Bus Mastering Like A Pro pt 2

Get AHEE's Serum Presets & Ableton Racks at my new store: www.aheebass.c...
Get AHEE’s Magic Ableton Templates & Racks Here: gumroad.com/ahee
In today's Ableton tutorial I'm showing y'all my bus mastering process on 3 different songs:
AHEE - Dungeon Master OUT NOW on Subtronic's Cyclops Recordings: outnow.io/t/sp...
AHEE & Morillo feat. Evan Fraser OUT NOW on Clozee's Emergence Compilation: emergence.fanl...
SLAVE - Waves (AHEE Remix) OUT NOW: / slave-waves-ahee-remix
Follow AHEE:
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/ aheemusic
www.aheebass.com
/ officialahee
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audius.co/ahee/

[@SlayerDarkRaver]

Getting your head around this and finding your own way to this, essential for loud music! I use more hardclipping than limiting on my tracks, but limiting has its place ❤

[@Rivalofficial]

would be interesting to see a loudness meter as well! :)

[@mattydatboi]

I've learned some interesting stuff from this compared to other "youtube" producers. There seems to be 2 types on youtube: people who want to actually get stoked about what they are doing and share music/ideas, and then people who just want clicks and feed their ego. You seem to actually want to help people. I am going to take these methods of mixing and see what comes out. Interesting concept to mix at the "mastered" level so to speak and kind of makes sense when you think about it. I've had so many issues after mastering where sounds were either too pronounced or too loud. These bus processing/Skrillex type concepts seems really useful especially for louder music and a lot of processed sounds where one is just trying to get competitive in the -8 to -1 LUFS range. The loudness wars ARE NOT over not in EDM anyway.

[@HowardCharlesUK]

That vital bass at 5:22 is the coolest sound design I've heard in a long time

[@OfficialAHEE]

Made out of using bug sounds as a Wavetable in Vital! 👽🙏

[@ssuperfour]

Wow at ~ 12:30 you articulated something for me so well between the approaches to producing The more dynamic, and balanced style where you start quiet and master later, vs the brash, loud style where you produce at the final loudness

[@AFL117]

Ahee, man. This shit is crazy. I'm super happy I happened across your tutorials through your colab with Stranjah. This bus mixing/mastering is next level. I didn't full understand it until this video but I routed my newest track in a similar way and man what a difference it makes in loudness. This and the mid/side cut then boost trick you mentioned in another video are my new go to secret sauce techniques. I notice you have a Gumroad. Next chance I get I'm snatching up some Magic Racks!!

[@mattygalaxy]

Was about to say the same thing lol. I didnt fully grasp bus mixing until these last couple tutorials man great explantions. I just tried these things on a mix and its sounding so much better

[@ownlife.mp3]

these 2 videos actually changed my life dude hahahhahahaha i am so excited

[@paulrevereIV]

"It's the opposite of homework" lol.... Bought your templates about a year ago and they have completely changed the way I compose for the better. Even if I smoked too many joints the night before, having my songs come through a consistent set of limiters and checking the curve on span has created exponentially more happy accidents and exponentially less sad mornings where the track didn't sound how I thought it did. Much love AHEE!!!

[@SonicDephect]

Thx for coming back to these a few times, I have watched them all and this is the first I’ve fully understood.

[@yuhyuhtheindigo7085]

Bro, Dungeon Master is a masterpiece. Great work!

[@genericname2284]

Every single minute you blew my mind

[@vaizman770]

You're absolutely right! Saturation, clipper, limiter. Let them work just a little bit for different groups of elements. Find the balance in between to achieve the sound that you want. Exactly!

[@sweetboiofficial3712]

Been following your routing approach for roughly a year now -- Seeing these examples definitely cleared up a lot of things that I was second guessing. Super thankful for this one!

[@SHR3DDY]

AYY appreciate the content dude. Also the waves remix is FIRE!

[@Slavestep]

Always appreciate these so much man and thanks for the shoutout

[@OfficialAHEE]

Loved remixing your tune!

