A Mastering Chain is a set of linear processing done to a track in the mastering stage. These Audio Processing Units can vary from EQ to Compression to even reverb. Today, in this blog post I will talk to you about what a Mastering Chain should have and what I personally use in my Mastering chain to give you some insights into how I work and hopefully you can learn something from it.
Do check out my other post about 5 Things you should ask before Mastering a song!
What is the chain?
Do you always use the same chain?
What processing do you use and what do you use them for?
No, the main elements of the chain remain the same but the order that I use them in changes drastically based on the source that My Mastering Chain is actually a Hybrid setup, I use primarily Plugins to do the majority of my tone-shaping and Outboard gear for all the Compression.
I’ll list down a set of plugins I use:
Most of these are UAD Plugins
EQ: Fabfilter Pro Q3, iZotope EQ, Hyperion EQ, Brainworks Digital V2, Eliossis Air EQ, Massive Passive, Plutec EQ, Precision EQ
Compression: Pro C, SSL Six Comp, Manley VARI MU, API 2500
Multiband: FF Pro MB, iZotope.
Imaging: BW Digital V2
Saturation: Virtual Mix Rack, Inflator, BX Drive
Limiter: Massey L2007, Pro L
Could you give us an example of a Signal Chain?
EQ>Mid-Side/Imaging>Saturation/Drive>Compression>Limiting
But like I said earlier, this comes with the experience of understanding what to use when and what tools you can use to reach that end goal.
You can completely ruin a master by adding too much width to it, thereby completely removing the punch from the center.
How can someone starting out arrive at figuring out which to use and where?
To give you a simple example, I am still not 100% sure of what the Hyperion does, it is a very very reactive EQ. A small .5 dB change will give you drastic results.
My suggestion to people starting out would be to play around with these plugins and understand them in depth before moving on to the next, exciting plugin to use. Getting a new plugin is always fun, which is what often stops a lot of engineers from getting the most out of the processing they use. They just don’t spend enough time on one to get the most out of it.
As far as the order of the processing is concerned, there are some basic rules that you can follow like,
Filter before you add compression.
Fix the Mid/Side balance prior to the compression.
Don’t compress if the track doesn’t need it. Mastering does not mean that you must compress.
Multi-band and Saturate hand in hand.
Over the next few posts, I will walk you through a range of masters of different kinds that I have worked in the past and we will break down what processing, the signal chain went into it and what were the results we got.
