KVR Audio

thewizrad · Post by **thewizrad** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 12:43 pm

*sorry, posted this in the freeware thread first*

I was reading a thread on GS last night where quite a few mastering engineers were namechecking Kotelnikov, which got me thinking...
Out of curiosity, I wondered if I could put together a mastering chain with just freeware.

[DISCLAIMER: I am not a full-time mastering engineer, but I do "master" my mixes for clients, and sometimes will do mastering jobs for web-based releases. This idea came to me when I was putting together a quote for an album mix where the client didn't have budget for mastering, and I wondered what would you do if you had NO budget, but sill wanted to master your mixes...]

So here is my freeware mastering chain, as of Sept 2015:

Slim Slow Slider C3 Multiband Compressor
http://www.geocities.jp/webmaster_of_ss ... ex.html#c3
Kotelnikov
http://www.tokyodawn.net/tdr-kotelnikov/
Alex Hilton A1 Stereo Control
http://www.alexhilton.net/A1AUDIO/index ... reocontrol
Acustica Ochre EQ
http://www.acustica-audio.com/index.php ... Itemid=189
Vladgsound Nova76P Dynamic EQ
https://vladgsound.wordpress.com/plugins/nova67p/
Limiter No6
https://vladgsound.wordpress.com/plugins/limiter6/
Voxengo SPAN
http://www.voxengo.com/product/span/

You could add in SlickEQ and MOLOT if you wanted, which are also both great.

C3 Multiband is pretty harsh if you go crazy with it, but as a very subtle layer of control over the mix it works well for me.

I think Kotelnikov gives the Waves API2500 a run for its money on the master buss as a clean, transparent compressor. I think the Waves comps have a hipass going on up to around 135Hz, which gives that warm round sound, and Kotelnikov can do that nicely also.

A1 Stereo Control is great for just a little extra width, and I really like the "safe bass" control.

Ochre just sounds great, again in small amounts. Dial in super low end with a broad Q, tame the harshness around 2.5K and add a little fizz at 20K with another broad Q. Sounds good to me.

Nova76P is quite complicated, but for a little dynamic taming around the low mids it's superb.

Limiter No6 is really really amazing. A lot of the time I am not using every module, but the M/S and multiband options give a lot of depth and width to a mix without having to do very much else. The clipping can get out of hand, so you have to be careful with that, but I think it actually sounds richer and deeper than Elephant...

SPAN just lives at the end of the master chain on everything I do.

Hope this is useful to someone, and look forward to hearing your thoughts on the concept.

Tapehead · Post by **Tapehead** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 2:46 pm

Very interesting subject! I'm always curious how people choose their tools and why. In some ways it is also entertaining, almost like watching "chef from hell's kitchen" ; you can't taste the meal but watching it made before your eyes is nearly as good as tasting it.
Thanks for sharing it!

thewizrad · Post by **thewizrad** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 6:23 pm

Cool. Will post screenshots of some settings tomorrow.

khanyz · Post by **khanyz** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 6:36 pm

I would include Voxengo MSED to your list as it is very useful for mono compatibility checks and other stereo issues.

Would you include MagWare, given that you can occasionally get issues of Computer Music free from Google Play, Zinio and the iOS App?

Toneboosters Barricade CM is great.

manducator · Post by **manducator** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 6:56 pm

Hey, it's always nice to read how others mix and master their music. Thanks for sharing!!

thewizrad · Post by **thewizrad** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 7:11 pm

khanyz wrote:I would include Voxengo MSED to your list as it is very useful for mono compatibility checks and other stereo issues.

Would you include MagWare, given that you can occasionally get issues of Computer Music free from Google Play, Zinio and the iOS App?

Toneboosters Barricade CM is great.

Good point - MSED is a great tool!

I'm not sure about MagWare (first time I've heard that term, LOL)...

I definitely use a fair amount of MagWare for mixing. Maybe I'll do another post on that topic....

RichieWitch · Post by **RichieWitch** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 7:13 pm

+1 for Barricade CM. It's always on the master channel by the time I get to the end of my mixdown. Great plugin.

djscorb · Post by **djscorb** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 8:07 pm

You can absolutely get great results from those plugins!

Personally I would ditch the multiband, I use a multiband once every few hundred masters and even then grudgingly! AlthoughI haven't used it myself, the Nova-67P dynamic EQ should be more than enough for any frequency dependent corrective dynamic processing.

