How mastering made my music sound better | Making the album EP.6

[@noisejockey]

The pleasure was mine, and it was a complete honor. Special respect to you, Hainbach, for sharing before/after examples of the final mixes versus the masters. Great selections, too, as some had very obvious differences and others quite subtle. I think that's really valuable. Huge congrats on reaching the finish line on this great album!

[@intafon]

Thank you so much for talking about your mastering process!

[@noisejockey]

intafon - otomatk my pleasure. 😊

[@mousymagazine]

Great stuff Nathan!

[@andrewsimmons8051]

That was awesome Nathan. Gave me some things to try on the next album.

[@mrdetonia]

Great info, thanks for sharing some of your techniques!

[@RedMeansRecording]

this is an amazing video, thank you to you both for sharing this stuff

[@noisejockey]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Hainbach]

Thanks buddy!

[@KLI333-9]

Thank you Hainbach and also Nathan Moody for being transparent to the listeners. It means a lot to me as an experimental electronic music composer too. Huge congrats, pieces sound just amazing!

[@eikarumba429]

Thanks Hainback I also use DistroKid but I recently learned that if you ever decide to leave them (stop paying they subscription fee) they actually remove all the music you’ve distributed to store via them. I’m not sure that’s ever made clear to folks signing up (certainly wasn’t clear to me) - once you start with them moving to someone else is hard and painful and if you just want to stop or pause distributing music via them you still have to keep playing their subscription or else they remove all your music from the stores!

[@LeeBlaske]

That's why I decided to not use them, too, and went with CD Baby. If I stepped off and got hit by a truck, I don't have an organization in place to monitor whether DistroKid gets paid every year.

[@martinslatten1983]

Mastering is such an art, I'm glad there's great engineers like Nathan

[@noisejockey]

Many thanks for your kind words.

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

this master enginner of yours looks to really MASTER his craft. I wish that he teaches us more!

[@nachshonrorick]

there's a reason good Mastering Engineers are in-demand and paid well - because they are so necessary! They can make or break the whole sonic reception of your album. Congrats!

[@samuelmccartt9166]

This was great. Thank you both very much.

[@TheNimasan]

its 4 am im sitting in the kitchen and enjoy this amazing video. the best what could happened in the last couple of shitty months discovering this channel. all theses infos are soooo valubale. vielen lieben dank euch beiden.

[@kabood777]

Thank you both so much, it's a Hainbach episode so you could be sure you are going to learn something 🙏😊

[@FunnyPhisto]

This series is so useful and I am very grateful that you took the time to document everything. Thank you Hainbach, you bring joy and knowledge to my life.

[@FranckMartin]

I always love how Nathan likes to share his processes and techniques. Did a mastering with him and that was a cool process. From live recordings I made, he brought much clarity. Here the mix is way better than a live mix and Hainbach is skilled but you can hear the improvements Nathan brought.

[@noisejockey]

Thanks for those kind words, Franck, it was great working with you!

[@elinsound]

nice to hear a ME speak with solid knowledge. seems anyone with a copy of izotope these days is a 'mastering engineer'. 🙄

[@LuXxenatorX]

why so judgemental

[@Alphastare23]

Another reason I am stoked to get this record! Nathan Moody! Congrats on the new release.

[@Mefistofy]

Such a perfect video to watch on my first monitors.

[@vybore9494]

Using a compressor to control macro dynamics is the most accurate description on properly using a compressor. Some compressors are super clean, transparent and musical while others may add colour or a more noticeable “pump”. What I find works wonders (on group busses) is using a limiter before a compressor. That way, you have controlled about 1db of peaks through the limiter and then feeding that into a compressor will make the compressor work less and achieve a cleaner result to control transient information or dynamics as a whole. When you do this, the master limiter will have less stress with a moderately controlled signal as opposed to one that is a bit too ‘peaky’ in transient information. Do this with all styles of music. For ambient music, go more subtle on this trick and for heavier styles, you generally start to limit almost everything. Then when it’s time to send it to a mastering engineer (or if you want to master it yourself), it will make life much easier. Obviously balance is key but aside from that, this technique is very important to implement IMO.

[@noisejockey]

Many mixers consider limiters things only to use at the very, very end of the signal chain, but indeed, limiters are just tools to be used wherever a matching problem exists.

