what NOT to do before mastering

[mmanotjje]

hi, first i have to say im new with trying to mix or produce tracks, all this is very new to me.. so this topics can give some help .., and you can see that for the question im making .. , so if we put a compressor on mastering bus , what do we do to that compressor, cus will affect the whole track if we tweak a little on that compressor, can we just use a preset in this case, the compressor presets are indicated to use in this situation?
i just downloaded blockfish and classic compressor, just trying to undestant some about this and saw this topic ..so.. .. thanks.

[kl3in]

This is a bit misleading. Some mastering engineers prefer a pre master where nothing has been done, and others prefer a pre master where only final eq'ing and limiting is necessary. I've had experience with both. Ask the mastering engineer and he'll tell you what he needs/wants to make the most out of it. If you normally master your own music and have a somewhat extreme approach to mastering, sending a virgin pre master can come back sounding very different than you expect.

The only two definite no-no's are dramatic eq'ing and limiting. Not even brickwall. Keep the peaks below the roof.

[pettinhouse]

HI,
don't over use compressor, limiter.
Don't bring your meters to the clip.
don't over use eq with bass or high freq.

Ciao
Andrea Pettinao

[Adambomb337]

I keep a limiter, sometimes even a multiband and an EQ (wide peaks/dips by 1-2dB and bandaxalls for tonal balance adjustments) on the mastering bus while mixing/tracklaying. I need my music to sound half-arse-polished while I work on it so I can judge the impact. When it's done I remove all dynamics plugins (compressors, limiters) from the master buss, reduce the volume and export that as 32bit float.

That's a good idea! I think I'll do that too for now on. Usually when I want feedback on a track before it's done I do that too

[Adambomb337]

A "Bandaxall" tone control corrector circuit seperate treble and bass controls giving boost or cut.
Can be used with most pre-amps

that's wot google reckons:)

is there a VST like this? where you can divide many mid, low, or high range and then apply a parametric EQ on the different ranges/bandwidths you select?

[bluelife]

That would basically be a parametric EQ wouldn't it?

regards

richard

[Adambomb337]

I mean something that would elliminate fiddling with a mixer so you wouldn't have to copy the sample to another track and then put a shelf on it and then mess with it.

What I mean is, the possiblity to divide up a sound in bands and then be able to apply anything on the divided part. For example band 1 > put some reverb. Band 2 > add a parametric EQ to customize more. Band 3 > put delay.

That way, you could have one sample completely customized. The high frequencies could be in another atmosphere, the mid's can be customized to precision, and then the 3rd band frequency, the lows (or any other frequency you assign it to), will be delaying.

[bluelife]

I don't know of anything that would do that, I think noone has programmed something like this because the result would be a bloody mess.
I can't understand why you would want to do that with a sample, but maybe you work in a different musical area.

bye

richard

[OBeDon]

My 2 cents are: Keep the EQ on a per track basis to get the right sound for each track, put a reverb to create your "room" on a bus and then a compressor or multi-presser on the master but be gentle. Sometimes the compression goes on the bus. I have tried putting a limiter on buses and the master. I hate the result across the board. Then give it to whoever is mastering. You are giving them your sound but they have room to bring out the full range of the recording.