Dude, if your videos were on old-school VCRs, I'd have worn out the tape by now. Thanks for all you do. I am learning so much, and finished mixing my first album of 20 songs. Now, to mastering. Holding my breath, but more confident than I ever have been thanks to you.
That’s amazing, Jim! 20 songs- that’s a huuuge accomplishment. Be sure to check out my video on using a clipper (2nd most recent video of mine)- it has a little updated information on mastering in it!
Thanks again for clarifying this process for me, Colin. I've tried mastering before and got lucky, basically, using a pdf guide from another tutorial channel, but your advice on this tutorial just negated needing that other guide completely. You've really shed some critical light on this critical step in my process. Thanks!
Colin- I’ve been going through tons of your vids the past few weeks. Starting messing around with GarageBand a decade ago but would never finish a track. Lately I finally have some instrumentals to work with (no vocals yet but lyric writing is a whole different struggle), but I went through and tweaking things and over automated tracks…I was so excited to finish a song and felt super defeated that I couldn’t get the feel from it that it was meant to have. Turns out I was doing the whole 6 steps for mixing backwards 😅 not to mention I didn’t know what compression was. I really appreciate you having so much here for people to learn from. Being able to watch the process in action makes it so much easier to understand. I’ve got so many of the cheat sheets and checklists open on my browser right now. Really hoping to take your course when I get more money coming in!
Thank you! I have a quick question. I just watched your mixing steps video for this track and when you used the limiter, you said you wouldn’t want to push it the full 10 decibels because it will sound squashed. Instead it would need to be mastered. I found this vid which is the mastering step and you used the limiter to get it to -14lufs. I’m confused what was different about doing it this way, instead of exporting and adding the limiter again, could you not have pushed the limiter more in the last video to get to -14? I’m trying to get my head around mastering and I’m just trying to make sure I get it.
yes I have in old school studios with 2 inch recorders. all analogue but Im amazed of all the things you can do with a mac and the proper knowledge. thanks for the video is very direct , professional without all the chatter that makes it dull. You are excellent teacher, thanks for your time
Awesome Colin. This was a great surprise to see this video appearing. Some great tips in there, the less is more approach with EQ, Compression & Limiting really works well. When you did the before and after comparison I could really hear the difference (albeit subtle). Looking forward to your upcoming videos too. Thanks so much for this. It's so great that you are sharing your knowledge.
Been binge watching this channel and have learned so much more in the past two days than I have in the past few years of trying to learn from other videos. Thanks so much! Question, how do you save and export your mix to move onto mastering it?
Thanks, Kenny! That’s amazing to hear. I just export the song from my GarageBand as if I was finished with it and then drop it into a new session for mastering
@@TheBandGuide could you just use plugin board on the master track of the mixing session? Or is there an advantage to having a separate session for mastering…
Before exporting the mix for the mastering project, should I disable the effects that were on the master track for the mix ? (like we did in Step 2 of the Pro Mix guide)
Hmmm....interesting. A lot of what you mentioned seems to go against the things I've been taught by other people, and yet despite me being sure that this means I'm doing something wrong on my end, my tracks actually sound pretty decent. A bit quiet at times (but that's mostly because I aim to keep UA-cam loudness penalty as close to +/-0.0 as I can, and don't worry much if other loudness penalties are in the positive). I definitely still have a lot to learn. Awesome video!
Hey Colin - like many of the others - THANK YOU for a really helpful series. I've enjoyed it and, even though I do limited recording and composing - this has been great. I do have a question - I followed the steps in this mastering video - and maybe I'm just THAT much of an amateur, but the sound that I hear in GarageBand with the mastering edits is NOT what seems to export to my various music platforms. It's not necessarily bad, just different... like things didn't 'take.' Perhaps the exporting is different from the 'mastered' version? I don't know if anyone else has had this experience. Either way - things sound better than I've ever been able to do in the past and I'm so grateful for that!
Love your channel. I’ve learned so much. Just mastered a song after mixing it following your method. There was a little back and forth between mixing and mastering ( I put it down to experience or lack there of) but I’ve done something I truly was once lost in the woods. Is my song perfect? Probably not but much better than if I hadn’t followed your advice. I also downloaded your instrument frequency guide. It’s on my wall now. I was trying to create my own chart with this info. You’ve saved me a lot of time and it looks great too.
Hey Jon! That’s incredible! I know how much work goes into that and it’s a HUGE accomplishment to be finished! And I’m glad you enjoy the frequency guide! I’m very proud of that graphic ha
Sir!! Thank you so much for this tutorial!! 💗 💙💯 I honestly wanna master my tracks, but they're all rap songs and i don't have the Youlean Loudness meter, but everything else you did, I followed and I can hear a difference in my sound 😁 I just turn down my ratio down a little cause it's rap and yours is rock. 😊 thank you again
Hi! I’m a little confused: there are a lot of online articles citing -14LUFS as our target when mastering (since that’s Spotify’s normalising level) but I’ve also come across equally many articles/comments by audio engineers saying that -14 is too quiet. Many suggest -10 and say that the -14 level is a “myth”. What are your thoughts on this?
