Mastering - Where To Start, and Mid Side EQ

Well, I didn't make the Grammy Nominations as a mastering engineer. Next time. But I do have a great video on how to master our own mixes/recordings/productions. Mastering our own work is innately challenging because the skill of mastering hinges on objective perspective. Hard to do that when we've been living with a record for .... well.... however long it took!

Let's discuss Mastering our own mixes.

[ProgressiveSoundAudio]

Great video mate, you'd be surprised by how many people think Mastering is just a game of numbers. One thing I always tend to think about is what is driving the song or the emotion and then use that as a good starting point.

[RuggedAndPrez]

So good. These subtle changes make such a big difference.

[alphaomega]

Fresh perspective essential. Time gives perspective. Listening to set goals. Small changes make the difference needed. Thank you for a very helpful video.

[TheMusiciansBible]

Sound better for sure, Interesting approach .

[zeepster]

Thank you. Great video. Going in depth with small adjustments teaches a lot. Would love if you could do a video on how to work with a lot of masking in the high frequency real estate. In modern electronic dance, such as afro house, there can be strings, pads, hats, shakers, light percussion, vocals, etc all stems fighting for air.

[mikezubiena]

My old band opening for these guys a few times back in the "Handlebars" days. Great group.

[junovue]

In these longer videos I find it more helpful to have chapters to outline the video and not clutter my brain (knowing what to expect in each section).
If you could, we would appreciate the chapters usage!
Amazing video as always.

[tyalexandercheng]

Can you explain how you set up the mid-side routing to appear on separate aux channels? I don't quite understand the setup and feel like I could benefit from this way of monitoring.

[elandarson]

Awesome video thanks! I have to ask, were you not able to hear these issues when you were in the process of mixing?

[RecordingStudio]

Great approach to own mastering. I dig it :)

[rundajulesproductions]

At Halloween were they 'Flowbots in Disguise'?
Were you just trying to show how to adjust mid/side stuff without having a featured mid/side eq, or is there some added bonus to doing it the way you did? Most of the mid/side eq's I have used allow that type of separated monitoring you achieved by having the mid and side on separate tracks. But if you want to keep your adjustments you have to keep it in mid side mode. I assumed that would be the same as the summed track you have where you said you put it back into Left Right stereo. Am I missing out on something by using a single eq that allows you to do mid side mode editing and solo'd monitoring compared to doing it the way you did in this video?

[DerekPower]

In the last few years or so, I've thought of mastering as the "optimisation of the final approved mix for its intended medium". In that sense, it's more largely technical - considering bounds and limits and especially if you intend to release the music on vinyl record - but it should also enhance the qualities inherent in the music.

[djvoid]

I'd love to see your take on extremely loud EDM genres and how to handle them, particularly something like hardstyle/hardcore that also has a lot of bright, aggressive synths and how you'd keep that under control. I'm currently using stuff from Mad Dog, Chaos Project, Da Tweekaz and Aftermath in my references, but I'm struggling to match their balance of clean/intense :)

[RizzyWithDaMix]

your most recent vids are really hitting home. just wondering can you the midland side eq with PA v3?