[@ghilliesuitman21]

That bass melody sounds like the tune from futurama when nibbler lost his space ship and his buddy is going around planets playing this little melody that like destroys planets but all he was looking for was the work ship 😂😂🤦‍♀️

[@rumbledrumskin4654]

Love ya work legend, Flawless victory whooooopsssiiii

[@SkorpionDnB]

Make an update to this video showing new tips and tricks with new songs you've released recently please :D

[@sokoleski]

Using engineering in an artistic manner.... WORD!

[@breaksjunkie]

Nice one mate, Been using your templates for a while now, The last video and this follow up, Have explained quite a few bits what I was wondering about.....Great work dude thank you

[@jon0830]

thanks for the inside look, It's been very helpful. been applying this concept with clippers/compressors instead of L2 for brickwalling peaks and creating that push pull of the layers

[@aaronanderson8769]

Dungeon master is sick man, happy to heaven heard of you. Good job working with subtronics, big shoes to fill

[@dizzyroach]

Congrats on being a winning winner at making it on the Splice-Ops EP

[@superdoggy08]

You are amazing man... You have made me so much better at mastering and mixing

[@kljenson43]

wow dude, I just found out about limiting the master for perceived loudness and I just through a sausage fattener at 1% the end of my master chain lol I can't wait to try this.

[@Guntherthefool]

Thanks for the insight 🔥

[@manofgoat]

This video is great, I’ve been using this method you showed since the first vid and this video visually helps me understand what I’ve been doing

[@boymatmat]

I like the latest track the most, I really like that fast moving groovie drum n bass feel

[@goth_goat_dad]

That first track is so badass. I like them all but that was just sick lol. (I got into EDM through dubstep/brostep/hardstyle so I have a soft spot for those genres.) This was an interesting video to see, wa tray ching you go through it this time kind of clicked how limiting really effects the sound, even though it's minimal it really makes sense to tighten it up in that way. I've definitely gotten better the more I hear your tutorials, I'm starting to realize it's less about the numbers and more about the groove. I just need to keep at it and not lose hope. Your music is very cool, very inspirational, as is your mental attitude. Thanks for the upload!

[@projektexp5830]

well done my friend. Your points are all very well spoken and used in this. I really like how your obv audioi engineering inclined from Pre digital Yet have discovered a great way of making LOUD music. And also clarified many things from fro me personally. And i have been producing from over a decade !!! Keep it up AHEEE ( lastly your tracks are sounding doper then ever!!!)

[@nOne_Dubz]

Youre the man! the amount of content you put out is incredible! Thanks Ahee for the content and all the bangers!

[@Inflightmuzik]

bro...I was just shopping for jackets and I almost bought the one you're wearing on your cover art. This was literally an hour ago before watching this video lol.

[@tyeblee23]

Always enjoy your tutorials my man I learn so much. Thank you and I hope all is well. ❤️

[@liqwiidOfficial]

My problem is that my main bass, Doesn’t ever really sound like a Main Bass Lol, Somehow it gets muddy, Idk if it’s my Sub, I route it just like this and Somehow it doesn’t sound how I hear everyone else’s Music including yours where it sounds like the Bass is just in your Face!

[@chrisaurelius007]

Nice tutorial. Keep' em coming!

[@CasualChrisMusic]

great follow up tutorial you definitely answered all of the questions I had

[@flyoverfredusa]

great video, only extra I could add is to use oversampling on the L2..........

[@seanhochman]

massively informative

[@MastaDzu]

This is amazing track bro, thank you for video

[@DoctorJRx]

i'm getting the template to learn this this with a more indepth look !!

[@thegoldenscript]

Thanks for another educating video.

[@rockysobekbeats]

Gold Ahee 🔥

[@d3dt3kplays97]

thank you!

[@MikeMaz1022]

Solid!!!