[@grantoverend1]

Excellent video! It's great to get a closeup look a the mastering process. As a credit to your mixing and engineering skills the difference between the mastered and unmastered versions was quite subtle.

[@Steve_643]

Whoever gave this a thumbs down sucks this guy is a mastering guru with a amazing collection of analog mastering gear!!!!!

[@intafon]

Thank you HAINBACH and Noisejockey both for this video; I've been a fan of you both for some time, and as an amateur it was great to hear about the mastering process in the context of this album. It was great to hear Nathan talk about his mastering process. Much appreciated!

[@Abihef]

Mastering is amazing, I spent 2017 and eighteen in becoming a mastering master, or at least learning and practicing And building experience my 2019 and 2020 music sounds so much more amazing than my older work. Maintaining the atmosphere and dynamics but sounding professional, it's a slight but huge difference. Also became a better mixer for it, mastering is amazing, and so much more than just hitting zero dB like I thought before.

[@noisejockey]

Those are excellent insights, thank you for sharing.

[@ac7diffusion_mastering]

Really valued content, I learned a lot. Thanks.

[@thevoidinclusive]

Great insight into the finishing phase. Congratulations Hainbach! The music is beautiful ✨💙✨

[@SoulPapiii]

This is super detailed I enjoy watching stuff like this because i know eventually ill get to the point where i can mix my own music 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@SoulPapiii]

🔥🔥🔥

[@SoulPapiii]

🔥🔥🔥

[@Dan-kb2oz]

I paid for a year with Distrokid only to be told AFTER that if you choose Classical as the main genre they can't put it on Apple. This was weeks later as I was creating music and left it (Bought whilst cheaper) most likely past refund time but I was pretty pissed. It's not even like I'm wanting to put out music like Bach or Beethoven either just minimal ambient music with neoclassical and cinematic elements. They seem great but this sucks and they should have it listed before people pay up! Thanks Hainbach, great sounding music and interesting insights.

[@michael.wiegand]

I always felt a bit ham-handed putting a Pultec program EQ plug-in on my mastering chain for projects. But seeing basically a pultec clone in Nathan’s analog rack made me feel validated. That circuit just does a super nice lift post compression and adds this glassy, silky texture to any highs.

[@noisejockey]

Oh it's so nice putting a Pultec on the mix bus! Glad to validate that tasty trick.

[@Abihef]

Man that desk is hot😍

[@GavinskisTutorials]

This was a great idea to make a video on this, thank you. The new album is sounding wonderful, by the way.

[@edgeeffect]

I can't wait to get this album.... I'm pretty sure this is going to be all time favourite Hainbach album.

[@RayZappa]

Hi Hainbach, as the guy who asked you about mastering in a recent Q&A, I really appreciate you doing an in-depth feature on it.

[@Hainbach]

You are welcome!

[@noisejockey]

Hope the info was interesting and helpful!

[@raycochrane3971]

Well done. I KNOW my ears aren't good enough to master and I've neither the gear nor the skill set that come next after the ears to try any way. I use a very good M.E. who almost always offers some creative input as well.

[@GingerDrums]

Soothe and equilibrium on the master

[@sokoleski]

Big thanks for making this video... very insightful and inspiring !!

[@kohlhofer]

Really appreciate the insights and process. Just ordered the record, too! I trust every little thing helps in these difficult times.

[@Hainbach]

It does, thank you!

[@pthomas36]

Holy shit - Assertion is an awesome track! The whole album - I love it.

[@chiefthomson]

quite enjoyed that video, good and cool insight and the mastering process and how little it often needs when you deliver a good mix. thanks for sharing

[@jvf6257]

Sound awesome great improvement in the Mastering more alive, with the HDE-250 in M/S, Hedd 192 and the Tyler DX2’s as monitor reference, not doubt good choice, few of my tools plus the Michelangelo and Pollock here, congrats Hainbach and Nathan

[@johnrichardson3297]

Nathan Moody was awesome Hainbach!

[@fedesartorio]

This is a really informative video, I love it! Good job to the both of you!

[@harryefellows]

Congratulations on the release! Listened to it this morning and I loved it, the title track was especially captivating

[@MartinDoudoroffLLC]

Terrific video, and congratulations on the new release!

[@annabolotowa]

Coolest devices near the monitor!!!

[@vinylarchaeologist]

0:17 Does the vinyl version come with the creepily moving fish mouth?

