Mixing vs Mastering

[Drew Mazurek]

Inspired by the stems vs multitrack thread, and because I continue to see people not understanding audio engineering in general, here's another thread for you.

Mixing is one step in the process, Mastering is another.

Please do not attempt to do them at the same time.

They should be done by different engineers, in different rooms, on different monitors, etc. That's sort of the point!!

If you have an acoustical anomaly in your room and it causes you to make a poor mixing decision, why do you think you'll all of the sudden hear it and fix it during the Mastering stage? You won't.

So, when mixing, NO PEAK LIMITERS on the 2 buss. And certainly no MB peak limiters. Note I didn't say MB compressors.

Basically, never do anything purely for level during the mix stage. Do whatever you have to do to make the mix the best it can be, but save final level for Mastering. Compress for tone and vibe, not level.

Auditioning with peak limiting (MB or reg) is of course prudent, so have one on hand, but only turn it on periodically as a "check" to see what it will do to your balances.

I can 100% assure you, you will become a better mixer when you do not try to Master at the same time. You might not agree initially, especially if you're used to a limiter "helping" you to mix, but get past that hump and you will be rewarded.

[elicious]

and here's a great tool that can show you just how much damage and smearing
can be caused by poor choices on the master fader…
e

[DonaldM]

Originally Posted by elicious

and here's a great tool that can show you just how much damage and smearing
can be caused by poor choices on the master fader…
e

Nice tool. Thanks for sharing that one.

[Craig F]

[Southsidemusic]

BPE

[Drew Mazurek]

It's been a while since I bumped this one.

But it's super important.

[Bookerv12]

Thanks for bringing this up.
About 80% of our younger clients send us really flatlined, terrible sounding mixes and get insulted when you ask them to turn off any limiters and back off.
The drums are already turning down the rest of the music.
It's almost as if they want to prove to you that they can make something loud.
So far, it's never worked well.
Give yourself a ton of headroom when you are mixing.
Keep it in the green.
Turn up your volume control to check it.
It's not hard, and it will end up sounding great

[Bookerv12]

For what it's worth, I think pic 2 of Scarlett is a great master.
In pic 3, the ME had just purchased a Tape emulation plugin and overdid it.

[Barry Johns]

Solid advice!!!!

[Drew Mazurek]

Time for a bump!! Inspired by.....

http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=381392