[@thomas_rellum]

What about dynamic at the end? The second is very original, love it

[@SkorpionDnB]

Ahee, so you don't follow conventional protocol of mixing down to -6dB and then mastering? You are essentially mixing while writing the track and then mastering through busses and then finally master channel? or do i misunderstand? Also, why is master at -4.2 on the clozee track, and what LUFS do you target on your final master limiter for sending tracks to labels? I have been targeting 3-5 LUFS to compete with the loudness i hear on soundcloud, but sometimes my song still sounds distorted even when using your template for PRO-L2 and these bus mastering techniques - I wonder what i'm missing, Any tips? Thanks

[@famousbearer5132]

Same here!

[@boymatmat]

Nice tracks

[@as_ismusic]

Wow amazing stuff again AHEE! Question: For bus limiting, how do you set your attack and release times on the limiter? I saw some different times depending on the sounds that were being affected by the limiter. Thank you for your relentless passion for education :)

[@entity9588]

On the first track he had every single limiter at default settings for Fabfilter Pro L2... Prol L2 has a lot going on under the hood and definitely has its own sound. If you're looking to replicate it with another plugin you'll probably have a very hard time tbh. Especially if you don't know the sound of Pro L 2

[@OfficialAHEE]

I honestly don’t pay attention to that for the limiters, I usually just use the default settings like %90 of the time. Sometimes I’ll go thru presets and “feel” for a Vibe.

[@apoplexiamusic]

I come from the wacky world of DNB, and many artists set Pro-L with a tiny bit of lookahead, max attack and minimum release. Icicle uses that setting and so do Joe Ford and Emperor.

[@alexanderrogers6105]

Can you do a mixing and mastering video on a dubstep or riddim track with layered basses and hi pitched sustains.

[@MastaDzu]

dude! this is a mega release! thanks for sharing! tell me you recorded the stream where do you do the mastering in real time? I would be very interested to see how you act bro!

[@cabbelvancabbel]

When you go so hard in the limiters and Limit everything youll end up at 0Db in the end right? But what about when youre sending it out for Mastering dont they need a few db Headroom? Great Video btw 😊

[@famousbearer5132]

Legit need someone to answer this🙏🏻

[@vincecrow4512]

The point of this kind of mixing is that there is no mastering. You produce like there’s no mixing, and then mix like there’s no mastering 😉

[@JoelHernandez-vs1kn]

thnks!

[@davidpedroso2160]

Where are the volumes being set here? What would you turn down to set the sub level between-24 to -30db? Is it the bus? Is the sub driving into the limiter louder by turning up the source like serum?

[@kashifolan8682]

from my limited understanding i thought before you sent a song off for mastering it had to be hitting a level of -6dB but seems like all your groups are busting way higher than that! am i wrong about the -6dB

[@TRXST.ISSUES]

Curious why oversampling is off on all limiters 🤔 interesting

[@jojomarino3767]

Hey man, just wanted to say thanks so much! I really appreciate all your knowledge, I am finally making progress with my mix downs :)... Just wondering, where did you get your hands on the "vocal transparent MTK" pro L 2 preset that you were saying skillex uses?

[@joeygproducedit7863]

💛

[@MARKMAURIKS]

[@ColderAim]

hey AHEE! what are your thoughts on producing like this? like actually having this setup as a template and working with it from the start? or does it work better to save it till the end for the mixing/mastering stage?

[@samson4272]

At what level do you adjust volumes of individual tracks in the mix? Individual channels or busses? I’m grasping all you shared, but not clear on setting volume levels. Thank you!

[@mitchellwhite2408]

Wtf that -19db clip on the master limiter short circuited my brain 🤯

[@OfficialAHEE]

That’s good! Keep breaking it, that’s how new things are achieved!

[@lahvasound]

Great video as always, thanks! Question though: u do not have oversampling enabled, can you explain why not? And thanks so much for the research on this bus limiter method in earlier videos, it improved my workflow a lot.

[@PrideGamingTV]

do you use anything to sidechain or are you using this limiter technique to sidechain?

[@Shadow-eq3zj]

anyone got a logic template for loudness ?

