You want to avoid using your limiter to deliver lots of gain at the end of your mastering chain. Stereo FX – such as widening or mastering reverb.There are of course exceptions, and there are occasions where you have to do things differently, but the rule of thumb ME’s tend to agree on would be that a mastering chain should run something like this… As a mix engineer you don’t necessarily want a mix that is too dynamic, but you certainly don’t want one that has no dynamics either! Meters like the Brainworx BX Meter that give real-time visual feedback on the dynamic range are popular tools and can help guide you in this respect. Genres like pop and electronica tend to have less dynamic range than jazz, classical and other acoustic music. How much dynamic range you build into any given mix is largely a judgement call you make based on taste, style and genre. A track with good dynamic range feels musical and exciting, whereas a track with poor dynamic range feels tight and fatiguing. Dynamic Rangeĭynamic range is the difference between the loudest and quietest moments in your music, and is also essential to preserve. It is far better to maintain headroom by printing a quieter mix than to squeeze every possible decibel out of it and risk going over before it even gets to mastering. What you want to avoid at all costs are peaks above 0dB. Your mix file can easily be brought up in level without issue with gain plugins or the clip gain functionality in most DAW’s. Some engineers are even printing mixes at -18dB because they feel there is some sonic benefit. You don’t want to worry about ensuring your mix is loud – that is what mastering is for. You want to keep your loudest peaks with at least 1dB of headroom below zero, but really you can comfortably aim for greater margins, -3dB below zero would be even better. By the time you are printing off a mix, those compression touches will add up to a mix that is solid, without being lifeless and have just about the right headroom and dynamic range left that you or your ME would need. Keep control of your mix dynamics by adding small doses of compression at different stages rather than heaping it on in one sitting, so a little compression while tracking, a little while mixing, a touch of limiting here and there and maybe even a touch on the mix buss itself. Make sure none of your individual instruments or vocals go beyond 0dB where they will clip or distort: Even if your mix overall has good headroom and is well short of distorting, any peaks caused by tracks spiking above 0dB may become more apparent while mastering and severely compromise the mix. Mix balance is king here, and so is maintaining headroom and a good dynamic range. The more familiar you are with the mastering process, the more this can help you make good mixing decisions.
#T RACKS SOFT CLIPPER PROFESSIONAL#
Of course, mastering can also involve more than this, but here we are going to focus on the essential processes that can be undertaken in your own studio, particularly when hiring a professional ME (mastering engineer) is not cost effective. In practice, mastering is primarily about fixing troublesome frequencies, lifting detail, balancing and enhancing the stereo image, and of course making the work competitive in terms of overall loudness. The aim of mastering is to present a coherent final product that translates well onto all kinds of listening systems and environments in the real world, beyond the relatively pristine confines of the studio. Mastering is essentially the process of preparing your song, or collection of songs, for the commercial market. Producer Jon Griffin presents a straightforward guide to ensuring great results, and avoiding the many pitfalls, when mastering your own tracks.
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