I found it really interesting, Ian often approaches things differently than I would, which leads me to new techniques. From this video in particular, I noticed he adds gain at the start of the fx-chain, and I would normally last. I asked him about it on Twitter.
ianshepherd: To avoid any confusion, the “How to make a song loud post” is new – and includes a video… http://t.co/288kGbqP theaudiogeek: great video. Do you normally keep the limiter threshold at 0? ianshepherd: Actually it’s usually at -0.3dB, but I sometimes reduce it to -1 if I’m pushing things really hard ianshepherd: It works both ways – I just prefer to push the level into the multiband – it means I rarely need to tweak the threshold theaudiogeek: interesting. I usually start at -6 for threshold. I do the loudening very last in the chain, and you use the gain plug first. ianshepherd: And, reduces level-changes when I bypass. More info: http://t.co/V6EbhlPn and http://t.co/90FskFkS ianshepherd: If you exceed -6 dB input with a threshold of -6, is it still clean ? Or does it clip ? Or does it depend on the DAW’s float? theaudiogeek: here’s my general strategy for using Ozone 4. http://t.co/nqNwoFUX Lots of different ways to kill dynamics. ianshepherd: Ah, OK. So setting Ozone’s threshold to -6 dB effectively boosts the gain, so the audible effect will be similar.
We both have our reasons, neither is wrong. I get better at mastering every time I talk to Ian.
This guest post comes from Barry Gardner, mastering engineer at Safe And Sound online mastering.
You may also like his previous contribution to AGZ, The 24 Bit Advantage.
Analogue warmth, what it is, and how to inject it into your recordings and mixes.
Warmth in the context of audio production, is a hot topic. With the popularity of almost all digital signal paths, it has become much cheaper to record, mix and master your music. However many musicians, producers and engineers feel that there is sometimes an elusive sound quality missing from modern digital production methods. In modern times, three common techniques in music recording and production have changed since domestic and DIY audio production has proliferated. These are namely, the use of multi-track tape machines, large format analogue consoles and large recording studio spaces. These changes are the more obvious ones and have definitely changed the quality of audio.
Defining warmth in recordings and mixes.
Analogue warmth is subjective and difficult to describe in words and everyone’s interpretation is slightly different. However there are a few statements which appear to be commonly accepted as characterizing warmth within a mix or recording.
A gelling of instruments, yet without compromising their own defined space in both tone and stereo image.
A lack of harshness and rounded quality.
A punchy and smooth sounding lower mid range.
Not excessively bright and the brightness that is present is smooth.
A punchy low frequency range.
To me personally, warmth can be a number of things. I can recall analogue tape recordings from the 1970′s which I would define as being warm. I can also produce something I define as warm with simple attenuation of high frequencies. In some instances a very rounded sound with a strong lower mid presence can sound warm to the ear. With this in mind I would like to suggest some pointers on how to create warmer sounding mixes and recordings.
What equipment and techniques can we use to enhance warmth?
All music recording starts with setting up microphones, experiment with different mic positioning or mic choices in order to get less bright recordings, although take care not to box yourself into a corner, double mic instruments with secondary ribbon or dynamic mics in addition to your usual choices.
A common source of warmth can be certain audio transformers which can reduce harshness in the upper registers and provide additional body in the lower mid range. There is a wide selection of vintage and retro styled mic preamps that utilize audio transformers at the input stage. Audio transformers are usually used at the inputs and outputs of equipment and can be found in many outboard equipment types such as equalizers and compressors as well as microphones. They are often overlooked in the quest for warmth.
One of the most powerful tools which is overlooked for generation of warmth is equalization, you have the power to sculpt and adjust sounds as is required. Do not be afraid to experiment with rolling off high frequencies to reduce harshness, presence and brittleness in a mix. You can also employ EQ on effects returns to soften them and make them gel better with the source.
Compression has the ability to smooth transients in recordings and fast attack times with 1dB or so of gain reduction can work wonders in smoothing out abrasive, harsh and aggressive transients in a mix. Analogue tape applied a natural form of compression when overloaded gently. It is a technique that can be used to good effect. Very gentle group or master bus compression can also provide a sense of “wholeness”.
