I've just started to experiment with this. For those that don't know what I'm talking about, it's putting a compressor on the master bus at the start of a mix (or early on) and mixing INTO the compressor for the whole mix. I get the impression it's not done a lot by SONAR users as most times I hear anything on these forums from people it's DO NOT PUT ANYTHING ON THE MASTER BUS! With the reasoning being that a mastering engineer will do a better job. But what's different is that you are mixing INTO it and it will yield a completely different result than if you just slap on the compressor at the end.

For anyone wanting more info, this article sums it up nicely:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may08/articles/mixcompression.htm

Anyway, initial impressions are good. I think I like it. I think it might suit my style of mixing and the sonics I am trying to achieve. I've only used it on one song which I'm still mixing (a song I got from a band I saw recently and they said I could have a go at re-mixing a song of theirs) but it's cool. It seems to bring things together really quickly.

The biggest danger of this is definitely going too hard into it. I have already started doing this in my first mix as I started falling in the cycle of 'turn up the bass' then 'turn up the kick' then 'turn up the guitars', and then everything goes back to the start and your suddenly smashing the compressor really hard and flatlining the song. But I realised early on! So I might need a little re-mixing, but this is a learning process. It's fun. And I think I will like it once I get used to it. I think it'll help force me to be more strict about proper gain staging and levelling as I'll constantly be checking to make sure I'm not smashing the comp too hard.

For this song I started out with an 1176 emulation. Using the Antress Modern plug for that. I think it's a little more gritty than the ProChan 1176 which suits this song. But the LA-2A emulation might sound a bit better on a softer song.

Anyway. Just curious if any of you guys have experimented with this and what you found with it. It's a really interesting way to mix and I think everything should give it a try at least for interests sake.

I do.

My Mastering Chain consists of 4 T-Racks3 modules in series:

Pultec style EQ
Linear Phase EQ
Classic Compressor
Brickwall Limiter

Once I'm allowed to spend any more money , I'll be getting IK's Black 76 &  White 2A plugs and see what I can do with these

I normally drop the Cakewalk VC64 on the Master Bus.

What I have learned to do myself for my way is I try and leave it off when mixing (EQ, Levels, FX adj) then I turn it on and off through out monitoring the levels on all components. I do catch quite often things I need to go back and lower as I go.  

Not sure for others but for me I notice a huge difference

I try to start the tune without anything on the Master Buss other than ARC2. I will add as things get more finished.

I add ARC and Ozone to the master buss at the beginning of the project. On Ozone... it's normally a customized preset I start most song projects with. As the project progresses, it might remain as stock... get tweezed, or replaced totally with a different preset as needed. 

I have been using this method for a long time. (I got ARC earlier in this year and started using it) 

My reasoning is this: I hear the tracks like they will sound when I export them ultimately in the end. Ozone makes the project sound better...and I like it to sound good even in the tracking stages. To me, it's more inspirational to have a good sounding project to work from as opposed to a duller sounding straight up track. 

I begin ALL tracking and mixing with the end in mind. So there may be compression, widening, EQ, and other stuff in the master under the cover of OZONE...   As I add tracks, I immediately add the plugs I think are needed to the tracks or in many cases .... plugs are not needed so not added. But as I work I hear what this project will sound like. 

If I add a plug... be it reverb, or a compressor or whatever else..... it will be affected by the stuff in the master buss so I want to know it right up front, and make the adjustments as I move forward through the tracking and processing of the project. It's easy to disable the plugs to see where a problem might be originating and solve it early rather than starting to add plugs later and have a big mess going on with reverb or compression that is additive from tracks to busses and master......

This is my work process.... I'm in no way saying it's the right or wrong way to work... just how I do it. 

I will do some light compression on the master bus for some "mix" glue.

I use waves C1 on my master buss.

i mix into it from the beginning.

it is set for a very light ratio, slow attack, fast release, and threshold is dependent on the song.

Nope, not at all.  

What goes on my master bus during the composition/mix/production stage is, "a brick wall limiter."  But it is not for master buss compression.  To protect my ears, and monitors

Also on my master buss during mix/production might be some metering, and some mix tools like, "bx solo."  Everything is taken off my master bus when I render my mix, before the actual mastering stage.  I do use, "bus compressors," but mostly on buses where I have sent many tracks. 



Then during post production, I have a mastering process I follow.

  That only means, that I do not like master bus compression.  I find it to, "take the air from my mids, and over pump my bass."  YMMV...   It could very well be, that the way I design my sounds, do not take to this philosophy of compression...  

There are certainly, thousands, upon thousands of tracks, that sound great with this, "master bus compression," but its not for me.

Cheers 

One of the unanswerable questions and a lot like many old people jokes - it depends.

My own progress on the question was no - learning during the analog days I simply didn't have anything good to slap on the mix bus at home.  Now with all these dang fangled digital toys that is not a reason, even if you are learning.

The cons against mixing into masterer mixing bus are simple - hopefully one will find a mastering chain that is indivdualized for the song.  We don't mix w/ exactly the same effects on instruments and mastering should be tweaked even if you only mix one style of song.

The pros are simple too - you want to mix into  "how the song will be heard."

Both ways are valid.  Many years ago I was producing a cd and my suggestion was to add a swelling organ for the last verse and chorus to pump up the sound.  The engineer mixed it in low.  Several of us argued to make it louder - I thought it should be as loud or louder than everything else.  But I lost (guitar band, you know).  The engineer winked at me.  When mastered, the organ wasn't as loud as I had orginally hoped, but it was louder than in the raw mix.  And worked.  Such is still a battle of the mix for me.  Different sounds will poke through a mix when bus mastered - if you don't have the experience w/ it the mix job becomes guessing.  My personal songs these days are using a lot of farfisa type sounds which disappear or poke too far out depending upon the notes/chords, playing and other sounds around it.  Not to mention playback systems.  Mix bus compression is the only way I have any idea how the farfisa sounds between songs, or even within them. 

Since there is no right or wrong I tend to slap a mastering compressor on the output bus but disable it and use it to check how the mix will sound.  I can get the general effect but don't bother to spend too much time tweaking it.  I find it a good compromise.

Now, if I had an SSL console here at home ...

@

Depends on the song. What I wouldn't do, though, is use an 1176-style compressor on the master bus. IMO, that's for individual tracks, not busses. But then, I'm a conservative when it comes to compressor usage.

If you want to try something different, throw the Sonitus Multiband on the master. With gentle settings it will make smooth songs even smoother, and with very aggressive settings will help maximize your volume if that's what you're after.