How to Master a Song in 11 Easy Steps

welcome back to the sage audio channel today we'll be talking about how to master a song in 11 easy steps we'll cover the different forms of processing that you'll need to use as well as delve into some of the specifics of mastering additionally we'll listen to examples of the compression equalization distortion and limiting that we're using so stick around for the full video if you're having difficulty mastering your song but first if you're an artist engineer or producer and you have a mix that you need mastered send it to us at sageaudio.com we'll master it for you and send you a free mastered sample of it all you have to do is set up this account upload the song and we can do the rest so step one is import your stereo mix into your daw so before you begin working on your master you'll need to import the stereo file into your daw for many this is as easy as dragging and dropping the file into the session but if your dial doesn't allow for that then create a session with the same sampling rate and bit depth as the original mix and then import the track into your session now keep in mind that you should be mastering your mix at its original sampling rate and bit depth for example if your mix has a 48 kilohertz sampling rate and 24 bit depth then your mastering session should have the same settings step two is reduce the mix's amplitude with clip gain if it's too loud now this step should only be performed if your mix is too loud and you're unable to get a quieter version of the mix having a mix that's too loud can mean struggling to find enough headroom for your processing now if this problem is left unfixed you may create clipping distortion when using processing keep in mind that this clipping distortion can occur in between plugins and may not even show up on your meters so having enough headroom is truly important when mastering with that in mind it's best to turn down the gain of the track instead of using the channel fader or another method by reducing the gain with clip gain you ensure that the amplitude of the mix is reduced prior to any processing taking place step 3 insert a mid side equalizer and use subtractive equalization now that your session is prepared you're ready to begin processing the signal and shaping it into the sound that you want insert a mid-side equalizer as the first plugin on your stereo track for example we'll be using the fabfilter pro q3 with this equalizer we'll be performing subtractive equalization meaning that we're only going to be using this equalizer to attenuate aspects of the frequency response so the first thing that we're going to do is use a high pass filter up to 15 hertz on the mid image we're going to make this slope 24 db per octave now this won't be perceivable but it achieves more headroom since frequencies below 20 hertz aren't perceivable and can't be played back on most speakers the frequencies aren't needed additionally the energy that these frequencies have take up headroom by cutting out these frequencies you'll have more headroom and in turn can make the signal louder in the long run the next thing that we're going to do is use a high pass filter up to 135 hertz on the side image we're going to make the slope of this high pass filter 24 db per octave as well by attenuating the low frequency of the side image you make the low frequency range mono or only located in the mid channel now this will keep your kick and bass focused in turn making your master sound more driving and dynamic the last thing that we want to do is once your low frequency range is handled listen to the higher frequencies and attenuate as needed this attenuation will be more particular to the mix that you're working on that said i can't give you a set frequency that you should attenuate instead listen critically to the mix and determine what needs to be adjusted it's best not to attenuate the signal more than 2-3 db when performing subtractive equalization [Music] weights can't lift you up [Music] step four if needed use compression now compression won't always be needed when you're mastering in fact it's an often overused form of processing but if you intend to make your master loud you'll need to use compression to control the dynamics before amplifying the signal now how you compress your master is going to depend on the genre some forms of compression are better suited for dance music for example the compression retains transience and dynamic detail another example would be funk music the compression used for this genre typically glues the sound together meaning a longer release time will be used and optical compression might be used too now regardless of the type of compression try not to attenuate the signal more than 3 db unless needed again first ensure that compression is needed at all [Music] step 5 insert tape or tube emulation saturators now that your dynamics are controlled and the frequency has been balanced you can add some harmonics into your master these harmonics make your master sound fuller and more impressive harmonics are multiples of your fundamental frequencies which make those frequencies more perceivable different electronics cause different harmonics to form for example tube saturation causes a strong second order harmonic whereas tape saturation causes more balanced and even order harmonics when introducing saturation be sure to do it subtly saturation is a combination of harmonic generation which we just discussed and compression so if you're using saturation heavily not only are you adding a lot of distortion you're adding a lot of compression now too much of both of those things will be detrimental to the quality of your master every single turn don't be concerned it has [Music] step 6 insert a mid-side equalizer and use additive equalization using another mid-side equalizer it's time to amplify aspects of the frequency response that you like typically these are minut or small changes no greater than 2 db when it comes to additive equalization there's no exact method for what to amplify it's going to depend on the mix that you have what you like and what you want to accent for example if you're noticing that the vocal is getting buried under some of the instrumentation you may want to boost two kilohertz in the mid channel to bring some clearer parts of the vocal forward or maybe you're noticing that the mid-range of the guitars isn't powerful enough you may want to amplify 900hz with a gentle cue to bring forward some of that mid-range again this depends on your particular mix be sure to listen intently to your mix when determining what to change step 7 adjust the stereo image with your mid-side equalizer with your frequency response amplified in a way that best suits the mix that you were given it's time to consider how mid-side equalization can affect your stereo image the mid channel can be thought of as your mono or center channel that is where the majority of powerful signals will need to stay keeping a good portion of your signal mono or in the mid channel ensures that the master can be played back on consumer grade equipment it also means that