Hello! This is a great question! Without getting too complicated- first and foremost the most important thing is how good it sounds, not how loud it is. However, our ears tend to favor louder sounds... over time this lead to the "loudness war" where people kept pushing master LUFS louder and louder to the point that dynamic range was majorly suffering. It appears we are (hopefully) nearing the end of this loudness war as technology improves and more regulations and limitations are put on how loud mixes will be broadcast- ultimately resulting in less incentive to simply make mixes sound louder. All that being said, with some songs that have a large dynamic range might sound quiet even hitting the -14lufs. Listen to your master as you are completing this step and listen for fullness balanced against dynamics. Some songs sound best with even lower LUFS (-10 to -7), but ultimately in the streaming world will generally be turned down to -14LUFS anyway.
Great work with this video and I must say BIG thanks to you! This helped me a lot now. I have never mastered my beats, but now you just made it so much easier for me to do it. Keep it up man!
Hi Colin. Your providing a great resource here. Very insightful. Thankyou. I was wondering is there a preferred file format that you should export your final mix to get the utmost results when re-importing and mastering ? 16 bit ? 24 bit ? wav ? Or it doesn't really matter ? Thanks
Hi there! Thanks for the useful tips. I haven't really mastered. I've been recording in my iOS and then just uploading the track to BandLab for mastering. However, I'd like to start using my OS version more, especially thanks to this nice feature. What I found interesting is that you don't actually master from the original project file with the individual instruments/tracks. I have a few questions: 1. I'm hoping we can back up a bit to get to the point which you started your session. It looks like you exported your original project as a stereo audio file and then opened a brand new GB project with only that audio file to master. When you export your original project, do you normally have your preference set to export it at full volume? Or do you reduce the volume of that audio file in order to allow for mastering, etc? 2. It looks like you were setting the EQ, compressor and limiter in the track with your audio file. What is the purpose of the "Master Track" at the bottom of the screen? It didn't look like you were actually using it. 3. On a related note, I'm still a bit confused between that Master Track fader and the main fader located near the top right of a Garageband session. What is the difference between these two faders? Which meter are you paying attention to more? Sorry for the long-winded comment and all the questions! Thanks again for the video.
Hi Paul! Great questions and I'm glad you asked- very important. 1. I try to mix at a conservative level that is optimal for mastering (-6db to -3db peak on the master track). If you haven't already checked out my 6-steps to a pro mix, I go more in depth on how to do this there! Then I export the track as is in a .wav format to be mastered. 2. In this case, I am using the master track to check between the reference track and my track. Any audio in the session will run through the master track, so I can put the loudness meters there and easily check the levels for both the reference and my track in one place. If I add any processing on the master track, it will also affect the reference track. This is also a helpful approach if I'm mastering multiple songs for one EP or album at the same time- they will all need slightly different settings, so by doing it on the individual track, I can set it perfectly for each track. Then just solo out each individual track and export them. 3. The master track is essentially an audio track that all of your sounds pass through to be processed together one final time. This is a huge tool for mixing (ua-cam.com/video/QzeMoeEsGoo/v-deo.html). As far as I can tell, the fader in the top right corner is simply an output volume control to adjust your listening level. I breakdown GB signal flow in full here: ua-cam.com/video/ngHVXPukDec/v-deo.html I hope this was all helpful!
@@TheBandGuide Sorry.. I have another question! I've got my Garageband audio preferences set to 24-bit. When I "share" it as an uncompressed file, it creates an AIFF/24-bit. However, I just noticed that when I convert it to WAV in my Apple Music app, it changes to 16-bit!? I've checked the Music app preferences and it doesn't seem to allow for 24-bit conversion. Is there a workaround? Or is this still an acceptable rate for distribution? If both apps are from Apple, why wouldn't they allow for the conversion to have the same bit count as the original? Why offer the 24-bit in Garageband and then take it away in Music? Ironically, when using GB iOS version, I can immediately share it as an uncompressed WAV at 24-bit! Thank you.
@@Paul_Stillo You should be able to export WAVE uncompressed 24-bit straight out of GarageBand! At least I am able to on the updated GB. In general, 16-bit is actually the assumed standard for nearly all formats (online streaming, CDs, etc). Some do prefer 24-bit, however.
@@TheBandGuide Thank you for replying! I discovered that my error was in sharing to Music instead of to Disk. For some reason, the latter does, indeed, offer that additional option for exporting in 24-bit WAVE while the former does not. During the course of my research, I did learn about the use of 16-bit as a standard, but if a better alternative is available, I might as well try to use it as much as possible. LOL.
Hello and thank you for your videos, the 6 steps mixing helped me a lot, it gave me a way to do. So i did my first "real" mix we gonna say ;) So no need to do mastering for a single song ? For the context, we are just amateur musicians and don't want our music to be marketed. We just want to record 9 songs we are playing since a long time for the memory. But we want it sounding the best possible regarding to our capacity ( all DIY from record to master ). So i was asking..can i do a master for the only song that we have recorded/mixed yet or should i wait the entire recording for a final mastering ?
I have not yet professionally mastered an album, but have spent years trying to find the perfect sound for our sound, y'know? I think I've gotten close, but need a way or platform that invites constructive input. I know most platforms have that potential to help you learn, but is there one that you'd recommend?
