Great idea. Shame I don't have any material ready for mastering. I'll follow with interest whatever's made public.
 
Thanks again Craig

PM just sent. Another great idea from Craig.  I just wonder how much headroom you would prefer to deal with? I once made a mistake of sending a wav file to LANDR with Waves L3 limiter on stereo bus peaking at c. -0.3dB. It turned out not great.

telecharge

Anderton
Any files with "faux" mastering that have compression or limiting in the master bus

Hey, Craig. Can you give us a little more guidance on this? I believe it is a fairly common practice to mix into a compressor on the master bus. I've seen professionals who do it and/or recommend it.

 
Check out the new "Friday's Tip of the Week." There are situations where this makes sense, mostly if whatever you're doing doesn't have to be in context with other music. But just because it's a common practice doesn't necessarily mean it's the best practice. 
 
When I get something to master, I'm being paid the big $$ to make decisions on how much dynamics to add, and what kind. If there's already dynamics, then that takes away a lot of options. I've received tracks to master that were "sausaged" if you know what I mean. I can't do anything with those. Also, you want people to send you the best mix possible. The dynamics in the bus can cover up errors in judgement that would perhaps better be addressed with EQ prior to adding dynamics.  
 
I'm not saying people shouldn't do it, but it's not what I like to do, and I venture to say most mastering engineers want as clean and "honest" a mix as possible. Of course, individual tracks are a different matter...if you want to compress the hell out of your bass, go for it! I'm just concerned with the two-track master.
 
Another recommendation I frequently see for mixes is to leave -6 to -8 dB headroom if you are going to be mastering. Is that what you're looking for?
 
That was more important in the days of analog recording, but is still relevant for other reasons. I give a little more leeway there. As long as there's a dB or two, I'm happy; I can reduce the overall level if needed. But -6 to -8dB is fine too. The main thing I want to avoid are tracks that get close to 0.
 

John
I think its a wonderful idea. 

I'm glad it's getting traction. The interest indicates this could justify a monthly column in the upcoming publication. 

... but the PM does not show up in my PM sent list. I remember once my every post was deleted if it included any link. Is this happening now?

Afrodrum
... but the PM does not show up in my PM sent list. I remember once my every post was deleted if it included any link. Is this happening now?

I have three PMs, and yours is one of them. Definitely wouldn't mind some more. The more I have, the more I can choose ones that show off different aspects of mastering.

Oh good. I am sure you will receive much more than you can find time to handle :-)

Was it done with Sonar plugins?

Great idea!

telecharge

Anderton
Any files with "faux" mastering that have compression or limiting in the master bus

Hey, Craig. Can you give us a little more guidance on this? I believe it is a fairly common practice to mix into a compressor on the master bus. I've seen professionals who do it and/or recommend it.
 
Another recommendation I frequently see for mixes is to leave -6 to -8 dB headroom if you are going to be mastering. Is that what you're looking for?

I it all depends on what king of music you are mixing, but I wouldn't say its common.
I personally never (ever) use compression on the Master bus. I use Compression in the Instrument buses. but only slightly just to tame the transients.
 
More often than not my Master bus is empty. I try to keep it as clean as possible and instead choose the route of FX in the Instrument buses. You want to wait on compressing the "Whole mix" in the mastering stage, not necessarily the mixing stage.
 
By using compression on a Master bus you are intern compression your whole mix. this is not good for dynamics.
*However, if I am running a " One off " for a client, so he/she can have something to listen to before its mastered, I will throw a concrete limiter on the master bus, but this is only temporary / a rough mix so the client can make sure he or she is pleased with the recordings.
This is promptly removed though after the rough mix is complete.
 
I cant speak for other producers but using compression on the master bus itself is considered a No No in the world of Chuck e baby .
But there are some styles I don't mix (Techno, Rave, exc) Maybe this is something they do. im just not aware of it.
So this is just my personal opinion .