How to Make a Clean Master (2024)

with new plugins new techniques and more info on mastering than ever before getting a Clean Master for your project is definitely within reach let's cover which combinations of plugins and plug-in settings you could use to get the best results as we build a mastering chain in detail how to make a clean master by the end of the session you'll have a powerful mastering chain ready to be applied to your next session but before we start if you want to get your mixes to sound like professional songs check out our Sage audio membership just for signing up you receive 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated mastering engineer direct a one-on-one mentorship that's tailored to your specific mixing needs unlimited mixing feedback to help improve your mixes access to Sage audio universities in-depth mixing and mastering courses and a lot more but more on that at the end of the video so these are the ideas that I'm following for this train first it's going to stay simple to avoid unwanted plug-in artifacts and keep the relationships between each processing stage straightforward second I'll introduce as little undesirable Distortion as possible so I'm talking about aliasing pre- ringing inter modulation Distortion noise and so on basically any Distortion type that I don't think Blends in naturally with the music like harmonic Distortion does third I'll utilize well-designed processors that I've tested and no don't introduce anything that I don't want that said feel free to substitute what I'm using with stock plugins if needed lastly I'm mastering at a 96 khz sampling rate to reduce the need for oversampling now some is still going to be needed but much less so than in a 48 khz session or or lower now since the chain is so straightforward this shouldn't cause any issues with CPU so let's listen to the before and after I'm not going to use gain compensation for this first demo but I will when we discuss limiting later ons down burning on a neon sign these lights go down from no one on a neon [Music] for the first insert I'm using zero latency EQ so I'm using zero latency because although subtle the pre- ringing Distortion introduced by linear phase filters blurs the transients of the lows which I want to avoid so as we introduce this EQ notice how subtle the changes are the first filters that I'd recommend trying are a dip in the mid-range around 350 HZ and a boost to the side image one half step above the mid image filter additionally the mid image dip should be slightly more aggressive than the side image boosts this Mak maintains the range's balance but Alters the stereo width to reduce muddiness and clashing in that region the slight offset and frequencies subtly expands the region as well through mild phase interference now for this track in particular there's a strong base fundamental that needed to be adjusted and some nasal tones from the vocal that were too prominent by using midside filters to Target the offending ranges more accurately I'm reducing the need for additional filters or subsequent processors to fix any overcorrections that would occur with regular stereo filters now a gentle 60b per otive highpass on the side image will Center the lows and very mildly Center the low Ms creating a clean and focus sound without changing too much a subtle shelf boosts the kick in the mid image while a high shelf on the side image creates clean sounding air and width let's take a listen these lights down on neon these lights go down for no one Bur on [Music] neon next I'm introducing harmonic free compression so the cleanest compressor that I found is this Pro C2 set to its mastering algorithm it introduces little Distortion when attenuating the signal which makes it perfect for very subtly controlling Peaks and amplifying quieter details now notice that I'm only achieving about half a DB of compression using the high threshold with a somewhat softer knee a low ratio and a quick automatic release this compression is isn't for altering the track tamber in fact that's the opposite of what I want to do instead it reduces the dynamic range without any noticeable change let's listen and notice how it's nearly impossible to hear a difference between the before and afters go down from no one burning on a neon sign these lights go down from no one burning on a neon sh next up let's try out some compensated lowf frequency saturation so usually saturation is used to both fill the lows and the mids while also introducing harmonics to the highs to brighten the sound but since the second part would introduce aliasing Distortion and phase cancellation in the highs I have an alternative that I'm going to show over the next two chapters now first I'll introduce frequency specific saturation and isolate the effect to right above the snare drums fundamental this means it'll generate harmonics for the kick the face in the snare notice that the band on the higher frequency range has been turned off completely next up I'll saturate the low band but only when the transient is present by setting up an envelope follower and linking it to the drive dial this ensures that any harmonics are tied to transients making it less noticeable if a generated harmonic frequency is not in key with the song additionally I'll time the release of this Distortion to the BPM of the song or at least to the best of my ability a clean tube setting works well for this track but experiment to find what works best for your song lastly I'll reduce the overall