Thanks so much for all the great info! Is it possible to in batch in Garageband? I use backing tracks to perform live and would like to master/normalize my setlist. Thanks!
Like the video. But if I have a project in Garage band with drums/bass/keys on one track then 2 separate Rhythm guitar tracks underneath that and then a lead guitar track underneath that. How would I Master the whole lot as one song? Do I have to master each track individually?
Good morning from India Colin. I am curious to know how you can get the fast forwards play in GarageBand! Can you please inform me/us how to do it? Thanks in advance. Dr. Somanna
@@TheBandGuide Okay, got to your 'secret'! I suppose you are using FCPX. I question that I have asked elsewhere is this: While doing the mix the static way, you advocated using of EQ and compressor plugins on the master track. However, while exporting the mix, do we retain these plugins on the master track or remove them?
When we export to Master after the 6 steps, do we leave the limiter on that we put on at the end of step 6 to listen in car and do any last minute tweaks or do we take it back off before we start mastering?
Thank you so much, great tips and I learnt a lot from here. 1 small question: Can we do all those exercises (EQ, compression, and Limiter by referencing) directly in the song before exporting it? Thank you again for your excellent sharing
I was finding that if there is more than one track then the tools in question only are affecting the track selected...so once you are satisfied with the mix of multiple tracks in a project then you will be exporting simply to get everything down to one file that can come in to a new garage band project and all sounds will be in a single track to use the mastering tools on for a final "radio ready" file. However if your project only has one track then it wouldn't be necessary to export before using the mastering tools since there are no other tracks to consolidate :)
Good afternoon Colin. I want to know how one can add more plugins than the 4 plugin slots that are available? Say, I want to use 6 plugins for a track, can I?
Thank you for this clear and concise video. Much appreciated. Would you have any idea why my AU Peak Limiter is freezing ? I must FQ each time I try to open it, and cannot find any solutions online. Doesn't seem to be a common issue.
In my case, somehow my song cracks that brick wall, the limiter.. Even though I put -0.7 on limiter, It reaches -0.5 after a few secs. But again thank you for this video. Nice tips.
I’m still very new to mastering so I’m wondering what I did wrong to get a Lufts of -41. I’m guessing it’s something I did while recording. I just record at home and trying to see if I can master myself or if I should hire someone
Hi Colin, In trying mastering I did notice something and I don't know if it is a problem or not. On the final mix of my song all the meters in GB were fine. They were coming into the yellow, but not one bit of red. I exported to 24 bit wav. When re-importing for mastering the meter on the track went into the red, so I turned it down to where it wasn't red anymore. -2.8 on the track and then preceded mastering from there. I know GB exports a louder version of the mix to MP3 or WAV so I suppose this all makes sense. I can't hear a problem with the mastered version so I'm assuming all is OK ? ps. I can't get 'Higher' out of my head so well done on the catchiness factor there.
That’s a great question! There is a normalize option when you export your track in GB that just brings the loudest peak to near -0 (you can turn this off in the future). So it makes perfect sense that you had to turn it down to match that. One thing to note is that the volume fader is after all of your plugins, so if you put your mastering processing on your individual track then turned it down on the volume fader, you potentially lost 2db of volume from your master. BUT because you likely still have the normalize function on, it likely brought the loudest peak back up to -0db 🤔 so you might be fine haha
Great video but I have a question in addition. My masters still tend to be about 3db quieter than similar songs streaming on Spotify. Even if I push to -12db. Any advice there? Thank you.
Depending on the dynamic range within your mix itself, sometimes it needs to go past the -14. Sometimes you can achieve this just by adding more gain into your limiter, but if that starts to sound bad you might need more dynamic control at other stages. Sometimes this means adding a little more compression within the mix itself and sometimes just adding an additional layer of compression in mastering.
Should the whole project be at the -14 mark or can it fluctuate? I have a project that fluctuates from 14-17 ish but wonder if it has to all fit the format?
Hey quick question! I know it’s an old video but how do I even pull up a master track how you got as the 3rd track out of the 3 tracks you got there! Hope this makes sense ! Thnx
Hi Colin, about the loudness meter, do I just use it on the loudest part of the song? It looks like you start where it’s quiet right before it gets loud. It’s just confusing bc the integrated LUFS change depending where you start. I don’t want to lose too much dynamic range bc I like the dynamics in my song. Also is the -14 LUFS the same for UA-cam? I’m probably only going to put my song on YT and maybe Slaps but not Spotify. Thanks!
Hey Kim! Great questions! You want to the integrated LUFS to have a chance to hear a good amount of the song and get a sense of the average loudness. In some ways it matters most in the loudest part, but it’s worth also seeing what the rating when it’s factoring in 60+ seconds. I’m not exactly sure the standards for UA-cam, but since UA-cam isn’t as back-to-back listening heavy like a music specific streaming platform is, I would focus on just getting it to sound the way you want it to! No matter what- you’ll want at least amount of limiting because it helps add fullness to a mix and makes it loud enough to sound comparable to other songs. I hope that all helps!
