Mastering Our Own Mixes Sucks, But Here's How I Do It

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[@DaveS-B]

I love that, in a video about mastering, there's zero talk about limiters and loudness 😁 I'm 100% with you with EQ being king!

[@WeissAdvice]

To me, that's the least important and least interesting part. I'm sure someone will complain eventually, but, meh.

[@thegroove2000]

@@WeissAdvice Weiss Advice.

[@matiasruda]

Great Advice! thanks Matt!

[@domthefounder]

This was a great take. Thanks man

[@TheReggaeBible]

Legit! Appreciate the lesson ✅💯

[@alphaomega6062]

Oh boy I just finished 'mastering' a mix and then I find this video! LOL

[@WeissAdvice]

It's so painstaking.... I was mastering one of my own mixes earlier today and stumbled on some good compression techniques. I'll have to post about it.

[@alphaomega6062]

Definitely perspective. The mix I referred to in my other comment was done 4 months ago. I heard the low end differently this time, a little too much. So many saturators I think just be confident that the one that seems most pleasing today IS the right one to use, next month it might be something different but it is all good, there can be several 'right' answers - just pick one and don't over think it.

[@WeissAdvice]

"Just go with it is" usually the move.

[@kelvinfunkner]

those low end treatments really helped! I've noticed that overall, a lot of electronic styles are favouring more of this type of low end texture where the sub hits solid, but there's a bit less in the "thumpy" range. Sounds great on this track...and I loved the Radiator as well...glad you pulled it down more near the end though, because it was almost softening the ssss's too much and making the vocal sound too "sweet" and less present....excellent video as usual!

[@WeissAdvice]

Thanks NCR!

[@PeaKock-be]

very useful as always 🤟

[@WeissAdvice]

Thanks PeaKock!

[@promiseayeni8222]

Hey matt, I love your tutorials, would love to see you address vocal tuning.

[@WeissAdvice]

I actually have a full length tutorial called "The AutoTunetorial" dedicated to pitch correction. It's in the weissadvice.com/shop/

[@bamvoxstudios]

Awesome!

[@WeissAdvice]

Thanks Bam!

[@dariusmines]

I took 2 weeks away from a song to have “fresh perspective” (which has turned into me imagining what I’m gonna do when I come back to it 😂😂) So this is clutch!

[@WeissAdvice]

2 weeks I might forget what the song was supposed to sound like LOL

[@SOTSKDD]

Hey man thanks for the video. Just wondering your input on izotope ozone stuff for mastering if you use that brand at all? Would love to see a video.

[@davejohnsonmusic]

Vertigo VSM-3 and Waves Vitamin are great 2-bus/mastering saturators.

[@WeissAdvice]

Right on! Thanks Dave!

[@RedSpark_]

Always great to see your process Matthew! Since your videos on the subject I've been much more confident playing with mixbus EQ, but I'm noticing that 200-500 range is so important to get right, it feels like on some mixes there's a tiny window between harsh and muddy. How do you think saturators interact with a limiter btw? If you're saturating it first you're removing peaks so the limiter doesn't work as hard, but you're also adding distortion so when the limiter starts to distort it will be much more audible. I did a bit of testing myself and found that if I removed the saturator I had I could push things a little harder but that might just be that one instance. I've also heard someone mention that in ad-world (presumably pre LUFS) some of them used to try to keep things as clean as possible so it could be nuked by the broadcast processors. I'd be curious to hear your take on it. Thanks

[@WeissAdvice]

A little bit of subtle saturation/clipping can sneak an extra db of level through the limiter. But you gotta be really tactful about it, cause the limiter can end up exaggerating any distortion incurred from saturating. Mastering is tough. It's a game of very subtle give and take. I do use a touch of clipping SOMETIMES. But not always.

[@TheReal_E.IRIZARRY]

Dude, the Lindell 902 DeEsser with Air dB increase and -6.25dB Amount and Dampen 47.4% on Room Widener would have fixed your mix crazily quick.

[@thegroove2000]

Saturation I like. The smearing takes away digitus.

[@WeissAdvice]

Right on!

[@victorhytrop]

Hey Weiss! Do you have ideas of making video about clipping? Thanks for all what you do!

[@WeissAdvice]

Clipping in the master, or clipping in general?

[@victorhytrop]

@@WeissAdvice how often do you use it and what is a point we can get with clipping in a master

[@JayMadeelrubio]

Matt would it have been wrong to not use the 563hz cut on the eq? Even though it makes it sound cleaner, I really like the extra body it gave to the song in that range. Especially in her vocals I love how it make them slightly honky on the bypass which I think it suits her voice and sounds cool. But that's just me. I really wanna know your thought on this

[@WeissAdvice]

It's certainly NOT wrong! One of the tricky things about mixing is a lot of the time we find ourselves making compromises. I think that as long as we orient to what we believe is the intention of the song, and play strongly to our own aesthetics, we make the right choices.

[@JayMadeelrubio]

@@WeissAdvice You fuckin rock bro!!

[@oinkooink]

What in all tarnation is that that you're playing??

[@victorhytrop]

Hey! I can try to master you mixes)🎉

[@amazeus1980]

I throw at my master pulltec eq and studer a800 plugins first…that is what Im mixing to (actually that is partly your approach, your tip..so I won’t mix „blindly”) I kind of like better la2a on a master, better then bx townhouse or other plugins. I also add maag eq and testing with all of it where Im going. I master as I mix actually. At that point I make an wav and test it on my iphone using soundcloud…my iphone has one speaker dead and is distorting a bit but reveals a lot anyway 😂 Then I go back to my daw or fall asleep! 😂 Nevertheless I have loads of quality plugins…but studer, Pulltec and maag (all uad) will always sit on my master. …and Black Box 📦 😂 …UAD precision eq is also what I use quite often. Manual recommends it for tracking but it helps me on a master if I want to catch a vibe of my mix…I scroll through presets and listen 👂 Still can use more uad eqs…by demoing anything else as well! I own Api, Pulltec, Maag…Analog Obsession, tokio dawn labs (have to use these more often). Thinking about chandler or manley…but no rush…plugin wise.

[@WeissAdvice]

More important than what you're using - is how you're using them and why. I do like the pultec to tape approach, but the handsome audio Zulu is kinda special in the way it works for this technique.

[@thegroove2000]

What works for you.

[@amazeus1980]

@@WeissAdvice Generally I like 50s sound, 90s hip hop and lots of experimenting! ;)

[@amazeus1980]

@@WeissAdvice Zulu ...hard to get it now...Im in Europe.

[@rundajulesproductions7735]

I master ceremonies with way more authority than mixes. Instead of thinking I'm a producer, recording artist, and engineer who has to master my own songs, I like to pretend I'm a shitty mastering artist who only works with stuff he recorded himself. It's a small psychological advantage; but, you gotta take 'em where you can get 'em!