Hi guys I produce progressive house and was just wondering where the levels of individual instruments should peak before starting on the mastering stage.
for example how loud the kick should be how loud the main leads should be how loud should the rides and hi hats be etc etc ..
Seeing as mastering goes hand in hand with the mixdown i though the question needed asking cheers guys.
It depends on you, what you feel it needs. But if you crush the transients in an irreversable way, then that's an issue. It works like this: When you gain stage the mix so that it sounds good at say -14 LUFS during mixing, then taking that dynamic balance and forcing it to a more commercial level at say -8 LUFS - that's not the same mix anymore at that point, that is a mix that the mastering engineer did. Because what happens is that not only are the dynamics of your mix in lock due to the internal dynamic relationships making the mix dynamics as a whole sound the way you like it to at -14 LUFS, but on top of that you then also have the mastering engineer's "flat" perspective forced onto it as well, so it is like adding two dimensions of dynamic processing on top of your mix and that is enough to alter it. Now, to some degree you can get away with it by doing a certain kind of mastering on it, but some of your mix signature is going to be pretty altered for no good reason. Instead of doing it like that, I think it is much smarter to mix with the mastering hat on during mixing and mix towards a pre-master at a loudness level and dynamic balance that is close to the final also in terms of translation. I would say -10 LUFS in the chorus is fairly optimal if it translates well at that level.
How loud things should be inside of the mix is a creative choice. But keep in mind that you have 4 basic dimensions that all need your attention and that all need to translate well: L, R, M, S. The issue is not your ears, your ears can hear when something is out of balance. The issue is to understand what frequencies each of these 4 dimensions should have over time and so that they also translate well then, so that the whole is sweet over time. Many engineers mix in L R with some overall speakers. And that can work when you are good at knowing how to make such a configuration work. But those that can do all 4 of these dimensions very well, will create really great sounding mixes that are hard to beat.
Having said that. There are some things to remember. First of all, if you cut the highs on the side too much, you get a mix that is very deep but lacks width and presence. These types of mixes can sound great at extreme volume levels, but on more mild settings they very quickly turn distant and unfocused. Having a side that is high end rich, can on the other hand force the mix to sound the best at fairly low levels only, as soon as you start turning up the volume the mix starts to bite the ears here and there. That is as bad if not worse. This means that the amount of high end you have on the side is a key balancing aspect of any mix. If you forget to balance that and happen to have a master that does not translate so well either, than that alone could very well make your mix poor sounding.
So, become aware of what frequencies are needed in each of these dimensions, also in terms of when, because mixes are not fixed in balance, the balance constantly changes with the song and you want it to become better sounding over time, in order to keep the listener attached to listening to your mix.
A general guidance on this that I personally would recommend, and I know this is fairly advanced, is to combine 4 specific dynamic ingredients into your mix:
A) Keep the peak-to-rms level overall a bit greater than it is naturally by using temporary volume automation edits to bring the sound sources temporarily up front here and there
B) Use two stage compression to relax the compression enough throughout the song
C) Use mix level volume automation 50% before compression and 50% after compression
D) Selectively extend various bands in L R M S
When you become really good at this, you are basically bringing in more attack into the mix but it is perceived as if it has less attack because it sounds softer to the ears. You are balancing out the sweet and the harsh transients, so that the whole becomes dynamic in a nice way.
