Mixing vs Mastering

[zedhed]

Originally Posted by Bookerv12

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

+1

Of course getting the correct levels when recording is just as important IMHO. In the beginning I made the fatal mistake of recording too hot (and I'm not talking about digital clipping) and wondering why the mix sounded like crap.

Great advice Drew!

[EGS]

Originally Posted by 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.

Agree 100%!!! But, consider this possible exception:

1. You have done your mix, and are happy with it!!! You've listened back on many playback systems, A/B'ed it against pro releases in the same genre, and it still feels good. Getting the mix right is the hard part.
2. No funds for pro mastering.

In this case, you might try your own mastering - in an attempt to get the average levels up.

If you must self-master, always do it as a separate process, and NOT by piling on processors on the mix bus.

[Drew Mazurek]

Originally Posted by EGS

If you must self-master, always do it as a separate process, and NOT by piling on processors on the mix bus.

A reasonable compromise, but a compromise nonetheless.

[EGS]

Originally Posted by Drew Mazurek

A reasonable compromise, but a compromise nonetheless.

+1

[Drew Mazurek]

bump

[Bob Olhsson]

Mixing is replacing a fender, bumping out the dents and painting the car.

Mastering is touching up the scratches and waxing the car so it looks great under any light.

What mastering isn't is finishing a mix with processing that should have already been on the 2 buss. A good mastering engineer doesn't touch anything they can't improve.

A mixer's goal should be to create mixes that a mastering engineer can't improve!

The other thing a mixer needs to think about is not limiting or clipping a mix so it can be optimized for its final position in a album sequence or a future compilation album sequence.

[Drew Mazurek]

Perfect Bob!! Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Drew Mazurek]

Been a while since I bumped this one.

[mrhappy1997]

Good timing... been wrestling with this lately!

[UndergroundLab]

Originally Posted by 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.

One of the plugins in my locker is both a Limiter and Compressor. I personally don't try to master stuff myself, simply because I don't have the proper equipment to do so, nor have the best ear (I hear you have to have a keen ear to do mastering accurately) but can come with a good mixdown, so it evens itself out. I use the compressor in my mix mainly to raise the level of a track if its too soft, and raising the fader won't cut it.