How for do i push a mixdown before sending out to master???

DYSRUPT

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Jan 11, 2014
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MA.
Hi guys, im having a hard time with this one. I have a few tracks that im really happy with and are at their final stages, but i feel like the "master i throw on there is part of the sound im trying to achieve. (if that makes any sense)

I do A LOT of work to glue the track in the master. every time I work on something, ill finish it up and realize (after the master chain) that something isnt right and go back into the track to adjust for the master so it sounds good

Do i just let go completely and let the mastering house do all the work or,. do i do my own master to make sure everything works well together, then delete everything on the master and send it like that? i feel like this would be the best way because for instance, ill squash it in the master and realize maybe the highs are too much or the sub is taking up too much headroom, so ill then adjust the sub itself or the hats and higher freq. to account for the final compression and limiting.

I already know -6 blah blah blah. no compression blah blah. but the compression is what creates the sound im going for!

If any of this makes sense, please help. lol
 
Thanks, its funny, the more i learn, the more connected i become with my tracks. they're like newborns and need to be perfect lol
 
for us personally we just get the mix right and forget about all that shit, you can get really close without having anything on the master if you're mix is good. For our latest masters we sent 2 extra tracks by big producers that we liked the sound of for reference, the results we're pretty fooking sweet :)
 
If it doesn't sound good when you turn the plugs off on your master chain then you're doing something wrong.

Make sure each element has it's place and nothing is conflicting. If done right, you'll be able to achieve a much louder and cleaner mix/master.
 
I think the best bet is really trying to get the most out of your track before the master process and it doesn't mean you can't do some things to the overall mix, but you obviously want to ensure the limiter is off and that it is quite low. I had this same worry with a track I've just got out now. Subsonik mastered the track and I was worried what the outcome was going to be like as I'd initially put quite a lot on the master that I did which had to all be taken off. He managed to get it sounding in my opinion better though in the end so I'm glad I did take everything off that final chain. And sending across something you have mastered as a reference is always going to be a good approach to giving the master person an idea of what you went for originally.

Interestingly, when I watched a Break tutorial that he recently did, he talked about how he prefers to send a track that is in need of brightening up rather than being pushed in the upper end before hand. This allows for the mastering engineer to brighten up the sound using his tools and especially if it's something interesting like analogue gear. This gives the master engineer an opportunity and headroom to use his stuff to add the character to it rather than trying to take away. Same I suppose could go for compression. But yeah, this all depends on who's going to be mastering the music. I know I was ultra worried what the outcome was going to soundlike, as it is only literally now I've had a master back from someone other than myself doing them. Glad he did it though as it did benefit.
 
Just do all your gluing and loudness work on the busses, and then let the engineer do the master.

Anything that you think the full mix needs, tell the masterer that and he'll do it for you, the right way
 
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