In addition to these essential tools, in software form there is an emulation of virtually every piece of classic analogue studio equipment ever built. Often these software emulations rely on some kind of valve/tube saturation. In my experience valves do not add warmth as such but they can give a perception of thickening a sound as harmonics are added. Some emulations are better than others and I suggest keeping an open mind and downloading some demo’s and spending some quality listening time with them. Try and discern which ones seem to add that special something in terms of tone.
By experimenting with these techniques and equipment choices you should be able to start adding some warmth to your mixes. As always when experimenting in audio production take some time to rest your ears over night and double check that you have not laid the processing on too thick.
This guest post comes from Barry Gardner, mastering engineer at Safe And Sound online mastering.
You may also like his previous contribution to AGZ, The 24 Bit Advantage.
In early June TC Electronic hosted the ‘Rome Calling’ pro-audio seminar and documented it in video. The first video is Florian Camerer talking about a new standard of measuring loudness. I found it pretty interesting, I think you will too.
Last week Ian Shepherd (productionadvice.co.uk, mastering engineer and friend of AGZ) announced the release of his first instructional E-Book Mastering with Multiband Compression.
There is a basic and enhanced edition. The enhanced version has a bonus 1hr tutorial video, and audio examples for just $10 more.
Here is the sales page: Buying through this link will support AGZ If you prefer not to donate, click here.
Ian sent me an advance copy and I was quite impressed. I sent him a short review for his sales page.
“I already use multiband compression in my mixing and mastering, but this eBook made me realize I’d been taking some things for granted. Reading it I gained new strategies, a greater understanding of the parameters and new ideas I can implement into my mastering projects right away” Jon Tidey, Audio Geek Zine
And this is the truth. Ian’s approach is different than the way I’ve taught myself to use multiband compression over the past couple years. I haven’t been doing it completely wrong but I now know why on several occasions it hasn’t worked as well as I’d hoped. Multiband compression was never as transparent as I’d like and it was so easy to overdo it. I know this is a common complaint about multiband compression and Ian’s book has the solution. The starting point, strategy and tips will change the way you misuse multiband compression.
Below you will find a comparison of 7 10 popular brickwall limiters with similar settings. I’m not comparing which gets loudest, I’m comparing which can cleanly take a few dB off the top.
Which one sounds the best or has the least artifacts?
The source is a MIDI pattern played through Steven Slate Drums. 24 bit, 44.1kHz. A different limiter plugin was applied with both threshold and ceiling set to -6.5dBFS. Note that Ozone does not allow a ceiling below -5dBFS.
You can download the files. Images can be enlarged.
Izotope Ozone 4 is a suite of powerful mastering effects in one plugin. It is a comprehensive mastering toolkit with an easy to use interface and professional sound quality.
In this article I will briefly explain the use of the 7 processors within Ozone 4. If you don’t have the time to read the 122 page manual or the 64 page Mastering guide (PDF) but you want to get started with Ozone quick, read on.
General operation - Ozone’s interface is simple, a window for adjusting effects, buttons to select the effect and meters on the side. You’ll notice little sliders below the name of each effect, these will scale the amount of that processor. This is not a feature I find useful, it is if you start with presets (see below). Three of the effects are multiband meaning you have control over four independent processors within a frequency range. Four of the effects can be used in Stereo or M/S configurations meaning you can work with the Left and Right channels together or middle and sides separately. M/S mode is not something I use very often unless there are real problems with the source. Buttons in Ozone can be either left or right clicked to increment/decrement the available options. You can double click a slider to type in a value, and you can alt+click to return something to default. The mousewheel will change whichever slider is hovered over. There is a comprehensive undo history function should you need it.
Headroom – The song you will be mastering should peak no higher than -6dBfs*. If the unmastered file is peaking higher than that you don’t give much room for Ozone to do it’s thing. Lower the level of that track in the DAW until the loudest point is hitting the meters closer to -6dB.
Skip the presets - With some effects, particularly reverbs, delays, and modulations, presets are great starting points. Presets for mastering are unhelpful for a number of reasons, with Ozone the presets tend to be way too extreme to be useful. When you first open Ozone the preset browser appears. I recommend just closing that browser and set the processors manually based on what you hear and what is needed.
