Slate Digital MASTERING Tutorial | Mastering a Song

#mastering #musicproduction #slatedigital
This is the Mastering Tutorial Video section of the Everything Bundle Pro Mix Course, an eight part mixing and mastering series by Steven Slate here he takes a home studio recording done in a living room and turns it into a modern radio ready rock mix. The course comes with multitrack sessions for all major DAWs and shows the ins and outs of mastering a song in 24 minutes.
You can get this full course and more on mastering a song for FREE with the Slate Digital Everything Bundle, starting at only $14.99 per month. The Everything Bundle gives you all Slate Digital plugins (so you'll have all the plugins used in the course too!), and you'll also get every new plugin that comes out as long as you are a member.
Get the Complete Access and a FREE Pro Session Mix Course at slatedigital.c...

[@danboniface914]

We home recording musicians/engineers are blessed to be living in this time. The technology that’s available to us is mind boggling.

[@bexisoficial]

i couldn't agree more, im so grateful

[@machine821]

Amazing

[@theofficialvemg505]

I say this all the time. The fact that IM doing music at THIS time where I can record MYSELF. Its destiny and im thankful and grateful to the most high.

[@vaughnmiller4371]

Exactly. I often say this to my musician Buddies and even to myself at times.. I'm old school I go back to the 4 track recorder when it was affordable for consumers. And I've been using DAW's and various plugins for quite a few years now and and it still blows my mind how much power that plugin's and a laptop computer have. And you can take it with you, become mobile, a walking recording studio..🤓🤯

[@theofficialvemg505]

@@vaughnmiller4371 Its nothing but God and timing !

[@Rolanoid]

That's a great mastering mantra: " You are not tying the shoes or replacing the leather, you are polishing them."

[@HandsUpDK]

Yeah seems like every guy in audio has another stupid allegory for explaining mixing and mastering....

[@jefdamen2977]

Yeah but when u are learning to mix, u end up with a lot of plugins on the master section to compensate the less perfect mixing.

[@rx456]

@@jefdamen2977 when u learn buss, thats easy.. less mess to worry about

[@elronlavey5912]

I’m guilty of overusing plugins in my masters but admitting I have a problem is the first step to recovery

[@officialdiomer]

lolol

[@stoltobot]

Coming back to watch this several years after starting to do mixing seriously I now know what the hell you’re talking about as you do it and I had no idea what I was doing for the longest time. Still don’t but it is encouraging to know how far my holistic understanding of the process has come.

[@jpeezystudios]

The power of doing nothing is so under rated! Great video!

[@kennyglod7]

I never get tired of watching this tutorial. There’s always some new thing learned I didn’t catch the previous times I’ve watched!

[@Mdjagg]

Theory is where it's at. The processing is nice to see, but the reasoning is how we can take something substantial away.

[@MattGabnai]

yeah, the plugins are golden already, but these go to eleven

[@AlexNiedt]

Great-sounding mix and master. I also automate ITP when using FG-X. Love the Brian Wilson Wilson-esque harmony break, too.

[@Shung79]

Awesome tutorial. This is the best Mastering tutorial I have seen till now. Thanks for it :)

[@upliftersmusic]

Did this video make anyone else really excited in getting the FG-X Plug- in? Steven Slate thank you for your sincerity and honesty when giving advice! -Uplifters

[@JesseBroman]

Thanks Steven, the automation tip about ITP was pretty interesting. I want to say that I am an FG-X fan and I use it fairly frequently in mastering. That being said I want to point out that the "Dynamic Perception" knob you really have to be careful with in high loudness situations. It can cause a very unpleasant "glossy crunchiness" when pushed past a certain point.

[@Brindlebrother]

When the FG level foresees a kick drum transient, it optimizes a specific saturation curve to best preserve low-end punch. I love jargon

[@virgilebeats3041]

Tarskybull Beme I mean it describes what it does doesn’t it ?

[@IainFrame]

Slate has the voice of a god. He should be doing voiceovers man!

[@CristianPoow]

I like the way your Drums sound tighter and clearer. Will use those techniques on my house music projects so I can achieve an even bigger n' polished sound on the drums.

[@BOSSSHAWN]

I don't even really listen to rock but that sounds very good. Has a lot of soul and emotion in the chorus. I like it. Reminds me of Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit" another great rock/grudge type of song that I really enjoyed.

[@CortneyWarren2050]

Incredible tutorial. I'm now part of the Steven Slate Digital Everything family, and I love the plugins. My music is gonna sound so rich now.