Hi Colin, I’ve decided to release my new song through distrokid! The version that you’ve heard hear on YT has an integrated LUFS of -15.6. I felt like making it louder was sounding bad in some spots so like some earlier advice you’d given me, I just added enough volume to sound good. My question is will -15.6 cut it for streaming services? Do I absolutely have to be at -14 or will streaming services turn it up? I was just experimenting and added about 1db to get it to -14.6 but, it just doesn’t sound as good to me. What’s weird is that the project was not over -3.0 on the mvMeter before I exported it to do the mastering…🤔
@@Insulinwarr1or I ended up releasing it as is at -15.6 and it gets turned up but only if the listener has audio normalization turned on. Otherwise it’s too quiet relative to other songs.
I love your page it’s very helpful thank you. I have one question that no one can seem to answer.I use melodyne for tuning vocals in GarageBand. It works great but my question is how do I write those tunes vocals to a track? There are no buses in GarageBand and there’s no right click “commit” option. I tend to have many harmonies and I don’t want melodyne to have to be open and turned on in each track. Any suggestions???
Hey Mark- thank you! That’s a great question. You’re right- there’s no way to internally route this. BUT! You can cheat the system by freezing the track then finding the audio file in your finder and copying it to a new folder and dragging it back into the session. This will print ANY plugin on it, so I typically only leave tuning on so I can tweak any eq/compression/effects later. I did a video EARLY on on my channel about converting midi to audio- look that up! Let me know if this helps
Ok so what should the true peak be? I see yours was around -0.5 mine is hitting around -1.9 and the other one around 19 vs your 13.5 but my mix still sounds weird, I’m gonna have to go back and turn my tracks down.
So you've adjusted the EQ, compression, and limiter on the track file, not the master track? Also, where on the chain is it best to include a little saturation?
That’s correct! Typically you do master processing on the individual tracks for 2 reasons... 1. If you are working on mastering multiple songs you can cater the settings to be perfect for each track 2. So the master processing isn’t affecting your reference track You could do saturation anywhere before the limiter! I sometimes do a little at the very beginning of the chain and again right before the limiter. I would just play around with it to find what’s right for your song!
The major issue I have, is that Garageband on my apple mac sounds strong and meaty in my headphones (monitor headphones plus normal ones) but when I put it in the car, phone or on the soundbar it sounds thin and tinny, but and this is where it gets odd, is that it sounds thin and tinny identically in the car and the soundbar and my phone, it's only the apple mac that is sounds meaty, I can't find anywhere in the mac settings where I could alter the sound to get it sounding more like my other devices. What am I doing wrong here?
Mastering in metal is the same process! The big difference for metal is really in the recording/editing phase- everything has to be SUPER tight in timing to get the big impact you hear on a lot of metal records
‼️ Download the free 6-Step Checklist here: www.thebandguide.com/6stepPROmix ‼️
Very good guide, thank you very much!!
Thank you for everything. You have a great channel!
Yeah you have the best channel Colin
i have problem with the downloading the file :/ doesn’t work
Incredible, someone who actually tells you how to master your track. Thanks
🙌🏼 you’re very welcome!
Definitely sounds very good. I’m still learning and debating which software is best between GarageBand or Ableton..
@josephmamah4124if you like GarageBand I recommend logic
Dude, if your videos were on old-school VCRs, I'd have worn out the tape by now. Thanks for all you do. I am learning so much, and finished mixing my first album of 20 songs. Now, to mastering. Holding my breath, but more confident than I ever have been thanks to you.
That’s amazing, Jim! 20 songs- that’s a huuuge accomplishment. Be sure to check out my video on using a clipper (2nd most recent video of mine)- it has a little updated information on mastering in it!
Hearing Rollercoaster was such a pleasant surprise, cherry on top for this video
It is so useful to actually WATCH someone go through the process! Thanks!
Guidelines are so clear! Thanks.
this song is addicting omg. thanks for teaching this so well!
Thanks again for clarifying this process for me, Colin. I've tried mastering before and got lucky, basically, using a pdf guide from another tutorial channel, but your advice on this tutorial just negated needing that other guide completely. You've really shed some critical light on this critical step in my process. Thanks!
At this point the only thing I can say is that your the greatest I was
missing alot of steps thanks for your time and may God bless what your doing
🙏🏼 thank you!
Amazing tutorial. I can actually tell it made a huge difference in the fullness of the song. And that’s what I’ve been looking for.
🙌🏼
Colin- I’ve been going through tons of your vids the past few weeks. Starting messing around with GarageBand a decade ago but would never finish a track. Lately I finally have some instrumentals to work with (no vocals yet but lyric writing is a whole different struggle), but I went through and tweaking things and over automated tracks…I was so excited to finish a song and felt super defeated that I couldn’t get the feel from it that it was meant to have. Turns out I was doing the whole 6 steps for mixing backwards 😅 not to mention I didn’t know what compression was. I really appreciate you having so much here for people to learn from. Being able to watch the process in action makes it so much easier to understand. I’ve got so many of the cheat sheets and checklists open on my browser right now. Really hoping to take your course when I get more money coming in!
Hey that’s so great to hear! EXACTLY why I’m doing this. I look forward to having you in the course- you’ll love it!
Did he make that song in GarageBand?….WOW!
I can't stop watching your videos! Always helpful.
🙌🏼 thank you!!
I can’t remember if I I said thank you for this…Thank you!!
