This may be to fix a problem in the mix, or a way to improve the overall sound.Ī mix bus EQ can change the overall “tone” of a song from dark to bright or vice versa. In other words, leave the limiting to the mastering engineer.Ī mastering engineer will typically use spectral processing as part of mastering a song. In order to prevent multiple stages of limiting, it’s best for the mix engineer to avoid bouncing a signal that has been limited during the mixing stage. It’s very common for a mastering engineer to use a limiter as part of this process. This ensures that the amplitude of a signal is not too high (digital clip or cutting the vinyl groove) or too low (average signal level less than comparable songs). One step in mastering is to perform dynamic range compression on a mix.
Here are some tips that I came up with for mixing with mastering in mind: 1) Know When to Use a Mix Bus Limiter Therefore, the job of the mix engineer is to prepare a recording for mastering. Mixing is the intermediary step between recording and mastering. With this in mind, it can be productive to consider the big picture in your approach to mixing. Mastering can take a great mix and make it exceptional. It is the final “polish” for a song to take it to the next level and ready for distribution. When performed properly, mastering is an essential step to improve a mix. It’s almost as if people believe the “mix” is the optimal version of a song, and “mastering” can only make a song sub-optimal. I get the impression from many musicians, artists, and audio engineers that “mastering” has an unavoidable negative impact on a mix in order to prepare a song for popular consumption. I believe the “loudness wars” has skewed the opinion of mastering. You might even think of mastering as a necessary evil that can only screw up your hard work. Passing the song off to the mastering engineer might be an afterthought. Especially if you are the mix engineer, you may consider the final mix as the culmination of a project. It can be tempting to think of mixing as the highpoint of a song.