[@jmac2050]

Mastering was having a constant volume and tone going from one song to another song on a album, also adding spacing and fades. Adding effects is going back to the mixing stage. Adding polish is a mastering engineer trying to save time from having a song remixed, which would be costly in the analog era.

[@4dmind]

Less truly is more, most of the time. The key is everything with purpose, and after 20+ years I'm still learning this. I do recommend totally screwing up by doing too much processing (at every stage), because you'll not only learn not to do it, but WHY not to do it.

[@BabyWavv]

That bridge coming into Chorus 3 Gave me CHILLLLS 🔥 Amazing master as usual ❤️

[@kled10]

So good! Slate is such a game changer. Learned a lot from this. I got the slate digital bundle and my mixes are now starting to sound right. Thanks so much man!

[@danboniface914]

kled10 half the price of my gym membership. Best deal ever.

[@JesseBroman]

You guys have done an excellent job creating a loudness plugin that doesnt dramatically change balances or the overall eq of the track very much even when used to the extreme. One of the first times I used it on a master, the band commented that it sounded "perfectly transparent" to the original. You give us some important features to control the sound, without needing a Ph. D to use it. Many thanks, and I cant wait for that distressor next!!!

[@mmmusicc777]

loving your plug in slate is changing the quality of my mixes and mastering to another level very happy to have the everything pack

[@approachableactive]

This Plugin changed my life! I've spent 15 years mastering with the wrong kit. And I had no idea until i used this! Who is the band?

[@SlateDigitalTV]

The song is called 'The Bottle' from The Plutonium Project. The band is a collaboration between Sean Halley and a couple of different drummers. Glad you like it!

[@loxpower]

Brilliant. Just brilliant. Can't wait to lay my hands on the mixing tutorial.

[@soothingsyrup7721]

I followed your steps in my mastering and it sounds amazing now

[@geamase]

This mix if freaking phenomenal!!!! yeah, this was about the mastering process, but this is my first time listening through. Can't wait for the whole course!!!

[@OntheHookGames]

Best Mastering KZbin video I’ve seen so far. Thanks man.

[@DANTHETUBEMAN]

it was a great mix to start with and i would say you achieved you goal of not coloring it adding loudness,, good job, good plugins great mixing.

[@JesseBroman]

The more i think about it, the ITP automation IS really useful. You might've just won me back.

[@287kj]

Steve, That's some serious mastering. Keep it coming!

[@cesarepelaschier4829]

he is working on a song that was recorded in a top notch studio with the best equipment.

[@Rodders5000]

I'd love to see how you deal with a bad mix!

[@lucidlife4098]

facts

[@MacAudio74]

Rudi Greyvenstein You can’t polish a turd.

[@franco.cordini]

Why bother mastering a bad mix? It's pointless. Better to make a good mix, and then master that good mix

[@Rodders5000]

Well I suppose you could turn down the work if you're more established. I guess I'm not in a position to say sorry, dudes this is shit keep your money.

[@franco.cordini]

@@Rodders5000 "you could turn down the work if you're more established"? Lol that is a pretty mediocre way of thinking, so whats your proposition instead of buying these plugins? Using waves? Uad? You will have to spend money no matter what, i would not be surprised if you are the type of dude who crack vst's to save some money, pretty mediocre thinking tbh

[@zeppo20]

Steven, you are the best.

[@JasonMcMullen]

FG-X is awesome. Used it since 2011. Looking forward to the new version to come

[@ianscreamsvideo]

Killer tutorial Steven. Didn’t really get the fgx till this. Just used it in this fashion and the red and it worked great. Keep em coming buddy

[@orfeoblouin6578]

Awesome program

[@StaticTeaz]

I know this isn't the latest offering out there by any means but I think I'm going to start using this last in my mastering chain (often stacking it on top of another transparent limiter).

[@STUDIO-mo3ho]

Great tutorial, thanks a lot!!!!! Bravissima lezione, grazie tante!

[@nuellemusique]

Wow! This sounds amazing!

[@jjboogie1]

I'm assuming you turn off the Constant Gain Monitoring before sending off to the client? ;-)

[@angelcanobeats]

jjajaja good one

[@DaRza17]

must be some kinda insider joke for people that understand mixing and mastering... can you fill me in xD

[@Pollvrd]

The "Constant Gain Monitoring" compensates for the gain increase. So if he increases the overall loudness by 7.8db, the "Constant Gain Monitoring" will decrease the volume by 7.8db. Therefore there is no actual difference in overall loudness. Mastering is all about increasing perceived loudness, so before he sends the master to the client, he would have to turn off that setting to get the overall loudness to the volume he was looking for to begin with.

