An easy guide to mastering using three free plugins

[Ianpb]

I just thought I'd post this video I came across to help those who are intimidated by the mastering stage. It uses three free effect plugins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in46p78teVs

[aj113]

Hopeless.

Allow me to save you 12 minutes of wasted time:

1. EQ on a purely arbitrary basis.
2. Add a compression pre-set.
3. Add a limiter pre-set.

Boom that's it, you are a mastering genius.

Not a meter in sight. No concept of what he is actually trying to achieve. Anybody who winds up by saying 'like everybody else I want my msters to be as loud as possible' should be avoided. This guy has a very little knowledge of mastering, so take his advice at your peril.

This is a very good tutorial on all the things to avoid when mastering.

[SteveW]

This is a very good tutorial on all the things to avoid when mastering.

Except the plugins, which are really good choices. Not going to comment on the substance of the vid but VladG's plugins are well worth checking out. Also, SlickEQ is actually a collaboration between VladG and Herbert Goldberg of Variety of Sound fame so it's well worth a look.

[Ianpb]

I guess it would depend on the genre of the music in question. I forgot to put 'Discuss?' at the end (that's the trouble with doing these things late at night), because I suspected it would raise some critical comments on the subject, which can only be useful. At least the video demonstrates that you don't necessarily need an army of fancy expensive plugins to achieve the task.

As someone in the Youtube comments pointed out: with modern DAWS, it's not even necessary anymore to do a separate mix before mastering.

[AHornsby]

I just thought I'd post this video I came across to help those who are intimidated by the mastering stage. It uses three free effect plugins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in46p78teVs

Anyone that can say "I'm gonna tuck the gain all the way back..." can't be all bad.

Free is probably worth a try and though I can't speak for that particular producer, 200k + views and 2,000 thumbs up speaks for itself.

[Mark Bliss]

"I'm gonna tuck the gain all the way back..."

I am at a complete loss as to what that even means!

it's not even necessary anymore to do a separate mix before mastering.

Given the current popular definition of what "mastering" is, no there's not. In fact, I'd take that a step further and say there's no need for "mastering" whatsoever then. Its all just mixing.

By my own definition, placing some plug-ins on the final stages of a single song is NOT mastering. But oh well, seems that train of thought puts me in the minority.

At least the video demonstrates that you don't necessarily need an army of fancy expensive plugins to achieve the task.

No, you really don't. Depending on the level of your expectations, there are perfectly usable free/inexpensive plug-ins that are capable of great results for ITB "mastering"
And as Steve points out, these are some pretty good choices.

But some proper metering and a plan need to be included or you are just fooling yourself. The lack thereof insures this advice is desperately lacking in content.
I have spent quite a bit of time studying the subject and one conclusion I can rely on is that when it comes to YouTube and the subject of mastering, there seems to be a direct inverse proportion to the popularity and quality of information.

Louder is NOT mastering. Nor is the description in this video. if this was correct, I should be making good money just mastering. I don't consider it "my thing" but I am certainly confident I can improve on any results of this advice.

[Mark Bliss]

I just went from writing that to checking my inbox, and this had popped up:

Most importantly though, you need to remember that EQ presets are stupid and should generally be avoided. (Ronan Chris Murphy)

Never heard of him? Skeptical as to the weight of his opinion?
Trust me.

Or not: http://www.venetowest.com/rcm/index.html

[aj113]

...At least the video demonstrates that you don't necessarily need an army of fancy expensive plugins to achieve the task...

It demonstarates that very little other than the fact free plugins are available, which we already know. It doesn't show either these plugins or the user completing any task because no specific task is defined.

[AHornsby]

"I'm gonna tuck the gain all the way back..."

I am at a complete loss as to what that even means!

LOL Mark. I don't know either and I'm not even gonna speculate whether or not he did.

[AHornsby]

I just went from writing that to checking my inbox, and this had popped up:

Most importantly though, you need to remember that EQ presets are stupid and should generally be avoided. (Ronan Chris Murphy)

Never heard of him? Skeptical as to the weight of his opinion?
Trust me.

Or not: http://www.venetowest.com/rcm/index.html

We're talking EQ right? I agree with that statement.

[Mark Bliss]

Ya, sorry, bit of a stretch maybe, but isn't an EQ preset one of the first go-to's for these mixing/mastering geniuses?

Friends, my point is that if you are going to use "mixing and mastering for lemmings" as your guide, at least search for better guidance than this type of stuff.

[AHornsby]

Ya, sorry, bit of a stretch maybe, but isn't an EQ preset one of the first go-to's for these mixing/mastering geniuses? .

I don't rub shoulders with enough of those guys to be able to say but as far as MC is concerned, if the pre-set says 'mid cut' and that's where I'm headed for anyway, I'll take that short road, but then, it's off to Tweak City from there.

[Starship Krupa]

Why not just throw an "Izotope Mastering Essentials" preset on there?

I had forgotten about that little gem until just now. Makes every mix sound great for about 10 minutes.

I was poking around and found out that it began life as a Winamp plug-in. I kid you not, you can download the Winamp plug-in and the UI and the presets are very similar if not the same.

Ozone Elements would be a welcome addition to Pro Studio v.9, though. I'd have some fun playing around with it, getting under the hood if one can.