[@Hainbach]

That technology is still classified, but you will see more of him soon.

[@TheRhyne91]

This was a really informative video on mastering

[@scttcmpbll]

Nathan is a scholar and a gentleman

[@noisejockey]

Oh staaaahp :-p Thanks for the kind words, man, nice to hear from you!

[@rohanjoseph101]

This is a superb video, especially because we get to hear the mixed, pre-master (artist's version) against the gain matched master (fresh set of ears and perspective). Really special insights, thank you so much! If I may ask, how loud should one aim for when you mix down and how do you measure this loudness? Does it vary by track/album, or do you keep it to a consistent value?

[@noisejockey]

It totally depends on your goals, the emotions in the music, and even the genre you're working within. It takes a lot of research and analysis of reference tracks and experience to get this to be intrinsic or intuitive knowledge. There is no right answer...the artist and the song are the two things that guide all the decisions that I make as a mastering engineer.

[@zackdavey380]

This is a great video, helpful to see

[@Nullllus]

I LOVE HAINBACH

[@bolle9466]

excellent timing. I'm just in the process of doing a new record. I really like the less technical, but very musical (i.e. what supports the musical narrative?) approach!

[@noisejockey]

Bolle, that's all that matters, I think! What is the story being told and how can one just push that forward and sculpt it a bit more finely.

[@DJ_Cthulhu]

Just purchased the new album, from Bandcamp. Will give it a proper listen when I get home. Got quite a lot of your music now, including a couple of cassettes. :)

[@youbecha64]

I am chilling to Assertion, and patiently standing by the mailbox waiting for the vinyl to arrive! :)

[@peterfalconer]

Thanks for this - really learnt a lot!

[@tiadiad]

That’s a very useful trick 11:20

[@benm8503]

0:10 bruh u can’t just make the mouth move like that

[@TheTokyoAmducias]

I use distrokid as well and personally have never had any issues. But I’m surprised you use it, because they have a sort of bad reputation for rejecting experimental music, especially ambient...

[@jaibhimadevi5805]

My rule of thumb for mastering is "a little goes a long way"... Drastic/surgical stuff should be dealt with in the mixing stage; mastering is where a gentle touch and many small adjustments add up to a noticeable difference in the end result.

[@noisejockey]

Well said, and I totally agree!

[@scramblesthedeathdealer]

Great video! I haven't recorded in a long time, but I finally got a laptop the other day to hopefully start again soon. I need to figure out how to transfer my Ableton Live Lite from my *old* PC, and I would like to find a basic video editing program to do simple editing as well. Mastering is definitely not my strongest point, so I'm sure I'll be referring back to this video in the future!

[@RobFlaxMusic]

Couldn't help but notice those spacers with holes in between the mastering EQ's... Presumably to prevent overheating? I'm building out a small rack thing right now and wonder how important those are? And if you have any recommendations for good ones?

[@luismiguelascencio4065]

Great video!

[@Mjygbjuytmhgy]

Really interesting, thank you

[@patricketp8356]

You improved your video lightning. Now you´re a fancy youtube influencer :D

[@simondanielssonmusic]

When Nathan cut from the introduction to show his beautiful 19" racks my blood started flowing like crazy haha The album is great, sir Hainbach! And all the external people behind it have really made it something special.

[@MAYSUNmusic]

Turned out great !!

[@noisejockey]

Loved your contribution to track 2, man. You're a master of groove and percussive tone sculpting.

[@MAYSUNmusic]

@@noisejockey Thank you! I enjoyed learning about your mastering process. (also nice verbos collection in back :O )

[@duckwrth2472]

What program are you using for the visualizer?? (:

[@ew7230]

It's official: We've been MKUltra'd by Nathan Moody and Hainbach

[@lukewarm5356]

Hi Hainbach. That was fascinating and really informative, Nathan would definitely be my first choice for mastering. Given that you were always intending to release on vinyl I'd be interested to know if that drove your thinking in any way when you were mixing. Nathan mentioned bringing the spread in a bit to make it cuttable, is there anything else you think needs to be borne in mind? Good luck with with the album, sounds really fine

[@Hainbach]

No, that was basically it - no crazy phase stuff, keep Bass mostly mono.

[@lukewarm5356]

@@Hainbach Thanks for that, much appreciated

[@alan_gleeson]

Distrokid, fine as long as you don't need to set your genre as "Ambient" or even "Electronic", not available.