[@user-nu5hq7ws9y]

@@Pollvrd in other words... His clients don't get Mastering Included. Lol

[@vasedeterre]

JJ Boogie hahahaha! I also assume that

[@martijnvandongen]

Thanks a lot for the clear explanation!

[@aquindeur8182]

So informative, thanks a lot!

[@user-yk4gd1fl4z]

um...this song is great. love the mix .

[@ZugZwang_]

What a great video!!I realy like your plugins and you Just explained it perfectly.Thank you very much ;)

[@GprokYB]

well done Slate!

[@madlopherliy]

This tut still slaps.

[@drill2.087]

What band/song is this? Sounds great

[@ofirke]

Thanks for the tutorial. when will we finally see FG-X Version 2? it has been promised long long time ago...

[@joebrian3875]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5S6ZoeDetN9acU

[@gurindersingh7933]

Great tutorial and thousands of information.please upload a video to how to mix vocal with these plugins.

[@ZachHayesRB]

Man, Anthony Jeselnik really knows his shit

[@kevinbrawley]

Once you hear it, you cannot unhear this. 😂

[@seanyoung9014]

This is so great. Fortunately I've been using this plugin correctly. lol thanks Steven!

[@evolving_omniscient_machine]

Really, really great video. Thanks Steven! Damir

[@thelifeproductions1]

Thanks for posting. I have been dying to try this Slate Audio Master plugin on my tracks.

[@Danalionthetrak]

Sounds great Steven!

[@JesseBroman]

I think one reason why I havent been using FG-X lately is the lack of a gain reduction meter on the FG-Level. A second reason would be that I dont love how it handles cymbals and guitars. And to be honest, in this mastering tutorial, the hi-hat and guitar sounds did change significantly. If you listen carefully, the midrange of the guitars comes up and hi-hat cutting frequencies came up. If you had wanted to get it 100% balanced like the original, additional EQ would need to be used.

[@SlateDigitalTV]

Hi Jesse, check out 18:09 where I do the last A/B that includes the parallel compression.. guitars and hi hat sound remarkably similar from mix to master. I'd make sure not to crank the Transient Detail or Dynamic Perception more than 9 o'clock, or else as you said, this could affect the cymbals. Thanks for the comments! - Steven

[@JesseBroman]

SlateTV sounds very similar but hi-hat poking through just a bit more in the highs in the version that has FG-Red and FG-X enabled as compared to version with only FG-Red. Guitar upper-midrange also slightly more forward in this same scenario. However, I agree that when comparing the original mix with your eq, to the version with both FG-Red and FG-X enabled the overall balances are very, very close. The overall sound is a little more saturated and just slightly crunchy compared to the original but it has much more life to it than the dull sound of a straight limiter.

[@Salantsoundstudios]

Great job and really great tune!

[@mykaub]

thank you for this. love this plug, dudess

[@uk.leonardosants]

Top tuts. Slate TV rules

[@mmargan]

3:30 - very transparent, but lots of character! :)

[@mitchiemasha]

Isn't that a contradiction?

[@mmargan]

mitchiemasha Of course it is! :)

[@mikecolton9176]

Hey Ken. I saw a video of yours about not being able to use your control 24 and your other gear. I've been using the control 24 on Nuendo, Cubase, pro tools ultimate, garage band, logic. Go check out V control there is a free version and a paid version. The paid has more functionality. But the free is good as well.

[@danyavilaoficial]

After OFFER SHLOMI , Steven Slate can sell you even a plugin with no knobs or sound !!! He's a fantastic pitchman ! thanks god he doesn't own a car dealership !!!!!!

[@mirijamfriedrich3930]

it work on my pc thx bro vеry much

[@CDrumaholic]

Great video, if only the red compressor was actually red!

[@MrDonnyAir]

The original that the Slate FG Red was modeled on - the Focusrite Red 3 (Opto) was (is) indeed a beautiful metallic red...close to a candy apple color. I used to have one... sigh... I loved it for backing vocals and electric guitars, it was my go-to for bus compression, even as master bus gain reduction. Many times I'd even choose it over the LA2A's that I also used to have... (sigh again)... Oh, and besides having a gorgeous sound, it also looked AWESOME in an OB rack. They ain't cheap though.. I've seen USED models going for up to 3 grand. ;)

[@IMAWriterRobJ]

Steven, nicely done. I noticed you had the FG-X insert 6 (In Cubase that's Pre Master fader.) Do you also dither with your (my) FG-X in insert 6? I know some engineers that stick their Mastering limiter (with included dithering tool) in the 7th or 8th Insert. Not sure that makes sense to dither after the master fader. That said, if that's the case, why are there post fade inserts, and what would they be for? Can you, or an experienced Mastering engineer explain which is "correct?"