[@machinemademan]

i have a question after using this for a lot of projects...now that im finally figuring out the balance of sending hot signals everywhere..sends seem to really impact things more than they used to and i find myself not even using them bceause of how much they can impact the end result compared to effects that also ride through the buses. if i set them to out to the premaster ior chain group instead of master its a whole lot better..is that the answer? or am i just doing something wrong which is more likely

[@manofgoat]

Why don’t you use the vocal preset in pro l like skrillex does

[@wav.slav.6313]

So your phat rack clipper is raising the perceived loudness before limiting ?

[@stashardy6612]

hi bro what about LUFS?)

[@toniverz_lofi]

Is it okay to just use the stock ableton limiter here?

[@JeydetaJosen]

I dont have the Vocals Transparent (MTK Edit) Preset, only Vocals Natural limiting? And did I understood you right? I want to put this Preset on all Limiters?

[@KysuneRSA]

What are your thoughts on the CTZ technique of using softclippers and not limiters ?

[@TacticsUnseen]

So if ur boosting some tracks then leaving some left alone by not limiting it then couldn’t that mess w ur gain stage?

[@westofwiley6723]

Would it make sense to set all limiters before the pre-master to a -6db ceiling, so they all stop there, and then boost all of them up to 0db with the premaster limiter?

[@dillonbuffi6694]

I think this is a valid way to go about it. You would theoretically achieve the same amplitude at that part of the signal chain. Unless of course anything on the premaster limiter is chained or triggered by elements in the bus processing, which may lead to different gain staging. Experiment and let us know whatcha find out!

[@ilCvlto]

Nice rebranding but it’s just old bus compression

[@lancemezh6345]

Hey AHEE!! I’m a little late but to confirm are you driving these multitracks into the bus limiters or are you setting the balance and then putting that limiter on? Thx much love

[@nucavani]

Can you make a template for flstudio?

[@maxvilchik5576]

this was awesome thank you so much!!! what do you do with return tracks? do you send to premaster or master?

[@evanwickstrom7990]

anyone know why can't I find that vocal preset in my pro L 2

[@fallingelevator]

im a tad confused about what is on the FX channel. Am I missing something? Thanks!

[@dylanmelella5663]

Hey I might have missed this one of the videos but what is the purpose of the Premaster bus?

[@evanwickstrom7990]

anyone know where to find this Vocal - Transparent MTK EDIT

[@lxvesick2267]

what group is the sub in here?

[@NATmusic27]

When i put the Pro L 2 on my busses it causes everything to go out of sync... a latency problem i guess? I Ableton Live, what's up with that? I'm not sure but happens especially if i don't match the "mode" settings in all the limiters :/

[@hankscorpio8928]

Where’s part 1

[@kianhendrick3794]

it's about '(Loudness) Mastering and nothing about LUFS and True Peak values of each track ? Can you share them with us ? (big lack of that video). You should try Soothe 2 for all your harshy melodic parts ! :)

[@benpeacock115]

hes got other videos that go over that

[@3-2split]

I Have a VU Meter on my master channel and the low end is making it clip, just wondering how to keep the low end at 30 when it comes to the span vst but not clip on the master channel when it comes to the vu meter. As of right now my entire track is at 12 dbs but its clipping and theres no effects on the master channel

[@matthewnestor4369]

so can i just mix as i go with these templates? sense its already mastered??? thanks for this!!!!

[@OfficialAHEE]

Yes exactly, then just a double check at end of process for overall loudness.

[@matthewnestor4369]

@@OfficialAHEE ok thank you i gottem a few days ago. also one question. do u perfer laying your drums in midi then change to audio or keep at midi or just do all audio? again thanks for videos and your time

[@matthewnestor4369]

@@OfficialAHEE also how do u fix the latency with pro l2??

[@musiclearning2983]

When Ahee Magic racks Vol 4. now with ableton 11 pls

[@OfficialAHEE]

I actually had a super tripped out idea for the next Magic Rack series. Hopefully doesn’t cause CPU crash!

