How To Master A Song In 10 Minutes - RecordingRevolution.com

[@recordingrevolution]

►► Create radio-worthy songs from your bedroom. Download my FREE Radio Ready Guide and learn my 6 step process → RadioReadyGuide.com

[@KOSMIKFEADRECORDS]

You dont think "radio-worthy" is one of the lowest standards in the industry? You dont think "Create classic smashers that will stand the test of time" is a more worthy aim at this point in time?

[@j.r.ankney5334]

signed up for the "Radio Ready Guide" but site wasn't found....

[@TheDilligan]

For any Reaper users, if you want to do that Parallel Compression trick on your master, Reaper puts a wet/dry knob up at the corner of EVERY plugin. So you can use any compressor without having to do any crazy routing configurations.

[@theDOAdrummer]

Another trick is as soon as you've done these steps, bounce to MP3 and play it on as many systems as you can and take notes. Then go back to the stems and change it up, then repeat. Then use those 2 MP3's as references.

[@rosswheatley8329]

IMO this is one of the most important steps, but also the worst. Because I will find myself in a constant loop of trying to perfect things, over adjusting, rinse, repeat.

[@rectoplasmic4630]

@@rosswheatley8329 story of my life

[@brentransome579]

And granted the speakers you are playing thru

[@simonwebber2661]

I can't even begin to imagine how many aspiring musicians you've helped out with these solid, straight forward and fundamental mixing and mastering lessons, Thank you for this series Graham!

[@berlinbayband6883]

Hey, this is a nice mastering Reference ... 4:50 Mastering EQ 6:50 Mastering Compressor 12:06 Mastering Limiter + VU-Meter Thanks for posting, Graham. Tom #BerlinBayBand

[@marcjustinpascasio9955]

Thank you for the timestamps :) now I know the exact procedures.

[@HimanshuSharma-vt8ke]

Its funny how the exact same mix before the limiter sounded okayish... but after the limiting it sounded like a really professional song.... huh... loudness really fools our brains

[@channelderek9005]

Should have level matched the two to hear what the limiter is doing to the music...

[@frytsz007]

I thinks its because we can hear the details a lot clearer

[@NickB-md1oy]

Channel Derek the limiter does nothing but add volume though

[@AJDOLDCHANNELARCHIVE]

@@NickB-md1oy Not really, because it is crushing things that are loud and bringing up quieter elements as a side-effect, it does have a pretty substantial difference on the overall sound beyond just overall loudness.

[@Nutamago]

blast a grindcore or any metal recording with that kind of volume. sound professional enough?

[@CodyCleggMusic]

Mastering my second EP 1.5 years after the first one, and came back to this video again for a refresher. Thanks, Graham!

[@MidlifeRenaissanceMan]

How to master a song in 30 seconds Load Ozone into the output bus Select the preset that sounds best Grab a beer and say "Close enough!"

[@elwrongo]

hey that"s what I do!

[@SCRollNinja]

Haha i do the same

[@anicca.5475]

hahaha lol

[@Braillionaire]

LOL That was me for years!

[@aaronjones3866]

facts lol

[@recordingrevolution]

For those of you looking for the final version of this song, it's available on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Amazon, and more. Just look up Graham Cochrane - Bury It.

[@joeyhildreth4802]

recordingrevolution 5 minutes to master a song: Export all of your tracks as stems and place into a folder. Zip the folder. Send the folder to a mastering engineer.

[@CJMarsicanoPA]

+Joey Hildreth That's not mastering, that's mixing. Mastering would involve sending the final two-track stereo mix to the mastering engineer.

[@GeoffWilde]

Joey Hildreth WRONG

[@SMG_Media_Marketing]

That's called stem mastering, not mixing.

[@CJMarsicanoPA]

Seems like Mr. Hildreth is confused or at the very least, quite a bit ill informed as to the difference between mastering a finished mix and finalizing the EQ on individual tracks/stems.