[@baysoundstudios3598]

Hey I was just poking through and noticed this, even though it's a year old in case you didn't get the info just wanted to let you know that Pro Tools plugin slots are all pre fader.

[@KOSMIKFEADRECORDS]

Pure Warmth..

[@cesarlima8774]

Automate the ITP :-O genius!

[@micman8363]

Awesome video!

[@wickedprinc3624]

STEVE! Hey buddy, not sure if you answer comments but is there any way we could ever see a tutorial of sorts leaning towards a hip-hop/atmospheric style? Would love to see specific SlateDigital mixing tips for that sort of sound.

[@DaveDemayClips]

I want to hear the final release of this song. Killer tune! I can't find it on iTunes. :-/

[@marq_8976]

Unmastered: DR14. Final: DR9. Sounds identical 'cause our ears can't tell if a snare is peaking 10 or 2dB above the rest. So do we really need to make the track louder? Why? What's the benefit of chopping off those peaks? Why record live drums if we'll take part of the human aspect away?

[@wrongfuture]

If snares peaking at 10 or 2db sound identical to you, you might want to check your ears. As to the questions about loudness and chopping peaks, google loudness war.

[@qaszxwedfv]

Just in case you are not trolling and to hopefully clarify my concern. Download this video and look at its waveform in Audacity. You will immediately SEE what I mean about the snare. The loudness war is exactly my point: between two versions of a song that sound equally good, why choose the louder one with less dynamics? Can you tell me ONE advantage? I can give one disadvantage: it's more fatiguing to listen to in the long run. Watch this video: "Why I Don't Buy "Remastered" CDs."

[@wrongfuture]

Your question could have been answered by simply reading about loudness wars. So, why choose the louder one with less dynamics? because it sounds loud. When played side by side with any other song on the radio, it won't sound quieter. The broadcasters aren't going to adjust the level of the tracks. The audience perceives louder as better, and when it's played alongside other track, a quieter track will gain less attention from listeners. Also, we are so accustomed to tracks with small dynamic range that we actually feel more dynamic tracks lack a certain cohesiveness. This compression is just part of the sound of pop music now. Chopping off the peaks is just part of that sound, otherwise they'll get clipped. "Why record live drums if we'll take part of the human aspect away?" because the listener isn't necessarily attracted to the human aspect. Part of the sound of modern Metal and electronic music is the machine-like consistency. It's an artistic choice.

[@lennartg4429]

Except leveling is exactly what happens when songs are played on the radio. There are things called broadcast standards. Tracks that are too loud get actually turned down... This standard (ebu r 128) is in use in Europe and I believe there are similar things in the US. tech.ebu.ch/docs/r/r128.pdf By the way your point that "compression is just part of the sound" doesn't hold true. At least "loudness war style" compression and limiting is not. Daft Punk's latest record for example was relatively dynamic and a huge success...

[@shadowsymphony1]

Sounds like it needs some brightening to me

[@Sventhevith1]

Hi Steven, thanks for clear and concise tips! What are you using for desktop video recording on your Mac, software-wise? Cheers!

[@SlateDigitalTV]

We usually use Screenflow - hope that helps!

[@netalibaba4138]

this rocks!!! yeah!!

[@KennyLauderdale]

Thank you sir...

[@GuilhermeZyeg]

Very helpful

[@eastboundkieb]

Magic~~~~~!!!!!!!

[@bexisoficial]

i love this video

[@dirtyharry1881]

First of all, fantastic tutorial. Second, at last a GREAT song in a tutorial. Third, I couldn't quite hear the problem with the distortion you were talking about at 19.40 until I cracked the volume REALLY high up but I still heard some weird artifacts on the right channel at 23.41 without big effort. Was this your chair or something, or left overs from the mix?

[@gilmanoel]

Hi, Steven! In mastering, do you usually equalize before you compress? Even if it's the case of boost EQ?

[@justrichardcarter]

Think about it like this. Would you rather cook your food with hair in it and then try and take it out, or take the hair out before you start cooking?

[@XiyuYang]

@@justrichardcarter Speak for yourself, I like eating hair! Jokes aside, mostly, EQ before comps. There are rare instances where I would comp before EQ when mixing.

[@lars7745]

Best Video ever get the fcking Slate Everything Bundle

[@Valdemarion]

What's the name of the song? Sounds great.

