What should i have on my master channel while making a track?

V

VictorMurillo

Victor Murillo
While working on a project... What you have on your master channel? Maybe an eq, a limiter...
I'm not sure about what i must have on the master channel before entering the mixing/mastering stage, so if you tell me your secrets, i'll be very happy :)

Peace & Love
 
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Whether its right or wrong, I keep a stereo widener and a limiter (set to -6db) on my master channel. The limiter is mostly just another analyzing tool for me, so I can see what's peaking where.

All that's for the end of the MIX, and then I bring it into Studio One's mastering suite to bring it up to volume and adjust any other things before the final wav file is rendered.
 
I just leave a db peak meter there to see if anything is overpowering the mix, and if it's reaching the -6db mark.
 
When I am composing the beat I don't have any effects on the master, I add things when I start mixing it depending on what it needs, not before.
 
There's no "should" on the master track, while mixing. That all comes down to preference. During mixing, most people I know will keep their favorite master bus compressor and a limiter after it (both on very mild settings), on the track while they start a mix so they know how the master bus compression and limiting is going to sound as they make their individual tweaks. Some people do this because if they mix with nothing on the master track, then by the time they get to the end when theyre ready to glue the mix, the compressor/limiter changes the sound in a way they dont like and they arent able to glue the track they want because all of the individual tracks have been mixed already.

For me, I like to keep a limiter on the master track while mixing, threshold at like -2db so I leave room for mastering glue. So once I get towards the end of my mixing I'll take the limiter off and put on compressor/limiter to taste. If I dont do this, I can end up pushing the individual tracks too hard then not have room to compress/limit at the end. Although none of that matters in pro tools because you can add a master track to any aux track in pro tools and reduce the level going into the master bus.. that way you dont have start pulling individual faders down to gain headroom.

The one thing I will keep on my master track while mixing is the waves s1, pulled all the way down to mono so I can constantly check the mix in mono. I dont have a mono button on my interface.
 
I would say just a good metering plugin.. Possibly a limiter with a - 0.1db threshold to protect your ears and gear. Other than that, nothing while actually creating the stuff. Might go half way and check what different limiter/compressor settings etc would do to the track, but keep it off for the majority of the time.

Also, a bus compressor doesn't glue anything together. If anything it only compresses the signal, and since when did compression equal glue?
 
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Wallengard said:
Also, a bus compressor doesn't glue anything together. If anything it only compresses the signal, and since when did compression equal glue?
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Since the beginning of time lol. No but seriously, What I notice that a bus compressor does, is it brings the peaks of all the pokey instruments down together, therefore making it sound more cohesive. It doesn't always work, but sometimes it really helps if you have a lot of dynamic information. Also, less dynamic range equals more sustain (as long as you compensate your gain reduction with makeup gain). More sustain on the whole song can make it sound more "glued together." IDK.. most pros I've watched tutorials on also correlate master bus compression/limiting with sounding glued together, and no once can tell me they don't know what they're talking about. Nomsayin.
 
Yes I'm well aware how a compressor works.. I just think that if the sounds in your mix sound detached from one another, it's not because you didn't use a compressor on the bus.
 
Wallengard said:
Yes I'm well aware how a compressor works.. I just think that if the sounds in your mix sound detached from one another, it's not because you didn't use a compressor on the bus.
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Never said it was the ONLY way to create cohesion among the tracks in your mix, but it is definitely one of them, and not inferior to other mixing methods.
 
Zacobe said:
Since the beginning of time lol. No but seriously, What I notice that a bus compressor does, is it brings the peaks of all the pokey instruments down together, therefore making it sound more cohesive. It doesn't always work, but sometimes it really helps if you have a lot of dynamic information. Also, less dynamic range equals more sustain (as long as you compensate your gain reduction with makeup gain). More sustain on the whole song can make it sound more "glued together." IDK.. most pros I've watched tutorials on also correlate master bus compression/limiting with sounding glued together, and no once can tell me they don't know what they're talking about. Nomsayin.
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I think dynamic range is the most important part of a track that most modern productions (especially electronic) lack these days. Compression can be used on individual tracks but I would definitely not recommend a compressor on the master until the mastering stage
 
Wapiti said:
I think dynamic range is the most important part of a track that most modern productions (especially electronic) lack these days. Compression can be used on individual tracks but I would definitely not recommend a compressor on the master until the mastering stage
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I disagree. Dynamic range is not that important for rap and EDM anymore. The tracks are getting louder and more limited for a reason: people like loud in your face songs. If squeezing these songs was such a bad thing, it wouldn't be happening. The trend was started by the people making and consuming the music, everyone wants it louder! This isn't oldies where dynamic range really complimented the music.. this is new music. 808s, synths, hard kicks and snares/claps.. people want those sounds to wham. And most guys here arent sending things to mastering. Theyre doing everything themselves.
 
In an acoustic record you might want your kicks etc to hit at different volumes, more dynamics but in edm those dynamics need to be super controlled. More dynamics in edm is bad. Although I agree most stuff is overcompressed. I've heard many tracks ruined this way. It could be argued that these tracks need more dynamics but, i'd say there's a difference between saying more dynamics and this track is over sausaged as the difference in dynamics is still the same, everything hitting 0, lol! I'm not sure that makes sense how I intended but it's all to do with what the word dynamics means.

On my master I have a Kjaerhus master limiter (it's free) set at 0, i'll crank it every now and then. Blue Cat frequency analyzer.

To expand a lil before the inevitable onslaught. Imagine a live drummer playing the drums, each kick hit for example will be at a different volume, more dynamic, initially the compressor is used to control this, make the drum hit be more consistent, less dynamic. In edm we don't want these dynamics. However there is still a need for quiet sections and low sounds, obviously. An edm track that has lots of very loud sounds and very quiet sounds, is still dynamic but an inconsistent too dynamic track just will not sound right. I hope that makes sense.
 
Ya, It really depends on the record (Edit: In response to the importance of dynamic range). Saying people like compressed sounds is really just talking about pop tracks. There are thousands of Gold and Silver selling artists that use very little compression. So if you're trying to be the next Avicii or something then great. If you're trying to be Ben Howard...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPXJXxfauis

Or Justin Vernon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KD92M6ggtA

or Daughter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0VaZ5A2QyU

Or James Vincent Mcmorrow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfoXGKOuOj4

Personally, I like both. Big Kendrick fan, big Flying Lotus fan. But I also love all these artists I posted.

Not that the average listener will be able to explain the difference between a compressed and non compressed song. But I think uncompressed is becoming more popular anyway. I think Mumford and Sons is one of the more poppy folk bands, but they still have more dynamics than most popular stuff, and it's really cool that they can be popular. Same with Hozier.
 
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I guess it depends a lot of taste. I like to have some kind of spectrum or analyzer on master and maybe a compressor and limiter. Limiter for noticing peaks, not limiting all the time. same with compressor. Not to compress track, but more like to see how it sounds when added a bit of compression.
 
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