Hands Down, without hesitation of expression, this series is beyond well thought-out, beyond well written, beyond simple clarification of complex methods..episode by episode clearing the fog and frankly the BS that's out there...and frankly out there in abundance...can't say enough how grateful I am to Josh for this great series.
This is the most concise and clear explanation of basic track preparation I've seen. It's SO helpful. As with a couple other of the videos in this great series, I'll be re-watching and running the same processes on some of my own tracks. Keep em' coming!
One thing I discovered when testing Logic’s compressors with sine waves and pink noise is this: - not every distortion option is used in each comp type, but the “soft” option does add the most harmonics (i.e. color), while “clip” adds no harmonics for most comp types - the more gain reduction added (i.e. lowering threshold), the more harmonics are increased - similarly, the more make up gain added, the more harmonics are increased. This is where negative output is really useful - knee also effects the levels and content more than I previously thought - finally, the cleanest to the most colorful are Plat Digital, Classic VCA, Vintage Opto (which adds most of it’s color near the source freq), Studio VCA, Studio FET, Vintage FET, Vintage VCA
Especially the last parts of the video shows your experience and your skills as a very good trainer and somebody who knows and respects what we are (ideally) dealing with: an interpretation of someone else’s -or your own - imagination of audible art. Thank you.
I am going in to help a church with their broadcast mix (which uses Logic) this Sunday and this video helps - they need the limiter enabled to keep from digital clipping when the broadcast gets loud. I'm not a Logic guy (been using Cubase for years) - so this was great.
I agree with these comments, this series has the best explanations in the least amount of time, which is something I don’t have a lot of. I use the iPad version but I have taken to watching this series for my information.
Brilliant - thanks so much! Definitely the best guidance I’ve seen on how to get a great “99%” mix without vanishing into the black hole of mastering. I’ve just revisited five old projects this afternoon using these tips and they’re all transformed. Thanks
great video. One of the mistery in my life is how some commercial songs can sound great at -6lufs without distorsion and without damage in dynamics. Anyway sometimes I put a Logic overdrive plugin on the master bus just to add bit of saturation that allows some extra loudness. Thanks for your tutorial, very precious
It's because a lot of modern tracks are very simple in terms of their arrangement. If you have a really dense mix, with a lot of layers, and thick arrangement, you won't be able to hit higher loudness levels without losing clarity. With modern rock and metal, I've yet to hear anything higher than -9 LUFS that sounds good to my ear. For example "No World for Tomorrow" by Coheed and Cambria. Love the band. Love the songs. Love the album. Great performances. But completely quashed production. A modern pop or hip-hop track that has a beat, a bass, a couple synths, and vocals, you'll have no problem pushing that beyond -8 LUFS and still maintain some level of clarity. Although, you'll need some third party plugins to really do it right. I use smartLimit from Sonible these days for my mastering work.
@@MusicTechHelpGuy exactly, the band you mentioned have mix/masters that if we consider a maximum peck around 0dbFS the remaining LUFS is around -5/-6 db, something very aggressive and squasched, but, as told in my reply, I can only remain shocked by the musical audio results and one thing that make me suspect that that masters are not cutted on top by a limiter (I don't see a levelled top but changing continuosly the peak). Can be that in that masters the chain have parallel compression/clipper/upword compression/saturation and a little amount of limiting just for isolated peaks? Thanks for your help and support
Best video I've found for basic track prep. Quick question- what if we just bus all to a "master bus" channel before stereo bus, then,as long as nothing's clipping,we can use that channel's fader to control how hard we hit the stereo bus rather than add a gain plugin to the stereo bus? Thanks for the top notch content. I'm subscribing!
There's not special reason for it. Some people use it exclusively. Some people like it for tracking, others for mixing. I use it most when I'm recording, because it allows me to see the input signal as it is coming into Logic, without factoring in the volume fader adjustment of the track, or the effect that any plugins have on the track gain. I'll often switch over to it during mixing just to make sure I'm not letting plugins clip my channels as well. But I go back and forth between post- and pre-fader mode when mixing.
For just a high cut, you could have gone for the EQ > Single Band EQ. It would have been simpler and possibly lighter on CPU (especially if the project is already crowded). You could even go simpler by automating the high cut section of the Linear EQ!
Do you lose any dynamic range by putting a gain plug in on the master fader and turning it down ? Seen some debates on this . When you drive it back up do you lose any weight & energy as well ? Thanks Also if going into the adaptive limiter in Logic I feel as if I have to mix into it for it pushes the highs really hard any tips there ? Thanks for sharing your knowledge
Amazing content as always! There's one thing I was wondering about the out ceiling. Is there any difference to your -1.0 setting, as there would be to a setting of -0.1? I'm still learning the basics but seems I've always been led to believe that -0.1 is the optimal setting to ensure most volume while just ensuring there will be no clipping. Thanks for your dedication to helping people grow. You've certainly helped me A LOT over the years my friend.