Thank you! I have a quick question. I just watched your mixing steps video for this track and when you used the limiter, you said you wouldn’t want to push it the full 10 decibels because it will sound squashed. Instead it would need to be mastered.
I found this vid which is the mastering step and you used the limiter to get it to -14lufs. I’m confused what was different about doing it this way, instead of exporting and adding the limiter again, could you not have pushed the limiter more in the last video to get to -14? I’m trying to get my head around mastering and I’m just trying to make sure I get it.
yes I have in old school studios with 2 inch recorders. all analogue but Im amazed of all the things you can do with a mac and the proper knowledge. thanks for the video is very direct , professional without all the chatter that makes it dull. You are excellent teacher, thanks for your time
Thanks, Enrique!
Awesome Colin. This was a great surprise to see this video appearing. Some great tips in there, the less is more approach with EQ, Compression & Limiting really works well. When you did the before and after comparison I could really hear the difference (albeit subtle). Looking forward to your upcoming videos too. Thanks so much for this. It's so great that you are sharing your knowledge.
Thanks, John! I appreciate your continued support!
approached mastering my song by watching your video. Thanks
Somebody else is trying to master Suno track? I used limiter to improve the sounds. And it works. Wow❤
I think this is bit advanced for me as a beginner but im saving it for future reference !
Awesome! Excited to hear what you do with it when you’re ready!
Great video....great videos...thanks for your hard work
Great guidance! Thank you!
You’re very welcome!
I brought my song back to live, thanks to you. I really appreciate it.
Amazing!
So helpful thanks for being there for us music makers :)
🙌🏼 happy to help!
Been binge watching this channel and have learned so much more in the past two days than I have in the past few years of trying to learn from other videos. Thanks so much! Question, how do you save and export your mix to move onto mastering it?
Thanks, Kenny! That’s amazing to hear. I just export the song from my GarageBand as if I was finished with it and then drop it into a new session for mastering
@@TheBandGuide could you just use plugin board on the master track of the mixing session? Or is there an advantage to having a separate session for mastering…
I never comment, but just wanted to say THANK YOU! This and your 6 step mixing videos have helped me tremendously. Again... THANK YOU!
That's so awesome. Thank you, Robert!
Yes cheers for all your hard work
Thanks, Nick!
Thank You for your time and the free items.
Hey you’re very welcome! Thank you for your support 🙌🏼
I love you gangsta 🦅
Thank you for your wonderful job. You make it sound easy... and it's really easy. Very grateful
🙌🏼 thank you!
Before exporting the mix for the mastering project, should I disable the effects that were on the master track for the mix ? (like we did in Step 2 of the Pro Mix guide)
thanks a lot bro... its very helpful..
it was such a joy to go through this whole series of videos on GarageBand mixing! Thank you! Love the song btw ;)
Hey thank you!
Hmmm....interesting. A lot of what you mentioned seems to go against the things I've been taught by other people, and yet despite me being sure that this means I'm doing something wrong on my end, my tracks actually sound pretty decent. A bit quiet at times (but that's mostly because I aim to keep UA-cam loudness penalty as close to +/-0.0 as I can, and don't worry much if other loudness penalties are in the positive). I definitely still have a lot to learn. Awesome video!
If you're getting results that's the #1 thing! I'm here if you have any questions!
@@TheBandGuide I suppose you're right. It doesn't really matter as long as it sounds good! Thanks :)
I followed every step of your course and I like also the song 😄
thank you so much.
thank you very much
Thanks so much for this, Colin. It helped a lottt!
Thanks
Hey Colin - like many of the others - THANK YOU for a really helpful series. I've enjoyed it and, even though I do limited recording and composing - this has been great. I do have a question - I followed the steps in this mastering video - and maybe I'm just THAT much of an amateur, but the sound that I hear in GarageBand with the mastering edits is NOT what seems to export to my various music platforms. It's not necessarily bad, just different... like things didn't 'take.' Perhaps the exporting is different from the 'mastered' version? I don't know if anyone else has had this experience. Either way - things sound better than I've ever been able to do in the past and I'm so grateful for that!
Thank you
very good
Thanks!
You're welcome, Jordan!
Love your channel. I’ve learned so much. Just mastered a song after mixing it following your method. There was a little back and forth between mixing and mastering ( I put it down to experience or lack there of) but I’ve done something I truly was once lost in the woods. Is my song perfect? Probably not but much better than if I hadn’t followed your advice. I also downloaded your instrument frequency guide. It’s on my wall now. I was trying to create my own chart with this info. You’ve saved me a lot of time and it looks great too.
Hey Jon! That’s incredible! I know how much work goes into that and it’s a HUGE accomplishment to be finished! And I’m glad you enjoy the frequency guide! I’m very proud of that graphic ha
This will be my first master !!
‼️‼️
Colin, great to make your virtual acquaintance mon ami... NO NONSENSE = SUBSCRIBED! 🏆🇬🇧🎹
Nice to meet you! No time for nonsense. 🙌🏼
Sir!! Thank you so much for this tutorial!! 💗 💙💯 I honestly wanna master my tracks, but they're all rap songs and i don't have the Youlean Loudness meter, but everything else you did, I followed and I can hear a difference in my sound 😁 I just turn down my ratio down a little cause it's rap and yours is rock. 😊 thank you again
Love it! Keep it up!
