As a self taught individual, this channel has been absolutely incredible. I've always been on the fence about recording school because of how overwhelming mixing and mastering is. No way I can afford tuition so I've just been struggling through, picking up a lot of other peoples strong opinions and misinformation. I watched all the stock plugin mixing and mastering videos and genuinely feel like I'm not just guessing anymore. Thank you so much!
Holy moley! This is a brilliant tutorial, and in my opinion, one of the best for explaining Logic Pro mastering plugins. It also helps when you're using a pretty cool tune too! Thanks a million, for posting this.
I would like to commend you on the presentation of the your video. I was very straight forward with valuable information. I will be using the tips that you have showed us in my own process. Thank you for helping to further our craft. It is very much appreciated!
Hey, thank you! This was really really youtube golden standard material! No joking, no family guy clips, just sharp, to the point and fast forward. I might wish a few places that you allowed more time for playing examples, but really, this helped me understand so much. I have watched quite a few youtube tutorials on the mastering subject in the past, often ended up feeling drowned at some point, but here we are. I feel like your video has given me a perfect foundation to build good mastering habits for friends and develop from. Thank you very much, Sir! Also, how do you feel about mastering your own projects that you produced vs mastering other peoples projects?
Awesome! I’m glad this was helpful! Generally, when mastering my own projects, or things that I’ve mixed, it’s bit harder because my ears are used to how the song sounds already but I also do less because the mix is already close to how I want it to sound. When mastering other projects, it’s easy to hear what needs to be fixed and I usually do a bit more processing because it isn’t as close to how I want it to sound, if that makes sense.
Very useful info, thanks! I would only say that your voiceover is much louder than the music and it's hard to listen to the track. Edit: levels make a lot more sense at the end once you've mastered it haha
Do you feel the latest Logic Mastering plugin does this for you? Is it better than the traditional methods with multiple plugins? Or does it apply best practices all in one step?
I'll be honest, I haven't updated Logic in at least 2-3 years for fear of all my 3rd party plugins not working. I haven't even gotten the chance to try the mastering plugin yet. As much as I'd love to do videos on new updates, its not worth the trade off of having downtime with my software. I've heard people say the mastering plugin is okay, but I don't think it will beat a real person using their ears anytime soon. It's probably a good solution for just slapping something on the stereo out and exporting though.
Wilson, If I like to use direction mixer on individual (mid to high frequency) tracks during mixing, instead of the little panning knobs, would it make sense to set any crossover differences?
I’d say use your discretion there, you can if you feel it needs it. It would probably only be helpful to add the crossover if it’s a really full-range source (maybe a bass with a wide chorus effect, then you could keep the lows mono). It’s certainly not a need though, just a taste thing! Great question
The 1st compressor is mimicking the SSL Bus Compressor which has stepped controls for ratio, attack, and release. So I almost always have that compression somewhere in my mix bus or master, whether it’s logics version, waves, or SSL. I usually use ratio at 4:1, attack at 30ms and either auto release or a fast release. Occasionally I’ll change the ratio or attack but usually I stick around those.
you're a great teacher and i know how to master by myself! not the best but good for the broke indie music i'm doing now. for the directional mixer. would it be ok to leave the "spread low" to 0? i had it around 40 and my bass seems to have lost it's punch and is kinda overpowering the master by it's muddiness. would leaving it completely mono bring back some clarity?
Yeah, definitely! I love making my lows completely mono, it definitely helps with punch and power. Just make sure that the crossover amount is right where you want it for drums and bass. You don't want to accidentally start making the low end of your instruments mono. Try it and go with whatever your ears like best :)
thank you very much that's very helpful. what is the crossover do exactly. is that where it starts spreading? so for bass would i just set it lower under 100 Hz?
That's a great question. I use the Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro 80ohm Headphones. After trying around 10 different pairs, these sound the most natural, translate the best to other playback systems, and don't hurt my ears/top of head even after 8 hours of use! I think I've bought about 3 pairs of these over the last 5 years and wouldn't hesitate buy them again. www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DT770pro80--beyerdynamic-dt-770-pro-80-ohm-closed-back-studio-mixing-headphones