Also I would say that you will need a good high pass filter of some kind but maybe there is one on the Nova?

The SlickEq GE edition has a pretty decent HPF/LPF but the standard free edition doesn't which is a shame.

Cheers

Scorb

Synthetic Wav · Post by **Synthetic Wav** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 9:13 pm

in the slickeq Ge i think it's a butterworth filter and imo it's not enought transparent in many case even if it s pretty decent. when tightness of the sound need to be preserved, timing,transients, a option for a bessel filter would be nice to make the eq more versatile thats my only grip with this plug .

about free plugs for mastering this one could be handy http://www.toneboosters.com/tb-midsidetransformer/

do_androids_dream · Post by **do_androids_dream** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 9:39 pm

Mastering is a skillset - a mindset - a listening activity. I know I must seem like a grump in these mastering threads but it really is important to get out of this 'chain' habit. Some tracks need a lot of work and some need none at all. If you have the 'mastering chain' mindset it gets you into a habit of thinking that everything you produce needs shoving through this huge plugin chain when that's not what mastering is about at all.

khanyz · Post by **khanyz** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 10:22 pm

do_androids_dream wrote:Mastering is a skillset - a mindset - a listening activity. I know I must seem like a grump in these mastering threads but it really is important to get out of this 'chain' habit. Some tracks need a lot of work and some need none at all. If you have the 'mastering chain' mindset it gets you into a habit of thinking that everything you produce needs shoving through this huge plugin chain when that's not what mastering is about at all.

Mastering is a necessary evil because not all equipment is perfect. A "standard" chain is a learning tool to gain the skills to do it. Those who are asking about deviating from the "standard" are just learning more and moving on to knowing what skills are involved in it.

I am an old grump but I still remember being young and not knowing. Now, I don't care about not knowing and wouldn't wish that on anybody.

ccDuckett · Post by **ccDuckett** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 10:43 pm

Not mastering, but mixing (and not in a heavy-handed way) freeware that's stood out for me as happy discoveries: SlickHDR is one nifty little tool when there's a little sweetening that needs to be done, and SGA1566 does some pixie-dust sprinklage duties well. I really like DualPanner for something to throw across a multitude of tracks as a pan/stereo utility (Stereo Tool's big display is too distracting for me).

khanyz · Post by **khanyz** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 11:05 pm

For mixing I'd go with Magnus' Ambience being a standout plugin.

do_androids_dream · Post by **do_androids_dream** » Fri Sep 04, 2015 8:07 am

khanyz wrote:A "standard" chain is a learning tool to gain the skills to do it. Those who are asking about deviating from the "standard" are just learning more and moving on to knowing what skills are involved in it.

I think this is the problem. There is no such thing as a standard mastering chain. Mastering is about listening for things that might need addressing in context of A: client/listener expectations and B: the rest of the tracks on the particular release. Above all, it's about making a track/ep/album suitable for distribution which, in turn, translates as giving it the best chance of sounding great on any playback system. This really doesn't have anything to do with a 'standard' chain and the sooner someone who is learning gets away from this flawed concept the better.

khanyz wrote:I am an old grump but I still remember being young and not knowing. Now, I don't care about not knowing and wouldn't wish that on anybody.

This 'chain' business won't teach you anything if you don't know the concepts behind what the purpose of mastering actually is.

The most useful thing to know about mastering is that it's all about listening, quality monitoring and (listening in) a 'reference' environment. The caveat is that you have to know your reference environment very, very well and you have to have listened to a lot of varied music within it to make decisions about your/a clients music. If you don't have these conditions - and a great set of ears - it really is best (if you really care about your music) to send it to someone who knows what they're doing.

As regards actual equipment, the most useful device in mastering is an eq - any eq. Most of my daily mastering duties is carried out with just that. I use compression on perhaps 1 out of 10 masters and I use multiband compression on perhaps 1 out of 50 (that's reserved for fixing problems that eq alone isn't able to do).

2ZrgE · Post by **2ZrgE** » Fri Sep 04, 2015 8:38 am

Wise words, but in practice it's mainly about getting your track as loud as the other guys' tracks on Soundcloud etc., especially if you're not a 'pro'.

My Freeware Mastering Chain (repost)