Welcome to Sage Audio. Today we’re covering How to Master in
FL Studio. But first, If you have a mix that you need mastered,
send it to us to receive a free mastered sample of it with the link in the description.
Starting With Subtractive EQ
For this video, I’ll use only stock plugins and show all processing as a chain. Also,
keep in mind that the effects will be subtle - so they may be hard to hear individually,
but collectively create a good master.
Starting the chain, I’ll use the fruity parametric EQ 2 primarily to
attenuate frequencies that I don’t want to amplify with subsequent processing.
For this track in particular I use a high-pass to attenuate imperceivable
frequencies and get more headroom, then I dipped some excessive lows and high mids.
Both of these dips were a little less than 1 dB. Let’s take a listen to how this EQ
subtly balances the signal.
2.
Very Subtle Saturation
Saturation will both subtly compress, and add harmonics that increase the overall loudness and
cause the mix to sound fuller. I used the Fruity Blood Overdrive, with a very low preamp level,
and moderate coloration, which I found was just enough for this particular track.
Although this plugin is perfect for mastering,
it does have a nice sound, which you can always blend in with the mix level dial.
Let’s listen to how this plugin increases loudness and fullness.
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3. Maximus for Upward Compression
Maximus is typically used for downward compression, but I like the sound of it
maximization better - to do this I simply increase the level of each band’s mid-point
by about 1%. This increases the level of each one of these bands but from the lower level upward.
For the highs, I’ll use a quicker attack and release
but make these a little longer for the mids and lows to avoid unwanted distortion.
Let’s listen to how Maximus increases the loudness and detail
while slightly reducing the dynamic range.
4.
Transient Processing for Detail
For the last 2 chapters, I’ve been making the signal sound full at the expense of the dynamics,
but now I want to start differentiating aspects of the mix. An easy way to do this
is with a transient processor, and to subtly increase the attack to amplify the transients.
With the split frequency dial, I’ll isolate the processing to my mids and above,
then increase the attack to about 20% while setting the detection to fast.
Let’s listen to how this subtly increases the higher frequencies of the kick and snare.
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5. Additive and Shaping EQ
Since we’re using stock plugins and may not have as much control as we’d like,
an EQ at this point will help to rebalance the frequency spectrum. Here I added some lows,
very subtly reduce my low mids, boosted vocal presence, and the clarity with a high shelf.
Let’s listen to how this rebalanced the mix.
6.
Soft-Clipper for Subtle Harmonics
A soft-clipper is going to add dynamic harmonic distortion - in other words,
whenever the transient passes the threshold,
we’ll achieve mild distortion which, depending on the settings, will increase the low
or high-frequency range. I’ll lower the threshold to just below the peaks to achieve the effect.
This clipper is more subtle than usual,
but I enjoyed what it added to the mix. Let’s listen to it.
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7. Compressing with Fruity Limiter
FL Studio has a stand-alone compression, but I like the one included with the limiter
a little better- that said, I’ll ignore the limiter for now, and compress the signal.
For this track, I’m using a 2:1 ratio, a hard knee, and a quick attack and release.
Compressing will let us push the limiter we use later on a little harder, but just as importantly,
the quick attack, release, and the hard knee are all going to subtly distort my
transients - giving them a nice punch that works well with this track.
Let’s listen to how we controlled dynamics,
but also, subtly augmented the timbre of our transients.
8. Frequency Splitter for Subtle EQ
The frequency splitter is more or less a 3-band EQ with which we can reshape the frequency spectrum
of our signal before the last stage of processing. I boosted both the lows and the highs by about 2dB
and set up a send for the high frequencies, which we’ll cover in the next chapter.
Let’s listen to how boosting the lows and highs makes our mix sound closer to a finalized master.
9.
High-Frequency Stereo Expansion
In the previous chapter, we discussed a high-frequency send - I did this is to reverberate
my high frequencies, in order to naturally increase their width, then blend them back in
with the original signal. FL Studio offers stereo expansion on the channel strip,
but this sounds a little better.
I used smaller reverb and blended the wet/dry, then used the stereo
expander I just mentioned on this track, before lowering the level to blend it in.
Let’s listen and notice how our highs are expanded, giving the overall track greater width.
10.
Limiting on the Master Output
With the main signal and our send combined at the master output, I’ll use a limiter on this output
to amplify the full signal and protect it from clipping. I increased the gain by about 5 dB,
but use more or less on your master depending on what you’re trying to achieve.
I also introduced very mild saturation and lowered the
ceiling to -.2dB to avoid inter-sample peaking.
Let’s listen to what this limiter does to the signal. Then,
let’s take an extended listen to each form of processing
being enabled one by one so that we really understand how they work together.
If you have a mix that you need mastered, send it to us to receive a free mastered sample of it
with the link in the description. Thank you so much for watching.