[@musiclearning2983]

@@OfficialAHEE Oh im excitedd sir!! when is releasing? haha

[@joshmoreno9221]

Might be a dumb question but here goes.. so would one strictly do this when mastering their own tracks?? Or is it fine to do all this before sending out tunes to be mastered?

[@OfficialAHEE]

Both!

[@MastaDzu]

Hey Bro! what computer do you mix and master your tracks?

[@wintourmusic]

hey man, interested about the sub sitting at 30 - 27. What is your slope set to inside of voxengo span? I think that will shift the numbers for those looking to reproduce it.

[@apoplexiamusic]

I like using Span with a -4 slope to get all frequencies topping off in a relatively straight line

[@kidnunmusic]

Sick video! How do you feel about guys like Kompany or VR, letting their drops clip like crazy, with no limiters? For example check Stomp by Kompany. This shit is clipping at +14dbs! And it sounds so fire man, I mean it makes a real difference when you come up mixing that track on a live set 🔥

[@schovy-uk]

I mean, if that's true, that's just ridiculous.

[@kidnunmusic]

@@schovy-uk ridiculous in a good way because it sounds great. It’s nicely done. Listen to the Kompany track 😉

[@schovy-uk]

@@kidnunmusic Well I've just looked at the Kompany track, and it isn't clipping. But what I can tell you is that it is muddy as hell, especially in the 100-200Hz region. Plus there's been a lot of missed opportunities for extra headroom, like cutting above 20Khz and below 25-30Hz. There's perceived loudness, and then there's just slapping a limiter on and cranking up the gain.

[@kidnunmusic]

@@schovy-uk idk how you got the track but I can tell snare transients hit +14dbs. Also check the live set I posted a few days ago, I put it before the last track of the set, for real it was really making a difference when this one came up. And I really like the dynamics too. Anyway it’s just tastes at this point, but all these guys from label Disciple or Never Day Die are really pushing boundaries on these subjects, and I don’t know how they sound so clean and dynamic. I’d love to hear Ahee’s pov on this 🤓

[@OfficialAHEE]

I’ve seen VRs tut where he clips and I’ve done this on a few of my own tracks. Skrillex’s other track did this too. From what I’ve seen, not everything is clipping only certain elements, other things are limited or clipped at lower volumes. It’s easy to mess a mix up this way, but can also be dope if done carefully.

[@TheArrenan]

do you put the limiter at the end of the chain? on everything? sorry, so confused about abletons layout lol :D thanks for the vids

[@OfficialAHEE]

Have u seen the first vid? Has charts that might help visualize things for ya :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJWyeIaeaLegl80

[@TheArrenan]

@@OfficialAHEE already watched that one before but after having rewatched it now,, it all makes more sense i think :) thanks for helping out

[@MikeMaz1022]

Do u do side chain compression per channel or do i do it through a return bud?

[@OfficialAHEE]

Per channel, and sometimes not at all!!! Here’s my sidechain tut if u wanna dive in on my personal take on it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5u8nYt3n6yVj68

[@Skrenja]

I want pro L2 really bad but $200 USD is way too much for a single plugin.

[@skinz2820]

Learn the rules so you can break them

[@Roses_R_redeR]

I started breaking as I was learning... not the best plan of attack or method...💪🥀🤙 I'm real big on mixing bluegrass with this kind of stuff.... 🥀🥀🪕🎻🎚🎛🎹🥀🥀 🤘

[@86crush]

if you're a music producer, you'll appreciate AHEE not bobbing his head to his own beats. For there is nothing more cringe. I applaud this man.

[@ohmaramusic]

Should producers not enjoy their own music?

[@86crush]

@@ohmaramusic no. they should not.

[@AutoSanchezMusic]

@@86crush Then what's the point of being a producer?

[@86crush]

@@AutoSanchezMusic to buy plugins.

[@naughtyducky6325]

If you don’t enjoy your own music u ain’t producing right lol

[@thesleepportal5974]

Great video, I would try and turning of the true peak limiting on some of the groups to make it even more punchy