[@Mrjblanco1]

Wow!! Listened to the final version on Spotify and sounds amazing I'm blown away all stock plug ins with budget gear so punchy and up front and LOUD. Great job sir you changed my aspect on engineering for life thank you Graham God is showing off in your life keep it up

[@dplagoon]

I've recently begun home recording and have become obsessed like Frankenstein in his lab. After so many hours of research I have to say this series has quelled my anxiety of over saturating my mind with everything I can find. I'm going to go back and re-mix and master all my songs now. Thank you!

[@DaltonGrados]

Yes! Thank you Graham for posting this. Been following the "how to mix from scratch" series and this is just what I needed to finish it off! Thank you for all of the value you provide us.

[@napkinshoplifta5163]

Dalton Grados ye Read more

[@costachipuka6309]

.

[@a1guitarmaker]

Great lesson... I love that Focusrite compressor, use it a lot. However, more often I grab the TDR Kotelnikov (which is free for everyone).

[@reignz1397]

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[@famoustwins2x]

How to I get it please help

[@UltraSamurai]

Love that compressor. Actually like a lot of that brands plugins.

[@samuelbrittingham1140]

Hey man I just wanted to shout and give you a huge Thanks! I've watched so many youtube videos on improving my Mixing and Mastering skills and you do such a great job at actually simplifying and explaining how to utilize the tools you have to get a great mix. I think the first video I watched was your explanation of how a compressor works and after that I was hooked. People always get on KZbin and like show what they did on a mix with the compressor to get great vocals by setting the Attack at this and Threshold to this but that never seemed to really help me grasp how to use to the tool. Honestly you are the only Teacher out there on KZbin that seems like you really want people to learn how to get better at being a Producer/Engineer. Even though I make Hip Hop, your videos still help a ton. I don't do a lot of Mic setups and recording live but beyond that point it still applies. Anyways just wanted to say your the man bro! Keep making those videos. Even though I've been making my own beats for a long time and putting somewhat decent mixes of my own stuff. I'm getting out there like you said and offering to Mix anything I can get my hands on for free just to get more experience on other artists music. Hopefully they feel it and I can eventually get a little more serious with it. Thanks again.

[@TheMusicRecordingNetworkLive]

Samuel Brittingham wow, I read all of this. I am a retired mix eng, producer of hip-hop r&b music. I just built a new studio in my house. What caught my eye was mastering in 10 minutes????.....i was like let me see the fool....lol but after reading your comment I am looking forward to seeing more videos from this person. And I would love to hear your mixes. Maybe I can give so e small pointers. OR you just maybe there and don't know it.

[@vanrozay8871]

Amazing how effective the minimal eq adjustments are.

[@ImmaCalouS_MTCS]

THANK GOD FOR MENTORS SUCH AS YOURSELF. Blessings

[@darraghglennonmusic]

I've been watching these videos since the '5 Minutes to a Better Mix' series and this addition shows the consistently excellent quality of his educational content. Thank you Graham!

[@Abelmusic]

Dude Graham, I love this song! It's cool to see you improving as you teach us. I've been watching you since I was 14 I'm 19 now.

[@dxwallace55]

This series of Recording, Mixing, and Mastering from scratch is a gold mine for newbies !!

[@zedriwhaley4969]

I have followed your videos on how to mix a song from beginning to end. I must say…You make this a whole lot more easy and interesting than anyone else I have seen!!!! Thank you!!!! This has been very helpful!!! Keep up the Great Work!!!!!

[@kamranayazi4196]

Graham, you're the best mentor I've ever seen in my whole life. I've been following you for awhile and I've learned very much from you. Thumbs up! Keep up the good work, dude!

[@lassestorgaardjacobsen]

Graham, I like your final song better than the reference song.

[@monkeyrobotsinc.9875]

r u sure?

[@autocrow]

Agreed. I like it better.

[@avdiophxraoh3016]

I agree, it sounds better than the ref track. The vocal is much more clean

[@SkrawnCPT]

The reference track is really bad quality, that's why.

[@lennyluzitano8920]

Yes way beter than the reference.....

[@russellrivera1]

I'm revisiting this video again to get some inspiration and perspective, and I forgot how awesome this song is. This is one of those songs that I wish I would have written and recorded. Great song, great production...this made my day. I must purchase this one.

