detail, but otherwise no real sonic change.

3If you hear any distortion or negative

side effects, back off the gain reduction.

If you can’t achieve enough perceived

loudness now, don’t apply more limiting –

consider going back for better frequency

adjustment, dynamic control or parallel

compression. To finish, raise the Output

Gain up to full scale – around -0.1 to

-0.5dBFS – and render your master.

4

> Step by step 10. Master limiting techniques

> Step by step 9. ‘Gelling’ a mix with master bus compression

Master bus compression is an often-

misunderstood technique, so let’s

look at how to use it effectively. Create a

new audio track in your DAW and drop

CM205 Track.wav onto the channel. We’ll

load Native Instruments’ Solid Bus Comp

– a plugin emulation of the classic SSL

G-Series Buss Compressor – as an insert

on the track.

1We set a low Ratio of 1.5:1, a 0.8s

Release and a Threshold of 6.0dB,

before re-levelling with a 1.5dB Make-up

gain amount. A very slow Attack setting

will ensure we preserve transients, so the

compressor only gently pulls down the

track’s sustain elements – try out fast

attack times and note the destructive

effect of the compression. We’ll settle

upon the slowest 30ms Attack time.

2Extreme compression effects are

generally best used at the mix stage,

when you have more control over

individual tracks and groups. Our smooth

1-2dB gain reduction is extremely subtle,

but serves to gently ‘gel’ the overall mix

together. You might not notice this ‘gluing’

effect unless you listen on good quality

headphones or monitors – we’ll bypass the

plugin to carefully observe its effect.

3



> Step by step 11. Mastering the 209 house track with plugins

In our Mastering Masterclass videos,

you’ve seen professional mastering

engineer JP Braddock process and

enhance 209’s house track with

mastering hardware. Let’s now replicate

his process and master the same track

in-the-box using native third-party

plugins. Load CM209 Session Mix.wav

onto a new audio track in any DAW – we’re

using Cubase 7.5 here.

1To begin, multiband compression

tightens up the track’s overly dynamic

bass end. Load iZotope’s Ozone 6 Dynamics

plugin on the channel, right-click on the

rightmost band and select ‘Remove Band’

– we’ll only need three. For each band in

turn, set the Compressor Thresholds to

0dB, initialising them but not yet applying

gain reduction. Set the third band’s

Compressor and Limiter Ratio values to 1:1.

2In the plugin’s Options menu, head to

the Dynamics tab and change the

Crossover Type to Digital, giving us a

cleaner, more transparent sound at the

crossover points. Drag the leftmost band’s

crossover all the way left to 74Hz, then

drag the other crossover point to 151Hz.

Solo the leftmost band to hear the track’s

sub frequencies in isolation.

3

In the Compressor section, we’ll dial in

a 2.5:1 Ratio, 39ms Attack, 350ms

Release and a Knee of 2.8. Setting the

Threshold to -30dB achieves 3-6dB of

gain reduction. In the second band, set a

2:1 Ratio, 50ms Attack, 300ms Release

and a Knee of 7.0. A Threshold setting of

-33dB then triggers approximately 3dB of

gain reduction. We’ve levelled out the

bass’s dynamics, and we’ll make up this

region’s drop in level later with EQ.

4The track has too much treble in the

stereo field, but not enough in the

middle of the mix. To correct this uneven

distribution, we can equalise the track’s

mono information and stereo information

independently. Load Native Instruments’

Passive EQ next in the chain, and toggle its

Mid/Side mode via the switch at the

plugin’s top-centre. The left-hand controls

now affect the mono signal, and the right-

hand controls will affect the stereo signal.

5Unlink all the bands by turning off the

purple LEDs under each, then

deactivate the mid’s Low Mid band and

the side’s Low, Low Mid and High Mid

bands (by hitting the title switch at the top

of each). Pull the left HP knob up to 22 to

high-pass the mid signal at 22Hz, cutting

unwanted subsonic frequencies. Next

we’ll make some cuts and boosts. And by

the way, note that this EQ’s gain knobs do

not represent dB values!

6

Let’s raise the mid signal’s treble with

a high shelf, emphasise it with a high-

mid bell boost, then shelve down the treble

in the side signal. Raise the mid’s High band

to 2.50 at 5k6 (5.6kHz) and turn the shelf’s

Q right down for a gentler slope. On the

mid’s High Mid band, raise a bell boost of

7.00 at 3k3 (3.3kHz) with the Q knob at 7

o’clock. On the side signal’s High band,

make a shelf cut of 13.00 at 8k2.

7We raise the side signal’s Gain to 1.5dB,

increasing the track’s width and

compensating for the loss of level from

the treble shelf cut. To raise the track’s bass

end (that we compressed earlier), we boost

the mid’s Low band shelf to 10.5 at 330Hz,

with the shelf’s Q set fully right. Load a

second Passive EQ instance, and apply a

bell boost of 1.00 to the mid signal at

27kHz, further enhancing its treble detail.