Nice vid. I like dynamic range. I hear way to much limiting in so much modern music. I like late 70’s music production the best.
Good reference video
Thanks Band Guide!
Glad it was helpful!
Hi! I’m a little confused: there are a lot of online articles citing -14LUFS as our target when mastering (since that’s Spotify’s normalising level) but I’ve also come across equally many articles/comments by audio engineers saying that -14 is too quiet. Many suggest -10 and say that the -14 level is a “myth”. What are your thoughts on this?
Hello! This is a great question! Without getting too complicated- first and foremost the most important thing is how good it sounds, not how loud it is. However, our ears tend to favor louder sounds... over time this lead to the "loudness war" where people kept pushing master LUFS louder and louder to the point that dynamic range was majorly suffering. It appears we are (hopefully) nearing the end of this loudness war as technology improves and more regulations and limitations are put on how loud mixes will be broadcast- ultimately resulting in less incentive to simply make mixes sound louder.
All that being said, with some songs that have a large dynamic range might sound quiet even hitting the -14lufs. Listen to your master as you are completing this step and listen for fullness balanced against dynamics. Some songs sound best with even lower LUFS (-10 to -7), but ultimately in the streaming world will generally be turned down to -14LUFS anyway.
@@TheBandGuide thank you for clearing that up! It’s a topic of great debate, I notice
@@irfansyahril8511 It definitely is!
I'd add- no one will ever hear your song and know the LUFS value... so ALWAYS favor sound first
Great video, I learned alot!
thank you soooooooooo MUCH! :D
Great work with this video and I must say BIG thanks to you! This helped me a lot now. I have never mastered my beats, but now you just made it so much easier for me to do it. Keep it up man!
🙌🏼🔥
Really helpful tutorial, thanks a million. Nice clear presentation, appreciate the work you’ve put in
Thank you! 🙌🏼
Love you videos! Can you recommend where to Get a reference track?
Hi Colin. Your providing a great resource here. Very insightful. Thankyou. I was wondering is there a preferred file format that you should export your final mix to get the utmost results when re-importing and mastering ? 16 bit ? 24 bit ? wav ? Or it doesn't really matter ? Thanks
Whoops. I just found the answer further down. Thanks all the same Colin.
Hi there! Thanks for the useful tips. I haven't really mastered. I've been recording in my iOS and then just uploading the track to BandLab for mastering. However, I'd like to start using my OS version more, especially thanks to this nice feature. What I found interesting is that you don't actually master from the original project file with the individual instruments/tracks. I have a few questions:
1. I'm hoping we can back up a bit to get to the point which you started your session. It looks like you exported your original project as a stereo audio file and then opened a brand new GB project with only that audio file to master. When you export your original project, do you normally have your preference set to export it at full volume? Or do you reduce the volume of that audio file in order to allow for mastering, etc?
2. It looks like you were setting the EQ, compressor and limiter in the track with your audio file. What is the purpose of the "Master Track" at the bottom of the screen? It didn't look like you were actually using it.
3. On a related note, I'm still a bit confused between that Master Track fader and the main fader located near the top right of a Garageband session. What is the difference between these two faders? Which meter are you paying attention to more?
Sorry for the long-winded comment and all the questions! Thanks again for the video.
Hi Paul! Great questions and I'm glad you asked- very important.
1. I try to mix at a conservative level that is optimal for mastering (-6db to -3db peak on the master track). If you haven't already checked out my 6-steps to a pro mix, I go more in depth on how to do this there! Then I export the track as is in a .wav format to be mastered.
2. In this case, I am using the master track to check between the reference track and my track. Any audio in the session will run through the master track, so I can put the loudness meters there and easily check the levels for both the reference and my track in one place. If I add any processing on the master track, it will also affect the reference track. This is also a helpful approach if I'm mastering multiple songs for one EP or album at the same time- they will all need slightly different settings, so by doing it on the individual track, I can set it perfectly for each track. Then just solo out each individual track and export them.
3. The master track is essentially an audio track that all of your sounds pass through to be processed together one final time. This is a huge tool for mixing (ua-cam.com/video/QzeMoeEsGoo/v-deo.html). As far as I can tell, the fader in the top right corner is simply an output volume control to adjust your listening level. I breakdown GB signal flow in full here: ua-cam.com/video/ngHVXPukDec/v-deo.html
I hope this was all helpful!
@@TheBandGuide Thank you for the detailed response! I'll need to have your notes handy next time I attempt the process! Cheers.
@@TheBandGuide Sorry.. I have another question! I've got my Garageband audio preferences set to 24-bit. When I "share" it as an uncompressed file, it creates an AIFF/24-bit. However, I just noticed that when I convert it to WAV in my Apple Music app, it changes to 16-bit!? I've checked the Music app preferences and it doesn't seem to allow for 24-bit conversion. Is there a workaround? Or is this still an acceptable rate for distribution? If both apps are from Apple, why wouldn't they allow for the conversion to have the same bit count as the original? Why offer the 24-bit in Garageband and then take it away in Music? Ironically, when using GB iOS version, I can immediately share it as an uncompressed WAV at 24-bit! Thank you.
