great vid dude! literally implementing these tactics as I write this in a skatepunk mix... question for ya though - in my previous master (I copied the DAW file and trying it your way this time), I exported to WAV to see how it would sound uploaded and streamed, and the result wasn't great... should I be adjusting the levels of the tracks prior to mastering? I thought that was done IN mastering? the levels all seemed fine when in my DAW but listening through earbuds (via Dropbox stream) it was just not good. any suggestions? I've watched several of your vids now btw, they're helping me so much... I subbed SO hard
Thanks dude! I’m glad the videos have been helpful! So I suppose I do gain stage on the way into the mastering chain so that it hits between -12 and -6b but if the level was too high going into the chain you’d know as it would sound super smashed from the compression and limiters. Does it sound fine in your DAW but then sound bad when streaming on Dropbox? I’m not too sure on how Dropbox file compression or loudness normalisation works, but if your master is hitting -8RMS then assuming it works like Spotify etc then it should just turn the track down but not affect anything like dynamic range. Are you using Ozone stuff? I know in those plugins they might have some dithering happening etc? Does it sound like information is being stripped out on Dropbox? Or does it sound heavily limited?
@@TerryBeckleyRecordinghi Terry! Sorry reading my response back, I realized I made it seem like when I mastered it your way it sounded bad. After I adjusted things how you mentioned to it actually sounds miles better! I honestly might think it’s my headphones though, because Dropbox basically has (what I think) is the same quality as Spotify when streaming, but say if you hear it back and the bass/bass drum is too loud, would you fix it with EQ in the master? Or in the mix? It honestly just sounds like an instance of simply reducing the DBs on both (bass and bass drum) tracks but I’m also new to this. And yes I’m using Ozone products, love them! In fact I got them because of your vids. If you heard your song back, say streamed in your car, and the mix was good (highs still came through fine) but it was too bass heavy, what would be some of the steps you took to resolve it? Sorry for the long ass reply haha the world of music production excites me!
@@phildimopoulos6010 Yeah I get what you mean and honestly, a lot of people would say to go back to the mix and fix the individual problems with the kick or bass but reducing your overall low end on the mix bus or the master works then why not just do that? In that mastering chain of mine, within the control hub plugin I have an EQ filter/shelf before any other processing and I use that to drop the whole low end going into the rest of the plugin and it’s always served me well! And that’s what’s great about having a mastering chain that you’re happy with and that you know works - it will tell you if there is too much low end in the mix as it’ll start to distort etc. I will say this though - if the low end is only too much when the kick is hitting, then it’s probably just a build up of a certain frequency so in that case I think it would be best to go back and either reduce it slightly from the kick or bass. Therefore maintaining your low end and keeping it under control
@@TerryBeckleyRecording incredible response, it was actually the first thing you said, because it actually didn’t peak or distort when the kick hit… it just sounded like well-mixed EDM-level bass in a pop punk song. I did exactly what you noted here, to dial down the lows in the first EQ in the mastering chain and voila! Nice to know it can be that simple instead of what I WAS going to do and start from the beginning (kick drum input db level) and work my way forward haha… I tend to make things more complicated than they need to be. Thanks again Terry!
The reso was interesting. Will try something similar on my next mix
Yeah it’s a cool plugin for sure. One that you can easily overdo but used subtly had really helped me!
great vid dude! literally implementing these tactics as I write this in a skatepunk mix... question for ya though - in my previous master (I copied the DAW file and trying it your way this time), I exported to WAV to see how it would sound uploaded and streamed, and the result wasn't great... should I be adjusting the levels of the tracks prior to mastering? I thought that was done IN mastering? the levels all seemed fine when in my DAW but listening through earbuds (via Dropbox stream) it was just not good.
any suggestions? I've watched several of your vids now btw, they're helping me so much... I subbed SO hard
Thanks dude! I’m glad the videos have been helpful!
So I suppose I do gain stage on the way into the mastering chain so that it hits between -12 and -6b but if the level was too high going into the chain you’d know as it would sound super smashed from the compression and limiters. Does it sound fine in your DAW but then sound bad when streaming on Dropbox? I’m not too sure on how Dropbox file compression or loudness normalisation works, but if your master is hitting -8RMS then assuming it works like Spotify etc then it should just turn the track down but not affect anything like dynamic range. Are you using Ozone stuff? I know in those plugins they might have some dithering happening etc?
Does it sound like information is being stripped out on Dropbox? Or does it sound heavily limited?
@@TerryBeckleyRecordinghi Terry! Sorry reading my response back, I realized I made it seem like when I mastered it your way it sounded bad. After I adjusted things how you mentioned to it actually sounds miles better!
I honestly might think it’s my headphones though, because Dropbox basically has (what I think) is the same quality as Spotify when streaming, but say if you hear it back and the bass/bass drum is too loud, would you fix it with EQ in the master? Or in the mix? It honestly just sounds like an instance of simply reducing the DBs on both (bass and bass drum) tracks but I’m also new to this.
And yes I’m using Ozone products, love them! In fact I got them because of your vids. If you heard your song back, say streamed in your car, and the mix was good (highs still came through fine) but it was too bass heavy, what would be some of the steps you took to resolve it?
Sorry for the long ass reply haha the world of music production excites me!
@@phildimopoulos6010 Yeah I get what you mean and honestly, a lot of people would say to go back to the mix and fix the individual problems with the kick or bass but reducing your overall low end on the mix bus or the master works then why not just do that? In that mastering chain of mine, within the control hub plugin I have an EQ filter/shelf before any other processing and I use that to drop the whole low end going into the rest of the plugin and it’s always served me well! And that’s what’s great about having a mastering chain that you’re happy with and that you know works - it will tell you if there is too much low end in the mix as it’ll start to distort etc.
I will say this though - if the low end is only too much when the kick is hitting, then it’s probably just a build up of a certain frequency so in that case I think it would be best to go back and either reduce it slightly from the kick or bass. Therefore maintaining your low end and keeping it under control
@@TerryBeckleyRecording incredible response, it was actually the first thing you said, because it actually didn’t peak or distort when the kick hit… it just sounded like well-mixed EDM-level bass in a pop punk song. I did exactly what you noted here, to dial down the lows in the first EQ in the mastering chain and voila! Nice to know it can be that simple instead of what I WAS going to do and start from the beginning (kick drum input db level) and work my way forward haha… I tend to make things more complicated than they need to be. Thanks again Terry!