amplitude of the low frequency band to compensate for the added amplitude of the harmonics doing this causes the majority of the harmonics amplification to occur above the cut off frequency or in the midst which will help avoid muddiness due to the second or third ordered harmonics let's take a listen burning on a neon sign the lights go down for no one burning on a neon [Music] sign let's introduce some side image air with an auxiliary track so if I'm determined to keep a master as Distortion free as possible but I want a bright and Airy sound this is a great alternative to high frequency saturation or exciters first I'll create a send or a bust from the stereo mix on the auxiliary track I'll insert the free plug-in MSD and mute the mid image leaving only the sides then with a linear phase EQ I'll attenuate the lows and isolate the high frequencies as well as boost the air with a shelf although I was avoiding linear phase filters earlier pre- ringing Distortion is much less noticeable in high frequencies plus we're about to compress this range and amplify quieter details which will help mask some of that pre- ringing using the Pro 2 set to the mastering algorithm I'll use a soft knee and low ratio to gently compress the isolated side image highs with the range function I'll keep the attenuation to .5 DB at most to ensure that the compression doesn't become audible lastly I'll make the release program dependent and enable autom makeup gain to amplify the quieter details at this point I could adjust the ox tracks Channel fader to control the tracks brightness and the stereo width of these dense high frequencies let's take a listen to how this effect creates a clean bright and an open sound for the track lights go down for no one burning on a neon side these lights go down for no one burning on a neon [Music] sign for the last processor I'm going to use the cleanest limiter that I've found so I've discussed this limiter before but elephant by vingo is as close as I've found to transparent limiting with it I'll achieve up to 3.5 DB of attenuation and with the E4 algorithm I won't be able to hear much of a difference in the tber 2x over sampling is is going to be helpful at this point it couldn't be completely avoided but using only one instance of oversampling and at a low setting still results in a clean sounding Master overall let's listen to the before and after of this plugin without gain compensation so that we could hear how it Alters the track with loudness changes included then we'll do an AB with amplitude compensation and notice how the track tamber is only subtly altered the last thing by the end of this chain we achieved an lfs of1 which is somewhat quiet but more than enough considering normalization and how it Alters the loudness burning on a neon sign these lights go down for no one burning on a neon [Music] sign these lights go down from the war burning on a neon sign the light SC down for no one burning on a neon [Music] sign as I mentioned earlier if you want to get your mixes to sound like professional songs check out our Sage audio membership just for signing up you receive 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated mastering engineer direct one-on-one mentorship that's tailored to your specific needs unlimited mixing feedback to help improve your mixes and access to Sage audio University for depth mixing and mastering courses your dedicated mastering engineer will learn your sound and Craft Masters specific to your preferences and you also get unlimited revisions to ensure that every Master sounds exactly how you want the one-on-one mentorship gives you personalized mixing guidance tailored to your specific needs get all your questions answered with fast communication and receive unlimited advanc mixing feedback and suggestions for improvement coupled with the one-on-one mentorship you also get access to Sage audio University where you find our in-depth mixing and mastering courses walkthrough sessions for multiple genres multirack project files for Hands-On practice and a sage audio certification document for completing the courses additionally you'll be able to enter our mixing and mastering competitions to win prizes while growing your skills alongside a tight-knit group of audio Engineers inside the membership you'll have access to the sage audio Community which is full of passionate producers and Engineers ready to have meaningful discussions Network and collaborate the membership also includes over 70 GB gabt of downloadable content including mixing and mastering chains multitracks for mixing practice recommended free plugins recommended paid plugins and plug-in presets furthermore you get direct access to our full catalog of 700 in-depth mixing and mastering videos specifically created to help you improve every aspect of your mixes every day we hear great wins in the membership from producers and Engineers noticing a massive Improvement in their mixes after joining use the link in the description today to join the sage audio membership with a 70% discount and start creating mixes that sound like professional songs

Channel: Sage Audio

Views: 14,835

Keywords: Audio Engineering, Music Mastering, Music Mixing, Vocal Mixing, Music Production, Audio Mixing, Audio Mastering, Audio Recording, Audio Production, Audio Education, Audio Plugins, Free Plugins, Mixing Plugins, Mastering Plugins, Vocal Plugins, Audio Community

Id: rPWNmOvRbmo

Length: 11min 9sec (669 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 30 2024