Post by M57 on Mar 3, 2018 13:12:48 GMT -6
Now you guys know I'm not a pro - just a singer/songwriter with a home studio, but I've spent countless hours 'mastering' my own music, read a few thousand posts, and watched a couple hundred hours of videos on the subject (..many if not most of them are of questionable quality), and I feel like I'm making progress, but it's been at a snail's pace. The other day I and one other person got our hands on an on-line mutual friend's mix and are able to compare our work with a 'pro' mastering job. I have to say what an eye-opening experience it has been - and how informative it has been to be able to compare my work with someone else's.
I know there are pros here who master for a living, and I don't want to step on any toes; the more I learn, the more my respect for what they do grows. But I have a couple stupid questions for those of us who, for whatever reasons, 'master' our own material. I work completely ITB but I don't think that matters much for purposes of this conversation.
I don't doubt that folks do things differently, so my questions are related to how much gear you use and, assuming you mix it in series, where you put it in the order of units. I'll share first - With this last mix I used a channel EQ first (mostly to roll off the bottom end), then some VCA compression for basic glueing (really the lion's share of the compression work), followed by a Pultec EQ to shape (which I have to admit I tend to dig in with - I think I might become a Pultec fan-boy); then some Vari-Mu compression to soften things (which I just like the sound of). I finished things off with a limiter to make sure I wasn't breaking any meter needles ;P I also tried a channel strip and tape emulation but didn't like either for this particular mix.
I'm really interested in finding out the do's and don'ts of serial compression (if there are any) and any tricks and tips. For instance, I should probably be putting that Pultec before all the comps, right? What kind of ratios and settings do you use, etc.. It would be great if some of you could share your processes and thoughts.
Also, it might be nice at some point to share a file so some of us can try our hand and compare. I know we've done it with mixes before.
I know there are pros here who master for a living, and I don't want to step on any toes; the more I learn, the more my respect for what they do grows. But I have a couple stupid questions for those of us who, for whatever reasons, 'master' our own material. I work completely ITB but I don't think that matters much for purposes of this conversation.
I don't doubt that folks do things differently, so my questions are related to how much gear you use and, assuming you mix it in series, where you put it in the order of units. I'll share first - With this last mix I used a channel EQ first (mostly to roll off the bottom end), then some VCA compression for basic glueing (really the lion's share of the compression work), followed by a Pultec EQ to shape (which I have to admit I tend to dig in with - I think I might become a Pultec fan-boy); then some Vari-Mu compression to soften things (which I just like the sound of). I finished things off with a limiter to make sure I wasn't breaking any meter needles ;P I also tried a channel strip and tape emulation but didn't like either for this particular mix.
I'm really interested in finding out the do's and don'ts of serial compression (if there are any) and any tricks and tips. For instance, I should probably be putting that Pultec before all the comps, right? What kind of ratios and settings do you use, etc.. It would be great if some of you could share your processes and thoughts.
Also, it might be nice at some point to share a file so some of us can try our hand and compare. I know we've done it with mixes before.