[@markushassel2737]

I love this channel. Such important tools for DIY producers and musicians. No bull, straight to the point. Keep it up!!

[@Advait]

Best mix / mastering tutorial on KZbin

[@mpmusic9378]

Great job breaking down mastering. I feel like it is something that most overlook(ed), including me.

[@autocrow]

This is the best mastering video I've watched and I just watched 3 others. You actually took us through the process and you didn't endlessly ramble on and on. Everything you said was relevant and made perfect sense. I also liked the way you repeated at the end what you did. Subbed.

[@deftoner718]

autocrow this video was awesome for the very same reason you stated

[@Musicphilsgood]

I've had protools for like 5 years and no one has ever told me the magic of the limiters and how to so I've been limiting and doing all the that the best I could the long way not knowing which plugin it was. KZbinrs are always saying talking around it like parents do sex to kids, like, "and then you throw a limiter and master it and bla bla," and I'm like no tell me how show me. ah, sigh

[@RajatKalraMOS]

You are one of the best teachers in the world Graham!

[@kernjames]

Great video. I appreciate that you spoke quickly on this video. I am a hands on type of person and videos about recording can be a bit dry. So I really appreciate when someone is concise and to the point.

[@JBauerProject]

This was VERY helpful. Don't sweat the haters' comments Graham. You do great work and we're happy to learn from you.

[@RocknRollkat]

Like I've been saying since 1961.... "Record it right and the mastering takes care of itself". This presentation pretty much proves my point. I never understood why people need mastering houses.

[@wdd2234]

I have seen quite a few persons on KZbin saying this & that, but your presentation by far was concise, and to the point. Thank you 😊

[@reevrob]

You're a good teacher, man. Way better than that "industry guy" who praises every plug-in he uses (well, he's paid to do so). Your example is great too. Keep it up.

[@stelladevania3607]

Have watched this full series. Thank you. You're seriously the best at teaching. Maybe not the best producer, but the best teacher. You made sure we understand WHY we use plugins. Unlike other youtubers that just tells us to put something in "to make them sound better" but never goes in depth about why. I've been putting pluggins in and tweak knobs at random to see which ones make an instrument sound better. I mean, it works, but takes so much time. Nothing is more frustrating than KNOWING your song sounds bad but don't know what to do 😥. You don't know how much this means to me. Thank you. You deserve much more subs than this

[@In-Ear-Studio]

You're doing an amazing work of simplifying the audio production to the world. Congrats!

[@Sky3RN]

I really love this song.

[@ElectromagneDikk]

I appreciate what you're doing in these videos, I've been recording and mixing and mastering my own stuff for a long time but I'm always trying to get other people's perspectives because you're never done learning, so thank you for all the tips and advice

[@juniormiguelcornejocastell5992]

I downloaded the guide and it really cover everything, really really thank you for everything, you should get more subscribers because all your videos are super complete, and you're helping us (beginners) to reach our goal and learn a little more.

[@AyoSolanke]

THANK YOU. Never thought i would ever be able to Master a song but after watchng your video, it answered a looooot of my questions. Really grateful. Thank you for sharing your knowledge

[@chrisgmusic4God]

You’re the man bro! And a brother in Christ it sounds like 👍🏻 God bless and thank you for all the great videos. I learn a lot

[@TheRickysee]

Graham. You have really "mastered" the descriptive terms for explaining sound. You always pick the perfect words. Smack, fizzy, rounded off, love it!

[@rone4165]

Hey, great stuff! My many months of practicing brought me so much into micro-doodling; I learned what NOT to do. It is true, 'less is more'.

[@Bring_MeSunshine]

Cool. Watched this because it came through as an email recommend. The explanations of certain features on the plugins, such as the dry/wet feature on the Comp and running the settings on the Klanghelm were particularly helpful. In fact, I'm now gonna get that VU plugin for that reason. Cheers

[@Bcwilderness]

imo its vital to get that snare drum clear and punchy enough, that and vox the centre of my music mind or what my ear draws to, esp on small speakers , great work and vid g , respect

[@davejohnsonmusic]

Just bought this track on iTunes man. Watched all your videos on the process of making it and wanted to have the final product. Great job and great videos.