[@tracyharms3548]

Sheer sorcery, Nathan

[@PAST-TO-FUTURE-REVERBS]

Which metering software is that at the back on your laptop? Cheers

[@Hainbach]

RME Digicheck NG

[@PAST-TO-FUTURE-REVERBS]

@@Hainbach thanks a lot!

[@el_dani]

is this a Sega Seaman on the cover?

[@huhummmmmmm]

exactly what i thought :D

[@spacetrucker2196]

Logic, the DAW everyone is actually using when they say protools.

[@moisesherreraa]

Is the mastering a psychological trick??

[@edgeeffect]

I'm disappointed that people ask you "are you on Spoitify?" don't you get, like, 0.00000000000001 Euro for each Spotify play?

[@Hainbach]

Yeah, but regular people don't care. I think this is very much a music world discussion, sadly.

[@NickHchaos]

HAINBACH I just don’t even see the point of putting stuff on those sites. It’s the same devil’s bargain as giving all your data away for free in exchange for free videos. Oh hello you tube.

[@McFly.]

what files does the mastering engineer get? only one final file or the whole project with separated drums, voice, synth...?

[@Hainbach]

Usually it is a stereo file. There are engineers that offer stem mastering, which is IMHO is more like mixing, and is thus more expensive.

[@DJBuglip]

Yeah, I bet he passes you almost package-ready mixes.

[@MrMorelloJr]

Hainbach, your album is really amazing. I am intrigued by the album cover, who is the artist? :)

[@Hainbach]

Here is video we made on her whole process: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kKiVonpvn5eLea8

[@MrMorelloJr]

@@Hainbach thank you! I missed this one

[@Hainbach]

Yeah the algo really did not promote it

[@edgeeffect]

@@MrMorelloJr I was about to jump I and say "You missed an episode!"

[@linusmellstrom8550]

thought the the shirt said "bruh"

[@SchenectadySlim]

That is a neat scar on Mr Engineer’s finger. I hope It wasn’t from a Sawtooth Waveform! Oh God, that was awful.

[@noisejockey]

That was the result of a severe table saw injury about four months ago. When I made this video, I barely had gotten full use of that hand. No way to hide it on a video like this, I'll be living with it for the rest of my life! :-)

[@goodpal7444]

Three cheers for subliminal messages!

[@noisejockey]

:-D

[@ambientpunkandholeinasock9927]

Great 👍

[@cappleproductions8654]

you are my inspiration in reel to reel music production, also what tapes do you use on your reel to reel :D

[@Hainbach]

SM468

[@normapadro420]

Hi. I master all of my music. I also created all of the art for my covers as well. I'm an independent artist.

[@Hainbach]

Good for you!

[@maleev_music]

Gibt's das etwa auf vinyl?

[@Hainbach]

Na Klar: www.patch-point.com/hainbach

[@maleev_music]

@@Hainbach ich checke gerade den Sound auf bandcamp. Auf jeden Fall anders als erwartet.. Aber geil auf jeden Fall!

[@danikoenig]

this is grossartig.

[@MrAnselm77]

SUPER DOPE 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🇨🇦👊🏿🙏🏿😷

[@robinovvelociraptor809]

BRU

[@zazenbo]

I miss my wife

[@kristopherdetar4346]

Looks like over processing of original sound the musician had intended. Especially when it comes to the kind of music Hainbach makes. We are not talking about a full live orchestra. The sound signature of Hainbach’s is not perfect which gives its unique color. I’m not digging the over engineered flow process. It would be more truthful to say the final product is a collaborative effort between artist and sound engineer. Am I out of line here or not??

[@patrikknoerr9777]

I'm quite fond of my Ozone Suite, and usually I think the music sounds better when not "mastered". In this video, the mastered tracks sound OK to somewhat BETTER, but on the bandcamp website, the MP3 preview is as good or as bad as the stuff that I get out of my Ozone. Anyway : Interesting music.

[@noisejockey]

patrik knoerr the secret of mastering is when to know what not to do. 😊✊️

[@fittingoff]

I don't think "better" was a correct word. Not doubting the master behind the mastering, I liked the original mix better in half of the cases (and it is you to like the mastered version, of course). BUT isn't the video extremely useful and helpful? Yes, it is! Very grateful to @noisejockey for it!