![]() You can actually use any plugin for this purpose, so long as it provides a stereo level control and does not color the sound.Įven if you’ve lowered the overall headroom to start with, it’s a good idea to keep checking your meters as you apply different mastering processes. He then uses its level control to lower both stereo channels by 6 dB in order to leave sufficient headroom for the other processes he’ll be adding later in the chain. Here’s a nice tip: Yoad Nevo often begins by inserting a Waves Q1 (a simple single-band equalizer, included as a component of the Q10 Equalizer) as the first plugin in his mastering chain, yet leaving it completely flat. A good rule of thumb is to keep steady signals such as rhythm guitars, synths or pads at somewhere between -20 and -16 dBFS, with transient peaks (such as occur from drums and percussive instruments) no higher than -6 dBFS. Most plugins – especially those that model analog equipment – are designed to work at around a particular input level range, and that range definitely does not include peaks at zero. The second golden rule – actually, a corollary to the first one – is: Always leave yourself sufficient headroom. Taking the time to do this can in some instances allow you to add several extra decibels of makeup gain during compression and/or final limiting. You can then use your DAW to focus in on those peaks and reduce their level – something that should not affect audio quality since individual overs and unders (or even small numbers of them occurring consecutively) are generally inaudible. WLM Plus can also issue automation warnings when overs or unders (single clipped samples) occur and can even create a real time or offline log of the audio file, flagging those instants when clipping has occurred. Advanced metering plugins like the Waves WLM Plus Loudness Meter provide visual cues whenever target levels are exceeded. Other than that, clipping is generally something to be avoided like the plague. “It makes the track sound louder than it would otherwise, without compromising on the sound too much,” explains Yoad. "It’s okay to have some clipping as long as it’s only on up to 10-15 consecutive samples,” says mastering engineer Yoad Nevo, “more than that, and it’s audible.” Allowing some small degree of clipping during analog-to-digital conversion (as you would do if you were digitally mastering a mix done on analog tape) can enable you to squeeze out an extra dB or so during the transfer. Now, whether or not you’ll actually be able to hear this distortion is another question. Sure, if you try to send a signal above that point to your digital-to-analog converter, it will attempt to play the data, but since it cannot go beyond that ceiling it will instead square off (“clip”) the waveform, which means distortion. This applies whether we’re talking about 0 dB, 0 dBVU, 0 dBFS (Full Scale), 0 LUFS, or 0 LKFS. The first Golden Rule of digital recording is simple: There’s nothing above zero. The key to accomplishing all three objectives is to get your levels right, and in this article we’ll take a detailed look at how to do so. (Note the use of the word “unintentional.” If you’re mastering a thrash metal track, there will no doubt be plenty of it already, but on purpose.) But perhaps most importantly, you don’t want there to be even a hint of unintentional distortion. Secondly, you want to make sure that all the elements in the mix can be clearly heard, with a proper balance of frequencies. This is your last chance to get things right… and no time to mess things up!įirst, your goal should be to deliver a master that can compete in volume with other commercially released music in the same genre. ![]() So you’re ready to begin mastering that great mix that you (or someone else) engineered to perfection. ![]() How much is typical for today’s music? How loud is too loud? Get valuable tips on how to maintain proper levels for effective mastering. Setting levels for compression and limiting is a vital part of the mastering process.
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