[@808j3]

Wow..what next wipe his ass?

[@chrispoulin5902]

Thanks Graham. I've learned a lot from your videos. Been working on an album now for some time. I just keep plugging away even though it's taking forever. I also started to make some money as an audio engineer this year. I should thank you for that as well because I think one of your tutorials or videos you basically said go for it. I've been a professional musician for 20 years but I'm seeing as I get older, audio engineering will be a better revenue stream for me because I won't want to schlep equipment in and out of clubs at 1 in the morning when I'm 64. Plus it pays better. One of these days I will actually buy one of your products because you have already earned my money with your free tutorials. That will have to wait til my starving musician income makes an uptick unfortunately. But I just want to say I'm grateful form your willingness to share your knowledge. keep it up and ignore any haters you rock!

[@jeffkent3316]

Graham...thanks for all you do. Couple of comments from me, a follower of your for a couple of years. Your advice, "Keep making recordings. More! More! More! if you want to get better." I can tell you that I agree 100%. The recordings I make now, while still aren't that good are light years better than the first ones I made. Next thought, and this is a big one. If a person is just starting out and making bad recordings here's what that person is up against. If I just keep doing the same thing I just got done doing how is that going to make me any better? In other words, if I just made a bad recording and I turn around and do the same thing again what am I going to get? You guessed it, another bad recording. That's not easy to do. But here's what I would add to your advice. While making all the recordings continue to study and learn more and more about mic placement, gain staging, setting the volume of tracks after recording, panning, EQ, compression, and on and on and on. When I first started watching and reading your stuff, a lot of it was WAY over my head. Much of it still is. But guess what? Just like you said, the more I record AND THE MORE I LISTEN TO HOW TO USE EQ, COMPRESSION, etc, etc, the easier it is to understand what you're talking about and the better my recordings are turning out. And you are so right. I must be pretty typical. I may only make 3-4 recordings a year. Maybe fewer. A couple of reasons for that. It's hard to make the time to do something that isn't going to sound that good. Just coming up with an idea is hard. Typically I record all the tracks of a song myself. I record "cover" songs. That means I have to learn all the different parts. Guitar, bass, vocals, etc., etc. That could take me weeks (or longer) before I even start to think about recording. It's a long, slow process for me. And I get side tracked. But it's my hobby, and it's fun. Maybe someday I can get good enough to have other people record them. One big mistake I make is one you talk about. I record all these guitar tracks. And you've said that when you listen to stuff others send in for your critique that all you hear is a bunch of blasting-out-loud guitar tracks. And it sounds like crap. And that's where I am. I know that is something that I need to work on. but my recordings still seem to have that characteristic. So thanks again. Now I'm off to learn the bass line to the Who's, "Long Live Rock."

[@drummingdrunk]

Hey Man, just wanted to say thanks! Was watching this while sitting on my desk at the office, I'll be trying this once I get home.

[@hank7950]

Great stuff! Been studying a lot on how to perfect my trade and this is just what I needed. Thanks for the "short" video on mastering (I don't mind watching 30-60 minutes) but to the point and key things to look at is really what I care about as I became even better.

[@TheKEVINMK]

Hi Mr Graham, Don't know if you'll read the message but, I just want to say, A Great and Huge THANK YOU!!! For all your Tips,videos series and your time ,it really helps a lot! God Bless You,one more time thank you!

[@DDCCOOKZ]

This was very informative and extremely helpful. I am a young producer who originally is a songwriter, this and the guide will help in my finals at Full Sail and in the future thank you.💯

[@1verzhn]

You are an amazing singer, arranger songwriter mixer. This song and sticks and stones are my faves by you.

[@gulfcoastballa]

Thanks for this video! I just mastered my first song, about to give it the car test now

[@danimations80]

Thanks Graham. You've clearly shown how some minor processing can have a major impact on the final product. Invaluable video.

[@PeterLindelauf]

Great tutorial. Looking forward to doing first mastering. Thanks.