Loudness Maximizer - The Loudness Maximizer section is where I start working with Ozone. On the left half of this page are 3 sliders. Threshold, Margin and Character. Starting with the Margin control, bring it down to -0.3. This is the maximum level that your song will be mastered to. There is almost no audible difference between -0.3 and 0.0 but if this file will be converted to mp3 you will run into distortion in that process unless you leave a little room. Next is the Threshold, this increases the level of the song. Setting this to -6.0dB is where I usually start and adjust depending on if I need the final to be louder compared to other songs. If your mix peaks at -6dB and your limiter threshold is -6dB you will be making the song much louder without compressing it yet or really changing the dynamics at all. Setting the threshold at -12 will make the final master much louder but you’re starting to squish out a lot of the good stuff from the mix. Louder is not better. The 3rd control, Character is the release time of the maximizer. Most often I leave this on transparent. Lastly I click the “Prevent inter-sample clipping” box.
Dither - On the right half of the Maximizer page is the dither and DC offset options which both default to off. You need dither when going from a 24 bit recording to a 16 bit master. Click DC offset on and the Dither Type button once. The settings should be MBIT+, High, 16, Normal.** I’ve done some experimenting and found this to be not worth experimenting with, set and forget.
Paragraphic Equalizer - Next I switch over to the Equalizer page. The EQ has 8 independent bands that are fully adjustable in type, gain, and Q***. I like to have the EQ parameters shown (show info button) because I’ll often type in the values I want. I usually work in analog mode and set the zoom to 6x. I’ll usually set a gentle “sweetening” curve with band 1 set to Highpass, 25Hz, 0.60 Q and Band 8 High Shelf 8000Hz, 1.5 dB, 1.00 Q. Somewhere in the lower mids will likely need to be taken out between 250 to 500 Hz depending on where the buildup is. Next I’ll sweep and notch out any offending areas. If I’m mastering several songs I’ll use a different eq on each song to correct problems and even out the balance between songs. Your computer may not be able to run more than a few Ozones.
Multiband Dynamics - If there is still frequency balance or control problems, the Multiband Dynamics section is a powerful tool for managing those issues, it’s also where you can really destroy a good sounding mix so be careful. There are 4 frequency bands with a separate limiter, compressor and expander for each. You can solo each band to hear what’s happening in each. My basic strategy here is to play the loudest part of the song and pull the limiter threshold for each band down until it is just barely being hit. Beyond that things can start to sound unnatural if you’re not careful. I’ve never needed the expander in this section.
Mastering Reverb - This effect can be useful for evening out the sound of several different songs by putting all the instruments in the same space. At the top of the reverb page you have a high and low filter. Below are wet and the reverb adjustments. I rarely use this particular effect but when I do, all I change is the wet control and move it only to 5%. I don’t want it to be to obvious. You may not need this in a typical mastering situation.
Multiband Harmonic Exciter - This is a particularly powerful section. This is where you add the sparkle and really bring up the excitement for lack of a better term. This is essentially a 4 band distortion. I like Tape mode for rock, wherever I need more aggression and Tube mode where I need something a little smoother but still excited. From left to right, set the amounts to 1, 0.5, 0.5 and 1. I don’t find I can use more than 1dB in any band before things sound too crispy. Try adjusting the band crossover points next to fine tune the effect.
Multiband Stereo Imaging - This section is a four band stereo widener/shrinker. This is where users often get carried away, as with everything in Ozone, it’s easy to go too far. I set band 1 to 80Hz and set the widening to -0.6, I set band 3 to 0.2 and band 4 to 0.4. That’s it, I may adjust the crossovers but I don’t take it any farther than this. I’m making the lows more mono and the highs more stereo.
Do it again - At this point you’ll likely want to go back to the limiter and go through each of the 6 processors again to fine tune the settings to suit the song your mastering. Compare your master to professionally mastered songs in a similar style and adjust. I’ve assumed that the mixed song you’re working on is already pretty close to perfect and it just needs the final touch of mastering. If there are serious problems with instrument balance, too much bass, trashy cymbals or vocals too loud, get those taken care of before you attempt the mastering.
In closing, I hope this short guide has been helpful, this is just barely covering what Ozone 4 can do, there are so many features, so much flexibility and so many options that I’m always finding something new and am never less than impressed. This is essential software for any project studio.
Notes:
* dBfs is the metering scale that is used within your DAW.
** Izotope have a thick pdf just on dither if you’re bored.
