Mastering EQ and Compression

[plexuss]

An approach I use is to work towards a sonic goal. That could be with respect to a specific sound down to how a transient sounds, for example or something more broad like the over-all sound of a collection of tracks. In order to aim for a goal it's good to know what you are aiming for so you can identify when you've reached it and also know what to do to get there from where you are. In my approach I do this my focussing on one aspect at a time and tweeking/working until I achieve the goal. One minute I am adjusting something that affects the whole mix and the next tweeking a transient on a specific track. Often times this requires refactoring once you've achieved something with one thing, you may need to adjust a bunch of other things to compensate. Do this enough and you start to learn how things interplay with each other so you can make for efficient moves in the future, which plays into the ongoing growth of an audio engineer and musician. I've arrived at this by trial and error and listening and observing other people and finding things that work for me and discarding others. Which is another good aspect to consider, the abililty to know when a tool or approach is appropriate for your process. Not all are.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

Why, i didn't mean you when write it,just in general about individuals in kvr ,which seems to exist,just to ruin any interesting topic with their negativism...

That was meant to be a joke.

All #kvr individuals are normal but some are more normal than others.

Yep :):)Original sense of humor :)Cheers

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

Agree with Synthman2000 that nothing replace mixing engineer's ears and skills,but also i think self improving is most important part of growing as professional skills.

In my case isn't actually an ambition to do it 'pro' as service,but easy to achieve dope sound ,the way i can use sound design fantasy to improve the composition and entire mix
No alcohol.
Cheers

It's even quicker to do this practice with mastering. Set a time limit of only 20 minutes or so. Assign one simple EQ (something flexible like Pro-Q/Kirchoff/DMG Audio Equilibrium/Crave etc), one simple yet capable compressor (Pro-C/Kotelnikov/Unisum/Elysia Alpha etc), one "mojo" plugin that you like and a simple brickwall limiter/clipper that you like. Then do the absolute minimal moves you can in those 20min and simply try to make the master sound "better" than the original mix, making sure you do ALL comparisons at equal loudness levels. A good secondary task is to get the overall volume level up to decent competitive levels (so between -11 LUFS to -7 LUFS, depending on genre) but don't make this the priority. Render and let the file sit a few days. Then do it again and compare.

How do you make sure you are comparing at equal loudness levels on the fly. I have plugins I can adjust the volume after to make sure I am at the same LUFS but is there some way to lock the loudness in and make moves and be able to compare without having to take that extra step to manually adjust the level?

First and foremost, your hearing. Toggle back and forth between original vs the master.. then adjust volume until you feel like they sound the same volume level at most parts of the song (or the densest part, usually the chorus of the song). The more often you do this, the closer you'll get with very little effort.

Also note that the actual perceived volume changes depending on overall frequency response and how loud you are listening. This is where the whole idea of K-Metering comes from (Bob Katz innovation, though I don't think he was the first to do this.. just the first to write the idea down in a book).

If you always monitor your levels at a constant volume level, that you get used to, then it gets even easier to setup relative levels between two tracks (or original vs your master).

But when you are starting out you can use all the excellent tools available today that help you set overall level matching between the two. Something like Youlean Loudness meter or automatic systems like TBProAudio ABLM. Like anything else, the more often you do this, the quicker it becomes a habit and eventually you'll be able to level match things very accurately by ear, which is obviously the quickest way.

Some guys claim that entire mastering process destroy dynamics and have to start we that in mind,not just to follow some rules...

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

An approach I use is to work towards a sonic goal. That could be with respect to a specific sound down to how a transient sounds, for example or something more broad like the over-all sound of a collection of tracks. In order to aim for a goal it's good to know what you are aiming for so you can identify when you've reached it and also know what to do to get there from where you are. In my approach I do this my focussing on one aspect at a time and tweeking/working until I achieve the goal. One minute I am adjusting something that affects the whole mix and the next tweeking a transient on a specific track. Often times this requires refactoring once you've achieved something with one thing, you may need to adjust a bunch of other things to compensate. Do this enough and you start to learn how things interplay with each other so you can make for efficient moves in the future, which plays into the ongoing growth of an audio engineer and musician. I've arrived at this by trial and error and listening and observing other people and finding things that work for me and discarding others. Which is another good aspect to consider, the abililty to know when a tool or approach is appropriate for your process. Not all are.

I follow the feeling - if a composition need something to be added as instrumental i make it inside the mix; one of benefits to be sound designer,but anyway final mix need 'pumping' or leveling the spectrum with quality fx.
Cheers