@@Paul_Stillo You should be able to export WAVE uncompressed 24-bit straight out of GarageBand! At least I am able to on the updated GB. In general, 16-bit is actually the assumed standard for nearly all formats (online streaming, CDs, etc). Some do prefer 24-bit, however.
@@TheBandGuide Thank you for replying! I discovered that my error was in sharing to Music instead of to Disk. For some reason, the latter does, indeed, offer that additional option for exporting in 24-bit WAVE while the former does not. During the course of my research, I did learn about the use of 16-bit as a standard, but if a better alternative is available, I might as well try to use it as much as possible. LOL.
Hey guys who are coming here to ask where is the master track..go in the menu bar then track and you'll find something like "show the master track" ;)
Very informative video thank you 🙏 love the band name too 👍
Hey thank you! 🙌🏼
Hello and thank you for your videos, the 6 steps mixing helped me a lot, it gave me a way to do. So i did my first "real" mix we gonna say ;) So no need to do mastering for a single song ? For the context, we are just amateur musicians and don't want our music to be marketed. We just want to record 9 songs we are playing since a long time for the memory. But we want it sounding the best possible regarding to our capacity ( all DIY from record to master ). So i was asking..can i do a master for the only song that we have recorded/mixed yet or should i wait the entire recording for a final mastering ?
I have not yet professionally mastered an album, but have spent years trying to find the perfect sound for our sound, y'know? I think I've gotten close, but need a way or platform that invites constructive input. I know most platforms have that potential to help you learn, but is there one that you'd recommend?
Thanks so much for all the great info! Is it possible to in batch in Garageband? I use backing tracks to perform live and would like to master/normalize my setlist. Thanks!
Also l already have the garage band app, it’s fun
Like the video.
But if I have a project in Garage band with drums/bass/keys on one track then 2 separate Rhythm guitar tracks underneath that and then a lead guitar track underneath that.
How would I Master the whole lot as one song?
Do I have to master each track individually?
What file type did you choose when bouncing the track you were mixing in the 6 step series?
Great question! WAVE uncompressed 24-bit
i already reached -14 lufs, but when i export it still sounds quieter when compared to other pop songs.. im confused how other songs can sound so loud
Good morning from India Colin. I am curious to know how you can get the fast forwards play in GarageBand! Can you please inform me/us how to do it? Thanks in advance. Dr. Somanna
Hey Dr. Somanna! That was done in my video editing software after the fact just to make the video a more reasonable length
@@TheBandGuide Okay, got to your 'secret'! I suppose you are using FCPX. I question that I have asked elsewhere is this: While doing the mix the static way, you advocated using of EQ and compressor plugins on the master track. However, while exporting the mix, do we retain these plugins on the master track or remove them?
All I have is iPad GarageBand lol. It’s free, so let’s go! Lol. Cheers.
hi, may i know what's the difference between Limiter and AUPeakLimiter?
They should be functionally the same, but they might sound different. I say set both and try them back and forth. If one sounds better, go with it!
When we export to Master after the 6 steps, do we leave the limiter on that we put on at the end of step 6 to listen in car and do any last minute tweaks or do we take it back off before we start mastering?
I am also looking for an answer to this, Band guy Colin to the rescue! Can you help answer this for us!? thanks so much in advance!
Thank you so much, great tips and I learnt a lot from here. 1 small question: Can we do all those exercises (EQ, compression, and Limiter by referencing) directly in the song before exporting it? Thank you again for your excellent sharing
I was finding that if there is more than one track then the tools in question only are affecting the track selected...so once you are satisfied with the mix of multiple tracks in a project then you will be exporting simply to get everything down to one file that can come in to a new garage band project and all sounds will be in a single track to use the mastering tools on for a final "radio ready" file. However if your project only has one track then it wouldn't be necessary to export before using the mastering tools since there are no other tracks to consolidate :)
Good afternoon Colin. I want to know how one can add more plugins than the 4 plugin slots that are available? Say, I want to use 6 plugins for a track, can I?
Yes, place the cursor on the line between the fx/plugin boxes and right click mouse, the list will appear to insert another plugin.
Thank you for this clear and concise video. Much appreciated.
Would you have any idea why my AU Peak Limiter is freezing ? I must FQ each time I try to open it, and cannot find any solutions online. Doesn't seem to be a common issue.
Hmmm I’m not sure! I might try restarting your computer. That fixes a lot of those weird quirks for me!
In my case, somehow my song cracks that brick wall, the limiter.. Even though I put -0.7 on limiter, It reaches -0.5 after a few secs. But again thank you for this video. Nice tips.
That's odd... but I'm glad this was helpful!
I’m still very new to mastering so I’m wondering what I did wrong to get a Lufts of -41. I’m guessing it’s something I did while recording. I just record at home and trying to see if I can master myself or if I should hire someone
I'm going to watch this again, only reason I didn't watch it all the way through is because I'm not at that stage yet, I have to write my music 🎵.