[@LanceCampeau]

Fight the loudness war! An RMS sitting around -14 dB offers better clarity for drums and bass on rock tracks.

[@shantv9446]

LanceCampeau ya but it does skew the dynamic range...not good for casual listening...brooooo

[@LanceCampeau]

Every audio mix has to support a wide variety of playback situations and because of this, there needs to be some compromise... a quiet listening environment with good quality playback equipment can properly reproduce a recording with a large dynamic range. However... a poor quality playback system in a noisy environment cannot accurately reproduce a large dynamic range.... because of the wide variety of possible playback scenarios, some audio compression is required to optimize the recording for use in all siuations. This will ensure that it sounds good all possible playback systems (HI FI stereo system, headphones, Bluetooth speaker, cell phone speaker, FM broadcast chain, large PA system, etc...). A music recording with about 14 dB of peak headroom is right in the middle of being optimal for all situations.

[@Charlyfromthenuclearcity]

Well Ian Shpeherd knows a little about loudness war. :P

[@PHELCAN]

LanceCampeau Just be careful not to wage the loudness war too valiantly. These days tons of listening happens through tiny phone speakers and if you lay off the limiting too much then nobody's even going to hear the song to begin with

[@Hexspa]

idk. Tool released some great sounding stuff around -9. You can't generalize about these things with complete authority. Sometimes, smashing things brings out interesting effects. Can't say the same about this Maroon 5 master that Graham is using, though.

[@Rick-Songs]

Thanks so much Graham, very easy to understand instructions. Actually the best I've seen so far.

[@CHIG5748]

I love a mix knob. Should be on every plugin. Using a Compressor like this you can compress more than normal and mix in the compression in essence creating a rear bus without having to create an Aux track with a compressor and setting up sends.

[@rickspyder1]

One of the top ten vids I've seen so far...FANTASTIC

[@Babaksaeedi]

Great tip on parallel compression on master bus.

[@djendix]

Thanks to you Sir I have become more proficient in regards to music. I have seen a few of your videos and can't believe little things got past me over the past years thinking I am so intelligent.

[@evolving_omniscient_machine]

Nice and straightforward video for transparent mastering. Thank you Graham. Damir

[@minttrax]

best mastering video ive seen so far on mastering, easy to expand on these ideas and great advice thanks for this

[@andrewarnold9642]

This is incredibly comprehensive, and you did a wonderful job of explaining these concepts. I left this video with enough knowledge to get my first master exactly where I wanted it. Thank you :)

[@byronuk9271]

i know its a bit late but i absolutely love that song!!! i watched your videos slightly out of sequenc and had no idea it was you singing, thanks for the lesson your the only one stopping me loose my mind in my quest to become the worlds best producer and artist!! HAVING NEVER PRODUCED,MIXED OR MASTERED A SINGLE ONE OF MY OWN SONGS TILL A MONTH AGO!! HAHA (DREAMS JUST DONT GO AWAY!! :-)

[@TazzSmk]

dry/wet knob - Reaper by design has this control for basically every individual plugin you throw on a track :D

[@SOULSWAYMUSIC]

hello from Argentina! thank you very much for sharing your videos! you are very pedagogical!! Big hug! Adrian

[@DanDDirges]

I like your song better. So you EQ and Compress in the MIX stage AND the Master stage. Another helpful video! Thank you

[@nostaticatall]

Thank you so much, Graham. This is definitely the sort of thing the online music community needs. Cheers!

[@kingsleyjones4785]

thank you for your wonderful guide bro...... actually i use to write and record song in my iphone but i don't know how to make a song in a professional way ... by watching your videos (how to record and mix a song from the scratch ) it gave me confidence.....once again thank you

[@RobCarrollMusic]

I really appreciate your lessons and skills. I've learned so much from watching your channel over the years

[@domyon]

your song sounds dope. sounds better than a lot of other demonstrations i hear.

[@eds6889]

Liked your comp and eq, brought out background vocals and tightened the bottom end while giving the mix more instrument clarity. Nice work.

[@DacianGradaMusic]

Thank you for this video brother! It's reassuring to see that almost all the steps I already do when mastering are tried and true for veterans like you :) greetings from Italy, God Bless!

