Welcome to Sage Audio. Today let’s make an Amazing Experimental Mastering Chain. But first,
If you have a mix that you need to have mastered,
send it to us to receive a free mastered sample of it with the link in the description.
Setting Up Routing
The chain we’re setting up today is definitely unique - although we’ll be
separating the mix into mid/side and left/right, I did null testing with
a control stereo mix at multiple stages to ensure phase cancellation wasn’t an issue.
Starting with the routing, I’m going to duplicate the mix and use the free plugin
MSED to make one channel the Mid and the other the Side - letting me process them separately.
These will be routed to a collective stereo bus, which has had its output turned off.
Instead, I’ve set up 2 sends from this collective bus on which I’ve used a gain
utility plugin to isolate the left channel for one send and the right for the other.
Lastly, these left and right channels are routed to my stereo output. As
you can see there will be processing at each stage, which I’ll explain as we go.
But first, let’s listen to normalized versions of the full before and after.
Saturation on Mid & Side
First up in terms of processing, I’m going to insert this PSP saturator on both my mid and
side tracks - I can use different settings on each giving each image a distinct character.
On the mids, I used the Ram setting and utilized the low-frequency saturation settings.
On the side, I used the hard valve setting and introduced some high-frequency saturation above
9kHz. Additionally, I drove the signal into the processor and compensated with the output.
For both, I used 4x oversampling and increased the smooth function to reduce aliasing even more.
Let’s take a listen to how varying saturation between the mid and side
gives us more control over our master’s timbre.
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Split EQ on Mid & Side
Up next I used 2 instances of this SplitEQ by eventide - one for each image. On the mid image,
I reduced some of the low and mid tonal aspects to balance the sound,
and also some of the transient aspects in the highs to reduce the vocal’s sibilance.
On the side, I cut some of the overall lows and boosted some of the tonal aspects in
the low mids and some transients in the highs. This will give the side
image depth with the tonal boost, and some punchiness an transient detail in the highs.
Let’s take a listen.
High-Frequency Exciter
I wanted to brighten up the track, so I used this air EQ and exciter on each image separately,
so that I could dial in settings best suited for each one. This processor is really powerful,
so notice that I used very low settings on both.
Let’s listen to how this exciter brightens up the mid and side images.
Needed Mid De-essing
Even though I decreased some sibilance using the SplitEQ,
I still needed to control the vocal’s sibilance. With this Weiss de-esser,
I focused the compression on the highest frequencies, and ensured it was only triggered
during the vocal’s sibilance - then I routed it before my fresh air plugin.
I figured this was best since now the de-esser won’t have to
work as hard as it would’ve if it had been inserted after the air EQ.
Let’s take a listen to how this balances the mid-image’s high frequencies.
Parallel Compression & Overdrive
Moving on to the collective mid-side track, I inserted this invigorate plugin to introduce
parallel compression, limiting, and overdrive. With the input and output tone at the bottom,
I emphasized the lows and highs in the processing and then compensated with the output tone.
I didn’t want the effect to be too aggressive,
so I used the mix dial in the middle to find the right amount of parallel processing.
Let’s take a listen to it being enabled, and notice how the compression, limiting,
and harmonics from the overdrive section create a fuller sound.
Independent Left/Right Compression
From the collective mid and side track, our signal is split into left and right channels,
on which I’ve added eventide Omnipressors with identical settings to subtly compress
the left and right separately. Since they’re inserted on isolated channels,
they can respond more accurately to the amplitude.
Notice that I only achieved a little compression and used a low ratio to
avoid changing the sound or losing my dynamics.
Let’s take a listen.
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Left/Right Identical Limiting
Similar to last chapter, I used 2 limiters with identical settings
on the left and right channels - again, this allows each processor to respond to
the incoming signal more accurately by avoiding being triggered by the
other channel. I introduced some of the enhance function, and used a softer knee.
The attenuation is subtle, but by using this method,
we can achieve a louder overall sound without the need for aggressive attenuation.
Let’s listen to how these limiters make the mix louder, fuller due to the enhance function,
and again, notice how little actual attenuation is being introduced.
EQ on Master Output
Let’s move on to the final stage of this session starting with this EQ on the master output - with
it, I began by attenuating the lows on the side image to avoid unwanted phase issues,
and to center the bass. Then I boosted some of the side image’s low mids.
I waited to cut the side’s low until the master output, instead of on my isolated
side image channel, since some processors add low-frequency content to the side image,
even if you cut those frequencies beforehand.
On the mid image I dipped some of the lows that
I felt were too aggressive and did the same to the low mids and highs.
Let’s take a listen and notice how the lows sound more focused,
and the overall mix sounds a little more balanced.
Final
Limiting Stage
Last up, let’s insert one more limiter and very subtly push the signal into the
ceiling. I like finding a limiter with multiple algorithms since this lets me find the tone and
dynamics I want - then I’ll disable any true peak limiting, and instead use oversampling.
Now notice that I’m achieving an integrated LUFS of -9, which is pretty loud,
but between my earlier limiters and this one, I’m barely attenuating the peaks.
If I turn on True Peak detection to show where true peaking would occur,
I can just compensate for this with the output - which I’d want to do anyway if
the final master was uploaded and encoded on some streaming service.
Let’s take a listen to this final stage of limiting,
let me know if this experimental mastering setup is something you’ll try.
If you have a mix that you need to have 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.