Hello everyone and thanks for reading this. I am very curious to hear many of your answers to this question: Do you personally build up your volume at mix down of your project OR after, during mastering? I know many of you will probably say something about doing both, but I don't think that will truly answer the question.
 
Let me put it this way and maybe it will explain my question better. I know of many internet musicians (engineers/masters/etc) who claim that volume is obtained from the mix-I have seen this done and done well in various videos.
 
BUT
I have also read many articles and several books which are dedicated to the art that say just the opposite-volume is created  after the mix and is done with limiters, primarily, but with some other techniques as well. I have seen this done also on various videos.
 
For the record, I am referring to "In The Box" mixing and mastering.
 
I am interested in as many qualified answers as I can get because I keep going back and forth with this question and would like to feel that I am doing it the "right" way and not the "wrong" way.
 
Some of you professional-types would probably ask what my overall goal is when discussing this. I am talking about internet distribution and at its best, without tens of thousands of dollars/pounds/etc spent on hardware.
 
I surely do look forward to your responses on this and hope I can come away with the "right" way!
 
Thanks everyone!
 
bob
 
 
 
 
 

It depends a little, if I have to do everything myself my process blends together a bit more and I may be pushing to loudness in the mix a bit more before final mastering. If I have to deliver a mix to be mastered externally it's a good idea to leave what may seem a generous amount of headroom (peaks on mastering bus averaging maybe between -10 and -4dB, definitely no higher peaks). When working in 24 bit there is plenty of audio resolution to boost things later during mastering.

Here is a break down of my work flow but you can skip to the FX and Bus Comp to get directly to your answer.
Everyone works in their own way and I have seen people do things I would never do but some how they make it work. Rule Numero Uno: Don't put any FX on the master bus itself. This is the last place before digital conversion takes place (before feeding your soundcard). So keep it nice and clean. Even when I Master I typically put all FX in the tracks and keep my Master bus clean (With the exception of Analyzing and Metering tools). Those I put in the Master bus.
 
Tracks:
Each one of my tracks is sent to a bus. I have many different tracks which include midi and audio.
There's no rule here but I often send midi and audio tracks to the same bus (Stringed bass guitar audio + Synth Bass Midi) These 2 will go to a BASS BUS. Don't be afraid to push these. just remember the simple rule that each track adds 3db. so if you have 3 tracks at 0db unity, it will push your Master Bus in to the red at +6 to +9db. So the more tracks, the more your going to have to lower everything.
 
Buses:
This is where it can sometimes get complicated but remember there are no rules (Except the master bus rule).
Each bus is receiving a signal from the tracks being sent it to. I typically have 6-10 buses. These Buses are Drum Bus, Guitar Bus, Bass Bus, Vocal Bus, Synth Bus, Delay Bus, Reverb Bus, exc just to name a few.
The FX buses are receiving signal from the sends on different tracks (sending a portion of that signal to that buses FX).
I choose to lower my tracks vs lowering buses to adjust Master Bus levels. Once in a while I will drop a Bus fader 1db or so but any more. if I am having to drop my Bus faders, there's a problem somewhere in the tracks levels.
 
FX And Bus Compression:
I use FX in my Tracks and Buses. The majority of FX are in the tracks. I use Bus compression on almost every single Bus with the exclusion of the FX buses. Some Buses don't need the Bus compression (there's no dynamics best left uncompressed). I am a big fan of the WAVES SSL Bus compressor. It should be noted that I don't use these to squeeze the sound, they are only there to round off large spikes in the dynamics to tame to levels. This way in mastering its much more manageable. Its very easy to tell when you have used to much Bus compression.
When you cue it up to master it, its too squeezed,  sometimes distorted or simply no room to limit.
Remember to keep your Master bus fader between -6 / -3 on your mix downs. Your mastering engineer will love you.
 

I bounce the mix to a track with no processors in the master bus to create a pre-master. It has full dynamics and typically peaks at around -3 dB. This is what I master, or if I want another set of ears, send to my partner-in-crime mastering engineer Steve Turnidge. Any volume maximization gets applied to the pre-master. 

Hey guys thanks for the great advice and really quick too! I thank you all. I think I have a question for chuckebaby or maybe you other guys as well.
 
I guess this will seem to be a foolish question, as in, I should already know this, but I am afraid I do not. When I create the buses and send to them, do I then send these bus outputs to the master bus, so that all buses go to the one master? Or, do I leave all my buses alone (drums, bass, etc) and export them along with the master bus when I am preparing to go to master? I have not been sending all the other buses to the master bus because it seems much louder and I don't like giving up the volume but maybe I pick this back up when mastering? I don't know but I want to know so that I can do this right.
 