8Full-band compression will gel things

together – we load NI’s Vari Comp,

setting the Threshold to 7.00, Output to

-10.5 and Recovery to 4000ms for only

1dB of gentle gain reduction. Now T-RackS’

Classic Clipper’s Gain is set to 6dB, with

the Output rebalanced to -6dB. AOM’s

Invisible Limiter is last – its Input Gain is

set to 7.35dB for 1-2dB of limiting.

9


modern mastering / make music now <modern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern masteringmodern mastering

12 mastering tips



DOES IT CANCEL OUT?

Use ‘sum difference’ testing (also known as a

‘null test’) to hear if a plugin is ‘passive’. Get to

know which plugins add gain boosts or

frequency changes in their default state.

John Paul Braddock discusses: “Many plugins

will actually apply a tonal or level change

even before any settings are dialled in. I‘ve

noticed that, after analysing several types of

plugins, you’ll load up a plugin with ‘no

processing’, but the actual output might be

louder. Perhaps those plugin manufacturers

know what we now know – that ‘louder

sounds better’ – or maybe that’s just a side

effect of the plugin’s design. The important

thing is that you analyse the tools you’re

using, and don’t make assumptions. Be

critically aware of your own tools.”

REFERENCE WITH EQUALITY

Remember to compare your final processed

master with the unprocessed session mix – at

equal level – to see if you’ve actually achieved

the outcome you intended. If not, don’t be

afraid to start again from scratch.

HANDS-OFF MIXING

We’ve gotta say it again… Don’t expect mix

problems to be solved at the mastering stage!

EQ clashes, dynamic issues and other errors

are all best addressed from within the mix

project. If you’re applying drastic amounts of

processing, revisit your mix – or if you’re

mastering for someone else, explain the

issues and see if they can remix.

KEEP IT FRESH

Don’t over-listen to a track! John Paul Braddock

explains: “What I don’t want to do is to listen

all the way through the track for six minutes,

because as soon as I’ve done that, I’ve got

used to how it sounds, rather than being

objective. It’s crucial that we don’t spend too

much time listening to the music. This might

sound counter-intuitive, but we’re not mixing

it any more. We’re not trying to listen to the

detail; we’re trying to get an overview – to

sample the overall tone of the song.”

CONSIDER IT

Once you’re ready to master a track, don’t

just dive in and start processing. The aim is to

gently improve, not ‘mix’. Take a more

considered approach. Briefly compare the

mix to a reference track at equal level, plan

exactly what correction or enhancement the

mix needs, try it out, re-level, then evaluate.

ON THE KNOBS

Type in parameter values and use stepped

plugins (with fixed 0.5dB-1dB ‘notched’

controls) where possible. It’s easy to just

crank up a knob, but typing in values makes

you think about what you’re entering. Stick to

0.5/1dB steps at a time, as half a dB will make

a significant difference when mastering.

MAKE IT UP

For transparency, try to use as few EQ or

excitement stages as possible. So, if a track

has too much bass and not enough treble, try

using a single broad shelf to cut bass, then

re-level by increasing the EQ’s makeup gain.

This will shift the track’s weight towards the

treble more naturally than two EQ bands.

STAGED LIMITING

Several gentle stages of limiting or

compression can help take the load off one

single plugin. For example, three limiters

with a gain reduction of 1dB might sound

more natural than a single 3dB limiting stage.

It depends on the plugins used, so give it a try,

and listen objectively.

MID/SIDE DIY

A plugin with an unlinked left/right mode can

also be used to process in mid/side. Simply

load Voxengo’s free MSED on the channel and

set it to ‘Encode’. Now load your plugin after

MSED and unlink the left and right channels.

Place a second MSED last in the chain, and set

it to ‘Decode’. The left side of your plugin now

processes the mid (mono) part of your signal,

and the right affects the side (stereo).

MORE THAN AVERAGE

Regular downwards, full-band compression

can clamp down on peaks and transient

detail, ruining dynamics if not applied

carefully. If your track needs extra average

weight, consider blending it in through the

use of parallel compression – you can bring

up the average level of your track while

keeping the detail intact.

COMPRESS GENTLY

A touch of downwards compression can pull

(or ‘gel’) the overall mix together, but keep

attack times slow so you gently clamp down

on the mix’s sustain and not the transients. A

low ratio and around 1-2dB of gain reduction

should be all that’s necessary.

LIMIT LAST

Many think of limiting and loudness as the

main staples of mastering, but this attitude

often leads to amateur results, flattened

mixes and distortion. Final peak limiting

should only be tackled when a track’s overall

tonal, dynamic and stereo balance are in

order. So leave limiting till last! Evaluate your mastering success by comparing your processed master with the unprocessed

version – remember to set both tracks to equal loudness for a fair comparison

Try distributing a plugin’s workload over several stages for a potentially more transparent effect

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