I typically don’t recommend creating stems for mastering sessions. The use of stems for mastering is another hot button for me. My mantra is: don’t make it too loud, just make it sound good. If you’re relatively new to mixing and your gear isn’t top-of-the-line - or if you’re mixing really hot - you might be tying the mastering engineer’s hands by preventing them from applying any necessary corrective measures to make the track sound good because everything is already cooked into the mix. Typically, though, they are working in expensive rooms using high-end gear and listening through really great monitors. I usually don’t recommend applying brickwall limiting when mixing, although I work with a number of top-notch mix engineers who almost always do so, and they do a really good job with it too. And if you are using mix bus compression and EQ, you should turn those on relatively early in the mixing process, because they will affect the sonic choices you make. For instance, if you decide that you want to use limiting or compression on the bus and are not entirely sure if it’s right, it’s good to do a version without it … just in case. If you’re unsure about anything, do a mix without that processing. With that in mind, my philosophy is that you shouldn’t overprocess the mix. I’m all about EQ and compression on the master bus. Bus ProcessingĪs a guy that used to be a mixing engineer, I love bus processing. Now let’s take a closer look at a topic that comes up often: how you should prepare your tracks for mastering. A mastering engineer is working on the project as a whole, trying to envision the listening experience rather than just focusing on an individual song. The mastering engineer’s job is to compile all of the individual mixes, knit them into a cohesive listening experience and deliver the final result for vinyl cutting, CD duplication and digital streaming. Well, typically, when you’re recording and mixing you’re working on one song at a time and concentrating on making that the best it can be. A lot of people ask me what the differences are between mastering, recording and mix engineers. So I got into mastering the old school way, first by cutting lacquers, and then adding computers into the process, along the way doing some audio engineering as well, both recording and mixing. A common scenario is that I will assemble the record in Wavelab, do subtractive or corrective EQ in the digital world and then send the signal to my favorite analog EQ processors. I use a significant amount of analog gear as well, and integrate it directly into the new WaveLab 10. I love the fact that it’s easy to use and works seamlessly on both platforms. Up until recently I’ve been primarily running it on PC, but in our studios we have so many machines that we now run it on a combination of Macs ® and PCs.
T racks mastering software#
My main digital software is Steinberg WaveLab, which I’ve been using for decades. My mastering process today uses a combination of analog and digital gear. I spent a couple of years restoring it and that is the lathe we use in our Nashville studio now. Later on, he came to work at Infrasonic, my mastering studio, and eventually I inherited his 1956 Neumann lathe.
T racks mastering how to#
I went back there later that same week and basically begged him to teach me how to master.
It changed everything and I feel lucky that he let me be part of the whole experience. A friend took me to see the great Richard Simpson at his mastering studio in LA. What really sealed the deal for me was when I first saw a vinyl lacquer being cut, some 20 years ago. The two interests led me to become involved in early computer audio.
T racks mastering plus#
I was a guy that played in bands my whole life, plus when I turned 18, I started working for IBM because I was also really fascinated by computers. People often ask me how I got into mastering. Welcome to a new feature on the Yamaha blog! In each installment, Grammy ®-winning mastering engineer Pete Lyman talks about what it takes to get recordings ready for release.
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