Rimshot
To Jeff, Ben, and Danny,
You all have very important comments about this topic and I sure wish you could post an example of a mix where you used the methods described. It is so frustrating to read the words without any audio example.
I know that can be hard to do and don't misunderstand my wish.
It's just like Danny has cautioned so many times that the proof is in the pudding. I for one have never relied on master VU's to tell me much except for how hot or not I was. I do look at the individual channel meters/VU's a lot.
In this case, I don't think the issue is to concentrate on how your master VU is bouncing but on how the overall mix is being done. I would love to hear some examples from you guys!
Hi Jimmy,
I'd love to try and whip up something for you to show you what I mean. Unfortunately (or fortunately if you're me lol) I'm at my busy time of year and only have very small pieces of time here and there. I'll see if I can maybe throw something together over the small slots of time I have open.....but I can't promise you. A lot of the stuff I used it on was stuff that's not ready for release yet. I'll see what I can do for you though.
Until then, I'm in the camp with you on the meters thing. Jeff prefers to watch them closely, I prefer to just make sure I'm not clipping or spiking. I can look at my wave form and look at the Sonar meters and get the same outcome for the stuff *I* do.
As far as the method to the multi band....you have a pretty cool one in Sonar. That multi 64 or whatever it's called, is decent. It can be a bit abrasive if you're not careful though....but I like it better than the Waves multi. There are two stock settings in the Sonar version. Put it on your master bus and load up one of the stock settings in the MB and just mess around with it.
Try to get it to the point of where it is lightly controlling your mix. As soon as you hear something pump or breathe, either decrease the threshold on that band or try a smaller ratio. You can get away with 2:1 to 4:1 as long as you don't crush anything. You'll hear the eq being controlled by the compression. This can really tighten things up....but if you're not careful with attack times, you can make things rough on yourself.
But I suggest trying the "light mastering" preset and just play with it. You'll know when you have it right. You'll see it compressing the bands down. The key is seeing the bands compress down on the plug without hearing them compress while enjoying what you hear. That's when you usually are using it the right way. That said, it also depends on the material you are working with.
Jeff: You can get the Precision Multiband for the UAD 1. It's actually a UAD 1 plug. If you buy one plug this year, get that thing. You'll thank me...it's that good. And, you can just about never ruin a mix with it. It's so seamless, I've been using it in place of my beloved API 2500 compressor, which I have used in my mastering procedure for years.
I think a lot of my good fortune lies within the clients I get that trust in me and do what I tell them to do. When a mix comes to me, it's all ready to go because I help the client pre-master it before I touch it. That's part of my service to them....and it's especially helpful when a client comes to me that is a home studio guy. He learns a lot from the experience and ends up with a killer master.
That said, when the mix is right, as you know, we don't need to do much to it. It's funny, I have more weapons and tools at my disposal, yet I use less now than I ever did. People just don't realize how important good instrumentation, proper panning, eq and light compression can do for a mix. Less is just about always more. :)
But seriously, get that plug....you'll be surprised how much you use it. I used it the other day on a mix for a client that had a whoomfing high gain guitar tone. Every time he chugged an A or a B, the meter went through the roof and you could hear the whoomfing sound take over.
So of course, the best bet is to curb that frequency...which turned out to be 120 Hz. When we took the low end out, he didn't like the sound as much. So, I had to keep him happy. I just put the multi band on where the A and B chugs came in....it policed the whoomfing problem, and he still had the tone he was looking for. Simple and painless. :)
Michael: Ya know Iyaintgotno accent! You doirty baystids all got the accents! Hahaha! Just kidding man! Yeah, I get that a lot. Had a client say after a video lesson "learned a lot, thanks so much....but man, you're so entertaining....and....and....that accent....hahahahahahahaha I love it!" ;)
It's funny, more and more people are dirtying up their bass tones etc. I just never liked that sound. Some really good players that I know are gravitating more and more to that. My guy in my original band is even using a little bit. I still hate it though....lol....I come from the camp where bass is supposed to sound like a piano but with nice, tight low end. I just worked with a band called Points North with a guy named Uriah Duffy. They have a world wide released video that I mixed the music for....his bass tone is insanity. I processed him with a few UAD plugs and we were done.
I guess my whole life, I always wanted super clean stuff in all the right areas. Coming from tape and analog stuff as well as me not knowing what I was doing at all times, it's a breath of fresh air to have things super clean in all the right places. I just always cringe when I hear layered dirty guitars along with a dirty bass. I just don't understand the need for that much sonic sludge.
Ever hear Billy Sheehan's bass? That's about as far as I'd push a bass. Even there, his sound is a bit more compressed than it is over-driven. Kinda like a compression saturation that sounds musical with the rest of the band. But rest assured, I hate his sound when it's all alone. LOL!!! That doesn't make me right or anything....I just never warmed up to driven bass tones because....well, I've had that horrible bass tone for 1/4 of my recording life from not knowing what I was doing. LOL! I'm glad to be rid of it for good! :)
-Danny