your master will sound focused that said it doesn't hurt to send some of the signal to the side channel as well by amplifying the side image we're essentially causing the signal to expand into the stereo image now this image is often visualized as a 90 and 180 degree field with zero degrees being the center so if we want to make a wider image we can either amplify frequencies of the side channel or pan the signal more toward the side channel than the mid if we want to make a more narrow image we can amplify the mid channel or pan the signal more toward the mid channel than the side and typically speaking low frequencies are made more mono whereas high ones occupy both the mid and side channels now if you want to have a more impressive stereo image or width try amplifying the side image with a shelf filter above five kilohertz [Music] step 8 if wanted set up an auxiliary track for parallel compression [Music] if you're trying to create a more aggressive sounding master parallel compression can be helpful so let's break this down into steps step one would be to create a bus from your channel strip depending on the dial that you're using this will either create an auxiliary track automatically or you'll need to make one step two set the send of this bus to unity or 0db bring the channel fader of the auxiliary channel down to a low volume step 3 insert a compressor on the auxiliary channel and heavily compress a signal then slowly introduce this heavily compressed signal back in with your original signal by increasing the value of the channel fader now typically i have my parallel compression peak at negative 18 db on the channel faders metric but feel free to introduce this a little more aggressively if you want by using parallel compression you'll heavily compress the signal but keep things subtle enough by having the effect be a wet dry blend with the original signal parallel compression can be used instead of regular compression and is often helpful if you're trying to achieve an overall greater loudness for your master step nine on your master output insert one or two limiters [Music] using a limiter is a common choice during mastering they're needed if you want to protect your master from peaking and clipping distortion while making the signal loud enough to play back on consumer grade equipment but one of the first things to understand about limiting is that it can easily cause distortion if your signal is peaking at 0 db you're most likely still causing distortion to the signal the reason being inter-sample peaking is occurring or the signal between the samples is still peaking that's why it's best to set your limiter to at least negative 0.5 db to ensure that this doesn't occur also if it's available use isp or inter-sample peaking detection or true peak detection on your limiter's output another way a limiter can cause distortion is with its release time if you set a drastically short release time one under 30 milliseconds you'll cause distortion this is especially true for lower and mid frequencies with that in mind use a release setting greater than 30 milliseconds to avoid distortion lastly if you plan on using a significant amount of limiting try to split the processing between two limiters although this isn't going to completely alleviate your master from all of the artifacts that could be caused by heavy limiting it'll reduce it slightly [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] step 10 monitor the loudness of your song with an lufs and db true peak meter while you're introducing limiting also keep an eye on the signal's loudness and the true peak value the loudness can be measured by using an integrated lufs meter whereas the peak should be monitored with a true peak meter a good range for the loudness of your master is negative 16 lufs to negative 9 lufs negative 16 lufs will be suitable for quieter genres in which dynamics are incredibly important negative 9 lufs is a louder and more compressed master which will be more suitable for pop and wrap masters when monitoring the db true peak of your signal be sure that it doesn't go above 0 db as stated previously it might be better that the signal doesn't pass negative 0.5 db true peak now this is especially true for any master that will be uploaded online as this process may change the amplitude of the signal by up to 0.5 db keep in mind that various streaming platforms will introduce something known as loudness normalization now this process will turn your signal up or down depending on its integrated lufs and is ultimately going to affect how loud you make your master step 11 export your master and review it once your master is finished and you're confident in the settings that you've chosen it's time to export the file of the master when exporting your master it's best to know how the master is going to be distributed if the master will be put on cds it's best to export it at 44.1 kilohertz sampling rate with a 16 bit depth in this instance if the mix was originally 24 bits you'll need to use dithering if your master will be distributed using a streaming service like spotify you can export it as a 48 kilohertz 24 bit file as most distributors will accept this larger file size if you're mastering a track for someone else it's always nice to export in mp3 a 44.1 kilohertz 16-bit wave and a 48 kilohertz 24-bit wave [Music] weights can't lift you up [Music] you'll be on top of them [Music] it's how we learn it has to hurt it has to hurt every single turn don't make your party don't be concerned it has to hurt it has to hurt [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] so these are our recommendations for mastering a song and 11 easy steps but what do you think is there something that we didn't cover here that you would have liked to have seen covered let us know in the comment section below also if you're an artist engineer or producer send us one of your mixes at sageaudio.com we'll master it for you and send you a free mastered sample all you have to do is set up this account upload the song and we can do the rest but thank you so much for watching we really hope you enjoyed it if you did please like and share this video with your friends this way we know if you'd like to see more videos like this one also you can subscribe to the channel we release new videos every week and subscribing is the best way to stay up to date there's a comment section where you can leave your thoughts on this video or make a suggestion for a future video and again if you're an artist or an engineer and you have a mix that you need mastered send it to us at sageaudio.com we'll master it for you and send you a free mastered sample of it thank you so much for watching we'll see you in the next video

Channel: Sage Audio

Views: 81,790

Rating: 4.9624238 out of 5

Keywords: how to master music, making music, how to master a song, how to master a mix, mastering music, how to mix music, audio mastering, mastering in logic pro x, mastering in 11 easy steps, mastering, Audio Engineering

Id: pWHq_2sVULo

Length: 18min 36sec (1116 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 07 2020