[@SlateDigitalTV]

The song is called 'The Bottle' from The Plutonium Project. The band is a collaboration between Sean Halley and a couple of different drummers. Glad you like it!

[@Valdemarion]

Thank you.

[@gianlucacoricarlitto138]

where to find this song?

[@allthingsaudi0]

This song is literally impossible to find! Great music but where is it?!?

[@CharlesK441]

ALL THINGS AUDIO I got off the website ....

[@lucidlife4098]

He's speaking wisdom

[@guga.brandao]

Where's the MIX tutorial using this song, buddies? Would like to know about other those plugins on the master track, before this mastering process; Thanks! You're the best!

[@SlateDigitalTV]

Guga Brandão get it FREE with Everything Bundle at our webpage

[@guga.brandao]

Thanks, guys!!

[@gioibanes129]

nice song!!!

[@trvlnlight]

Thanks Steven. Do you have a video on the bass guitar processing? How did you get it to cut through the mix so well? I love the growl. Great song too.

[@SlateDigitalTV]

Yup, here ya go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5LKnXyvbJaGa7s

[@thepianoman007]

Hi Steven! thanks for your tutorials ! Actually I've seen your whole Mixing Tutorial where Mastering bits and pieces were the last ones. Now I might be missing something. I've just tried mastering one of my tunes (for learning purposes) and I'm wondering how you've managed to raise the volume so much without clipping the tune. I'm saying that since I didn't see any Limiter on your Master buss and I did put the same plugins - just for learning/testing purposes (I understand that every tune needs a different mastering approach) and when raising more than 3dB I'm clipping the tune quite badly... so would that mean there's actually a Limiter on the Master buss(or is it part of one of the other plugin) or you're just raising the volume using FG-X to the point where you won't clip in the loudest part of the tune... thank you !

[@Azzzencion]

i'm learning it is about using saturation

[@omarharbmusic]

Great video

[@rickhardt2237]

Love the song, wich band is?

[@alefsantos6882]

i love u so much bro, thanks very much

[@mavoonthebeat]

can i get the processor for mac?

[@frankwonthedon5599]

When the Album coming out Steven? Sounds great

[@OkieDoke164]

Would you not want to disengage the Constant Gain Monitoring before bouncing out the master to actually get the loudness out of the final product? If not than is there ever a reason to turn OFF this setting?

[@SlateDigitalTV]

Kyle Anderson yes when printing the final master you disengage constant gain monitoring to get the full loudness

[@hoopiefrond9834]

Does Constant gain monitoring reduce the output of the unbypassed effect, or increase the level of the bypassed effect?

[@halidharis]

Put a tons of plugin at masterring??don't know... The problem is sometime we don't know which one is 'enough' or 'less' Just my personal oppinion.... That song masterring is handle by a perfect man...

[@desdeelcuartitofeo]

Hola, acabo de comprar Everything Bundle por un año, donde puedo ver el curso? o que debo hacer? Gracias.

[@SaeVonSpringer]

Todos los cursos son disponibles por gratis en el website de Slate Digital.

[@tedmartin5688]

So what the purpose of FG-Comp if you didn't even use it in the video? I own the FG-X but feels a bit like I am being told I need to buy the FG-Red, Not sure why I want to add another compressor when the FG-X has one. Confused.

[@SlateDigitalTV]

the FG-Comp sounds nice and transparent, and Steven uses it in his other FG-X tutorial. But for the particular song he's mastering in this tutorial, he needed something to tighten the transients in a punchy way, and the ability to use the FG-Red at a 50% blend was the best fit.

[@matrixx29]

killer tune.. has it been released yet? i'd like to grab it.

[@gizzlebeatz6595]

please anybody i need to understand something cos ok all i see in this video sounds great and really good way to masteretc... but if u wanna export the song do u keep the " constant gain monitoring " on or you go back to turn it off to have your db back ??? cos i dont see him touch it .. and at the same time do we need to touch the 0 or better - 1 Db on the " Dither & ceiling setting " ?? thank to anybody can explain better this option .. peace

[@protoolsfanatic7276]

ive noticed more and more sellers are going to a rental type purchase. brilliant.. the buyer never gets to own anything and seller gets very very rich...now thats what i call passive income.

[@BluesLicks101]

Great video and I especially appreciate that its worthy music with a nice sounding band, the singer has a definate Chris Cornell vibe going on... way too many mastering videos use crappy music in their examples and it makes it really hard to stick with the video - even when there is good advice in the instruction. Great work!