By the way, thanks so much chucke for all that great info, man. I knew, more or less, about the levels and stuff but you really cleared it up nicely for me. Besides, I have heard your tunes and its wonderful stuff that you are sharing with me (and others) how exactly you accomplish this. I hope you respond to this question because I know you are a busy dude. Also, Sandexpander and Anderton too! I welcome any other help on this if someone else reads this.
 
Dang! You guys have a boatload of posts! No wonder you are so smart!
 
 Many thanks,
 
bob

After

There are good reasons why seasoned mixers tell you that loudness starts with the mix, and that it shouldn't be left entirely to the master bus limiter. A limiter raises everything while squashing peaks, and while that does raise the average RMS by reducing dynamic range, loudness perception is more complicated than that.
 
A good mix with judicious track compression should sound loud even before the master limiter has been engaged. All you have to do is make sure to leave enough headroom (at least 6dB) to allow the limiter to do its thing. 
 
 
 

bitflipper
There are good reasons why seasoned mixers tell you that loudness starts with the mix, and that it shouldn't be left entirely to the master bus limiter. A limiter raises everything while squashing peaks, and while that does raise the average RMS by reducing dynamic range, loudness perception is more complicated than that.
 
A good mix with judicious track compression should sound loud even before the master limiter has been engaged. All you have to do is make sure to leave enough headroom (at least 6dB) to allow the limiter to do its thing.

 
It's very revealing to use a maximizer-type plug-in with the option to balance the compressed and uncompressed sounds in terms of perceived level. The subjective difference is usually less than you might expect.
 

Loudness starts before you hit the record button. 
I make sure everything I record is at it's optimal level. 
My goal will be that most tracks, like bass and vocals, will sit in the mix perfectly when that track is set at unity. 
Those tracks will get a compressor in the track bin set with fast attack at a low setting to safeguard against overs. But I will also look for and edit peaks manually too. 
I'll watch the master output meter as I work to make sure I'm not heading for trouble. 
So for me it's a track by track process using compressors and eq to keep the tracks audible in the mix. If the master buss starts to peak then it's time to back off everywhere and maintain the balance. 
 
When the song is ready for export I've been putting the LP multi band on the Master buss. I set it fast attack and try to keep it from actually compressing any given band. If a band shows action I'll trouble shoot at the track level. 
 
I export the mix and open in Wave Lab to master. Some songs only need top and tail and my goal is a RMS average of around -13 db. with peaks just shy of 0db.  If the song is above -15 @ .05db peak I'll push it through the "maximizer" and add 2db. 
 

bobernaut
Hey guys thanks for the great advice and really quick too! I thank you all. I think I have a question for chuckebaby or maybe you other guys as well.
 
I guess this will seem to be a foolish question, as in, I should already know this, but I am afraid I do not. When I create the buses and send to them, do I then send these bus outputs to the master bus, so that all buses go to the one master? Or, do I leave all my buses alone (drums, bass, etc) and export them along with the master bus when I am preparing to go to master? I have not been sending all the other buses to the master bus because it seems much louder and I don't like giving up the volume but maybe I pick this back up when mastering? I don't know but I want to know so that I can do this right.
 
By the way, thanks so much chucke for all that great info, man. I knew, more or less, about the levels and stuff but you really cleared it up nicely for me. Besides, I have heard your tunes and its wonderful stuff that you are sharing with me (and others) how exactly you accomplish this. I hope you respond to this question because I know you are a busy dude. Also, Sandexpander and Anderton too! I welcome any other help on this if someone else reads this.
 
Dang! You guys have a boatload of posts! No wonder you are so smart!
 
 Many thanks,
 
bob

All your Instrument buses will be routed to your Main Master bus.
This is of course subject, as everyone chooses a different way but I think the majority of users here will agree with me. Send your Buses to the Master Bus and keep that MB clean.
 
Mixing and Mastering is such a craft, there are so many good books and good videos out there but in my opinion: One learns to perfect the craft by trial and error. Making a lot of mistakes is where I learned the bulk of my most important lessons.
 
I will however give up my Grandmothers Secret recipe . (actually its one I've created by trial error) Works well with Rock music, Some Pop and even Metal.
 
- When you begin the Mastering stages use this as a reference:
 
1- Start by opening a new blank project
2- Drag/drop your finished mix on to the audio track
3- Insert your mastering plug ins / mastering chain in to the "Tracks" FX bin.
4- Drop your analyzing, metering plug ins in the master bus.
5- Listen and make adjustments.
6- Export
 
Create a mastering chain using your own plug ins. The order of which you use these plug ins is also very important.
For Example:
 
My Mastering Chain consists of:
 
1- Linear EQ to drop off/filter APPROX 30HZ and under.
2- CA-2A for Analog coloring= a 1 to 1.5 db push / very subtle.
3- The SSL Bus compressor.
4- The L3.
5- Followed by the L2.
6- Some more light Analog coloring.
7-The Secret sauce.