First is to start your mixes with your channel faders low.  A 24 track mix might start with all faders down at -15  to -12 or in that range.  Also if the original tracks were recorded very loud, it maybe necessary to reduce the actual wav file inside the audio editor window to avoid peaking any channel plug ins.  Once you add all your plug ins, make all adjustments, and finish your mix, you should be able to keep your master fader at 0 and have the peak volume of the mix somewhere between -10 and -2.  It really doesnt matter that much as long as its not hitting zero.

When you build your mixes, start with no plug ins on the master fader.  By the time you get your kick drums sampled and the rest of your basic mix necessities finished, add a limiter to the master fader.  A great, clean one is the Waves L2.  Start with the limiter cutting off 2-3 db.  Then as you get your mix closer to being finished, adjust the limiter so that it is cutting off a bit more such as 3-4 db.  If you have a clean compressor you like using on the master fader, you might put it before the limiter and use it to knock off 1-2 db as well.   What you are doing is to build your mix while slowly limiting it so that your mix is adjusted in a way that sounds right when its limited and compressed. But you will not mix down with the limiters on…read on…

The mix is going to be compressed and limited by the mastering engineer, so anything that is sticking out too loudly will interfere with a clean mastering job if loudness is important to you.  If you are mixing folk music and do not want a loud master, you can be conservative in your limiting.  If you are mixing extreme metal, you may want to be a bit more aggressive.

Then, just before you make your mixdowns for the mastering engineer, bypass all plug ins from the master fader and make a 24 bit, Stereo Interleaved WAV file.  Do not worry that the master levels are now low, they will go up naturally in the mastering process.

Now, when the mastering engineer receives your mix, it will be adjusted to sound right when compressed and limited and there will be no surprises for anyone!

Happy Mixing!

There is a fine line between loud and punchy and flat, fatiguing and distorted sound.  Those who are looking to have a heavy metal CD mastered should look for a mastering engineer who has extensive experience with metal mastering for optimum results.  Imperial Mastering is one mastering house that has this experience.

Now with CDs and other digital playback mediums, some of the reasons for mastering have been abandoned.  But what happened during the 80′s and 90′s is that the mastering industry exploded with technology and techniques.  Now we come to expect a mastering engineer to make our music “compatible” within the market the band is intending to reach and to give our album a certain sound that we have come to appreciate.  A mastered album sounds “mastered”.

The mastering engineer’s job usually includes the following tasks:

- Analyzing the music and and making a judgment as to where it stands within the band’s market and genre niche.

- Determining if there are any anomalies in the mix that might be repaired by the mixing engineer, before committing to the mastering.

- Performing a test master on one song and possibly making adjustments to it until the band and mixing engineer are happy with the result.

- Mastering each song separately and making adjustments to the mastering set up that are needed to make the songs sound consistent when played back to back in an album format.

- Processing the music through a chain of analog and digital equipment including: equalizers, compressors, and limiters (and other gear on occasion).  This equipment may be specialized analog gear which is on the other side of an analog to digital converter,  or digital plug-ins which are inside the engineer’s computer.

- Assembling the mastered songs in a specialized computer program and adjusting fades and cross-fades, adding any samples or other effects, setting the CD text, and burning a Master CDR ready for Glass Mastering at the pressing plant.

From my point of view, because I operate one of these mastering studios, I view the decision of a mixing engineer to master their own mixes as an unfortunate one.  There are a number of reasons why mastering in the mixing studio can be a negative.

- The first reason is that recording and mixing equipment is not the same as mastering equipment.  Mastering gear is often built for a higher fidelity sound and crafted more for the job of mastering.

- The second reason is that mixing monitors are not the same kind of speakers that are used for mastering.  They are usually near-field speakers which are small and sitting close to the listener.  Mastering speakers are very large and installed in a far-field position.  Because of this, they have a deeper bass response and a much more accurate sound stage. Problems in the low end which are common, are easily fixed at the mastering stage because the bass response is there.

- The mastering studio is a specially built room that is free of excessive standing waves which can effect listener perception drastically.

- The mastering studio is operated by a specialized engineer who knows the art of mastering and is familiar with mastering techniques and mastering technology in general.

- Finally the mastering engineer can listen to the mixes with a fresh, objective set of ears.  He is not emotionally drained by the job of recording and mixing and can perform his job faster, more efficiently and without second guessing his decisions.  This may be one of the most important reasons to send out for mastering.

For all of those reasons, unless there is just no budget at all for mastering, or a mastering studio which is qualified cannot be found, I would always recommend that a band send their album out for mastering, whether that is through Imperial Mastering or another mastering studio.  It is a necessary final step.

Just to be balanced, if a mixing engineer were to decide that they wanted to do mastering in-house because they didn’t have access to an affordable, quality mastering studio, I would recommend that they only do so if they have more than 1500 cu. ft. minimum in the mixing room, that they invest in speakers which have at least 10-12 inch woofers and are positioned mid-field, and that they modify the room by installing bass traps and diffusers..  As far as mastering equipment goes, the mixing engineer is probably limited  to computer plug-ins for mastering but they are good enough quality to do a decent job if used properly and coupled with these other additions.