[@13opacus]

Thanks Graham this is great, really helpful. I had no idea this could be so simple because of the way people go on about mastering. This explains the process so well.

[@DavidMcKeevermusic]

One of the best mastering videos I've seen, thanks for your work! It kinda reminds me of going to the eye doctor, "number1... or number2". Subtle adjustments to bring the mix 'into focus'.

[@Charlyfromthenuclearcity]

Nice thing is to reference with your OWN mix ! That way you be shure you don't lose anything from the original mix.

[@renestjacques1]

Thank you for your insight to master a song recording .. well done ..! Merci pour votre perspicacité à maîtriser un enregistrement de chanson .. bravo ..! 🎁✨🎼🎶🎵🎧

[@pierrecrespel7394]

great job & video. Thanks for sharing & helping artists & music get heard properly

[@currentphonograph1734]

new & improved masters on the way. thank you

[@sody2000]

He really did make the mastering job SMOKIN great in 10 minutes. WOW. Major difference.

[@philimac1278]

Nice, quick and clean conservative approach. Great Video! TY Graham.

[@aleciocosta7346]

You should insert Waves Paz Analyzer so you could have a more accurate reading of the target frequencies. Also, however you lowered Maroon 5's reference, remember that they probably used some sort of saturation / aural excitment and sometimes, stereo enlargment, which shall not be at your master fader plugins. I know one of Maroon 5's mastering engineer and I imagine he does not make gain reduction with only one stage of limiter.

[@max_minze]

HUGE Thanks mate🤩 I didn't knew that a unmastered track sounds sooo different to a mastered one.

[@morgandebeir8190]

Really appreciate the simple approach to mastering. Interesting "use" on the compressor. But, it worked. Amazing how some presets can work. Enjoyed and learned as always. Thank you and appreciate the time and dedication it takes to do a channel like this. Thumbs up!!!

[@nicktshredz]

I love what you did with making the guitarsome more punchy. It's like you separated the low in the high-end in a way that makes them more clear. I love it.

[@taylormadetrax5579]

Hey Graham. Thank you for the videos. They are all extremely helpful. Much appreciated.

[@DemisFenech]

Great video but mastering does not involve just 10 mins of eq and compression. It also involves listening on different sound systems and try to balance between them cause a song won't sound the same on a 5.1 system and on head phones or a bluetooth speaker. You have to try and make it sound close on different kinds of systems.

[@cement01]

Watched all of these last night, absolutely great guide, really looking forward to improving my mixing now, thanks!

[@kaivrock]

I'll sometimes take the reference and my mix and play them at the same time. It sounds crazy and I only do it for about 5 seconds at a time but you can really hear what's lacking or what is too much.

[@funkcrewbandonly1]

Fantastic video👍 Thank you so much Graham, I trust in everything you share with me in your video's because of how you explain thing's makes a lot of sense. Keep up the good work you're doing😉

[@autocrow]

I finally got around to trying this out. Just like your song mine changed very subtle with every little step, but in the end sounded marvelous!!

[@deltalima5806]

Great Video. Very helpful the way you explain and show things. Thanks!

[@kkeevviin]

Is taking the threshold on his limiter in Pro Tools equivalent to, in the Ableton limiter, increasing the gain?

[@d.j.2tuff725]

Learned so much today, you have others as well?

[@DRKCONWAY27]

Graham, you are the man. I appreciate you 💯💯

[@jbandshahayeah1862]

I really enjoy your stuff. Straight forward, easy to follow

[@alextotheroh8071]

Great video, extremely valuable, thank you. Just wondering though if you could remind me how many steps there are in the process?

[@heavenlykingdomrelaxation1324]

I humbly apologize but I must have hearing problems because I can't hear the difference between before and after. It could be because I'm using a pair of bose ultra quiet comfort headphones 🎧. Maybe if I were listening to studio headphones, I might hear a difference. I love your video bubby. Awesome presentation. I love vu meters.

[@nessrecords]

I think the skill is in the ears making those subtle EQ edits. Great vid.