Regardless of where you set the out ceiling, the signal will not clip, unless you push the gain really, really hard, then sometimes you'll get a slight clip above the limiter ceiling. As far as -1 vs. -0.1 is concerned, yes, you are correct that -0.1 would maximize the volume of the track better; however, the -1 ceiling is a requirement for most streaming services these days, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Tidal and others. If you send your track to distribution with a -0.1 ceiling, your track will likely get pulled down in volume to compensate. So I would rather I have control over that ceiling myself, than allow the streaming platform to pull down my track. When I used to master to CD, I would typically use a -0.1 to -0.3 output ceiling because on CD it doesn't matter.
@@MusicTechHelpGuy thank you for clearing that up for me. I did see you’d mentioned that in the video about streaming platforms. I thought that was where the Loudness meter came into play, I didn’t realise it was also the ceiling that made a difference. Keep up the good work bro, look forward to your next video.
Yes, you can add your mastering plugin chain directly to the stereo out, and master the song that way. In years past, I always bounced my mix, and then mastered in another project, but computers are so fast nowadays, I have no problems loading up a mastering chain, along with all of my mixing plugins. However, when I master an EP or an album, I always bounce the mixes, then drop them in another project and master them together.
If i bounce my final mix into a single file, and then take it into logic for master EQ, limiting, etc., is it okay if my stereo output for that single track reads above 0db? If im running it through the adaptive limiter and the signal says -1 then it’s fine right?
Any reason why you wouldn’t want to set the out ceiling to -0.1? I see so many tutorials calling for that instead of -1.0, but not sure what the practical difference would be.
When I mastered to CD back in the day I would do -0.1. However streaming platforms these days have a -1dB true peak requirement. You can certainly do -0.1 if you want, but your track might get pulled down on the streaming platforms.
do you do the instructional classes for L.A Film schools music production course? I swear you sound just like the guy, especially when i played this video at the same time as my student video lecture.
I think the Limiter is meant to be used on individual tracks, while the Adaptive Limiter is specifically meant for your final master chain. In terms of functionality, the AdLim has an adaptive release. So I believe it automatically adjusts the release time based on the material being fed into it, also the AdLim has options for a much longer look-ahead time, so it can process the signal a bit better. However, that means more latency and more CPU power needed.
Thanks! When I import/convert a project from GarageBand I don’t get a Stereo Out. I get a Master Track. Are they the same? If not how do I get Stereo Out to show in mixer?
It's just volume gain. It's not 100% the same because the plugin comes before the fader and panner. So technically the gain plugin COULD affect your send levels in a different way than the fader, but in terms of volume it's the same. You can also use the "relative" volume option in automation as an alternative. But it's not pre-amp, or pre-channel gain. Just volume control.
Yeah, those are kind of more advanced things so I left it out of this. But the look ahead just gives the plugins some more time to analyze the audio signal. So a higher look ahead means better, more accurate limiting. However, that doesn't mean you always have to crank up the lookahead. If you click the optimize button it will give you a value that is good enough for your project. It's based on the total combined latency you have in your projects from plugins. More plugins = more latency = more lookahead required on the AdLimiter.
Yes! The plugin order matters. You always want to have the loudness meter last, and the limiter right before that. But for any other mastering plugins on the stereo out, that's up to you. They often sound much different in a different order.
Hey there! I have a problem with my Stereo Out in Logic: There is "White Noise" or "Self Noise" on my Stereo Out Channel. I can clearly hear it over my headphones and speakers. When i open the project, the noise isn't there. But when i start the playblack for the first time and stop it, the White Noise is there and doesn't disappear anymore. Only when i mute the Stereo Out it's gone. But comes back when i unmute it. That drives me crazy. Is there any way to fix that problem? Thanks in advance! *BTW: Love all your videos!
In this video, I demonstrate the following: 1. What is the Stereo Output channel? 2. How to prevent the Stereo Out from clipping. 3. How to use the Gain plugin. 4. How to automate plugins on the Stereo Output. 5. Channel EQ vs. Linear Phase EQ 6. Buss Compression with Vintage VCA Circuit 7. What are LUFS? Loudness Standards for Streaming. 8. How to use the Adaptive Limiter and Loudness Meter to dial in your final loudness setting. Support the sponsor of this video, Boombox | bit.ly/boomboxsponsor For mixing/mastering work, contact me at my website | carneymediagroup.com Follow MusicTechHelpGuy on Instagram | instagram.com/musictechhelpguy Support the channel on Patreon | patreon.com/musictechhelpguy Demo project used in this video | www.logicproguide.com/downloads Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 0:54 Sponsor Segment 1:35 What is the Stereo Output? 2:33 Prevent Clipping/Peaking 4:49 Gain Plugin 7:20 Automate Plugins on Stereo Output 9:29 Linear Phase vs. Channel EQ 10:58 Linear Phase EQ on Stereo Out 12:49 Buss Compression (Vintage VCA) 15:32 Loudness Meter & LUFS 18:06 Adaptive Limiter & Set Loudness
