Stop Making This Mastering Mistake

[danorourke]

I went to a recording school in 1998 and "Subtractive EQ" was one of my best takeaways. Thanks for reminding me!

[SteveOMusic]

One of the main reasons why I
love listening to Joe’s tutorials is that he knows how to explain everything in such a clear manner. Such a great teacher and super talented 👍🏾

[bartvaes]

It's also a psychoacoustics phenomena that helps in both mixing and mastering. How often do you see videos of people sweeping with a high boost, narrow Q searching for that troublesome frequency ? Turn it around; try hard cutting (notch filter) instead of boosting. The feeling something went "missing" is a much stronger feeling for humans than boosting what was already there.

[jonmckinley]

I tend to cut to correct and boost to alter. Great video!

[Dabro]

Great tip, I always find if in doubt with the sound, take away, do not add

[EK]

I was fortunate enough to have a nice audio recording teacher at college, and one of the first things he taught us is that target cutting before boosting. Thank you for the refresher Sir Gilder.

[JuanNungaray]

Very true I do this all the time! What helps me a lot and what I also recommend is to take notes immediately when listening to the un-mastered track for the first time, the very first impressions is KEY in making decisions. Great video. 😃🙌

[Emily_M]

I thought i recognized the face on the thumbnail lol.

Studio One's Pro EQ is so good. I could definitely tell the low mid cut; w/ out it I could feel a thicc fuzziness 'pushing' at me. Cutting vs boosting was one of the first EQ tips I learned and I've kept it with me ever since. Thanks for sharing!

[blakpmusic]

I think 🤔 this helps in mixing as well but not only in mastering this is pure gold 👍🤝

[teashea]

You are correct. The muddiness is awful. The vocals are clouded by the music. They are both trying to occupy the same space. It is a confused mess.

[TerryDanMusic]

Good video. Always good to be reminded of these little processes that we tend to ignore after a while. Thanks!

By the way, Joe, I've been following you for quite some time. Graham, I'll miss you, but Joe is a hit. Good job!

[brianlespoir]

Back to mixing, would love to keep some more of the low mid vocal and low mid background vocals, so the background vocals carry the main vocal some more.

[PatrickPleau]

5db cut or boost on a master is a lot. it will introduce phase problems. the best would be to split the diffence. 2.5 low cut and a nice 2db high shelf with a non-digital eq.

[gtehkof]

Great insight! I appreciate the video thanks mate

[MrOpz]

Do you explain in your mastering course why this often can be the best solution? As in, why does cutting low frequencies also clear up the high end? In other words the masking of higher frequencies by lower frequencies.
And I prefer cutting over boosting, I will always try that at first.

[BuiltRiteTrans]

Before people can learn how to master their own mix, it helps first if you already know what you're hearing and can actually mix it right to start with. Mastering these days is really nothing more than somebody putting the frequencies in perspective to how most people are used to hearing corporate music Radio sound. Actual Mastering engineers where guys that adjusted the EQ to sound and so the Needle on a Phonograph will track correctly.

[jrclarkbass]

Yes that makes all the sense in the world. What is happening in the song right now that is taking all the space? Whatever is missing may come out when you shut up the loud freqs a bit.

[jonmoore]

great lesson Joe! You illustrated this perfectly. Now, I know this is a different song, but does that mean Gregor was more correct?

[DerekPower]

To dovetail on this / put it another way, that cut brought tonal balance, which is a worthwhile end goal for a full mix. You can call it making Baby Bear's porridge or having Baby Bear's bed =]

Honestly, you could have gotten away with a boost on the high as well as that cut, but more like 1.5 dB rather than 5.

[thamilanban]

You have removed frequency masking. That's the reason for the clarity.