Hi Colin, In trying mastering I did notice something and I don't know if it is a problem or not. On the final mix of my song all the meters in GB were fine. They were coming into the yellow, but not one bit of red. I exported to 24 bit wav. When re-importing for mastering the meter on the track went into the red, so I turned it down to where it wasn't red anymore. -2.8 on the track and then preceded mastering from there. I know GB exports a louder version of the mix to MP3 or WAV so I suppose this all makes sense. I can't hear a problem with the mastered version so I'm assuming all is OK ? ps. I can't get 'Higher' out of my head so well done on the catchiness factor there.
That’s a great question! There is a normalize option when you export your track in GB that just brings the loudest peak to near -0 (you can turn this off in the future). So it makes perfect sense that you had to turn it down to match that. One thing to note is that the volume fader is after all of your plugins, so if you put your mastering processing on your individual track then turned it down on the volume fader, you potentially lost 2db of volume from your master. BUT because you likely still have the normalize function on, it likely brought the loudest peak back up to -0db 🤔 so you might be fine haha
Great video but I have a question in addition. My masters still tend to be about 3db quieter than similar songs streaming on Spotify. Even if I push to -12db.
Any advice there? Thank you.
Depending on the dynamic range within your mix itself, sometimes it needs to go past the -14. Sometimes you can achieve this just by adding more gain into your limiter, but if that starts to sound bad you might need more dynamic control at other stages.
Sometimes this means adding a little more compression within the mix itself and sometimes just adding an additional layer of compression in mastering.
Should the whole project be at the -14 mark or can it fluctuate? I have a project that fluctuates from 14-17 ish but wonder if it has to all fit the format?
Hey quick question! I know it’s an old video but how do I even pull up a master track how you got as the 3rd track out of the 3 tracks you got there! Hope this makes sense ! Thnx
Why is the reference track’s volume slider set so much lower?
Hi Colin, about the loudness meter, do I just use it on the loudest part of the song? It looks like you start where it’s quiet right before it gets loud. It’s just confusing bc the integrated LUFS change depending where you start. I don’t want to lose too much dynamic range bc I like the dynamics in my song. Also is the -14 LUFS the same for UA-cam? I’m probably only going to put my song on YT and maybe Slaps but not Spotify. Thanks!
Hey Kim! Great questions! You want to the integrated LUFS to have a chance to hear a good amount of the song and get a sense of the average loudness. In some ways it matters most in the loudest part, but it’s worth also seeing what the rating when it’s factoring in 60+ seconds. I’m not exactly sure the standards for UA-cam, but since UA-cam isn’t as back-to-back listening heavy like a music specific streaming platform is, I would focus on just getting it to sound the way you want it to! No matter what- you’ll want at least amount of limiting because it helps add fullness to a mix and makes it loud enough to sound comparable to other songs. I hope that all helps!
@@TheBandGuide yes that helps! And it’s such a good point that listening on UA-cam isn’t back-to-back! That hadn’t even occurred to me! Thanks Colin!
Iv just got a MacBook I’m gona try this out
Can you axe adverts, I'm trying to learn here!
i cant beelve stephen still is real
Hi Colin, I’ve decided to release my new song through distrokid! The version that you’ve heard hear on YT has an integrated LUFS of -15.6. I felt like making it louder was sounding bad in some spots so like some earlier advice you’d given me, I just added enough volume to sound good. My question is will -15.6 cut it for streaming services? Do I absolutely have to be at -14 or will streaming services turn it up? I was just experimenting and added about 1db to get it to -14.6 but, it just doesn’t sound as good to me. What’s weird is that the project was not over -3.0 on the mvMeter before I exported it to do the mastering…🤔
I remember hearing before that it gets turned up or turned down based on the streaming service’a standards, so it would get turned down
@@Insulinwarr1or I ended up releasing it as is at -15.6 and it gets turned up but only if the listener has audio normalization turned on. Otherwise it’s too quiet relative to other songs.
How do you make the youlean loudness meter a plugin
I love your page it’s very helpful thank you. I have one question that no one can seem to answer.I use melodyne for tuning vocals in GarageBand. It works great but my question is how do I write those tunes vocals to a track? There are no buses in GarageBand and there’s no right click “commit” option. I tend to have many harmonies and I don’t want melodyne to have to be open and turned on in each track. Any suggestions???
Hey Mark- thank you! That’s a great question. You’re right- there’s no way to internally route this. BUT! You can cheat the system by freezing the track then finding the audio file in your finder and copying it to a new folder and dragging it back into the session. This will print ANY plugin on it, so I typically only leave tuning on so I can tweak any eq/compression/effects later.
I did a video EARLY on on my channel about converting midi to audio- look that up! Let me know if this helps
@@TheBandGuide I will definitely try that thanks so much!
Loved this! Can I ask what operating system you’re working from?
bro ios
@@TruSuperGamerFriends I meant like, Sierra, El Capitan, etc
Hey Colin! Should I always make sure auto normalization is turned off before bouncing the stems to start the mastering process?
How do you import the youlean loudness meter into the plug ins?
Just starting to get a feel for mixing.. watch mastering videos and I feel overwhelmed 😅
you should show how you track out the song and opened up a new file.
Ok so what should the true peak be? I see yours was around -0.5 mine is hitting around -1.9 and the other one around 19 vs your 13.5 but my mix still sounds weird, I’m gonna have to go back and turn my tracks down.
So you've adjusted the EQ, compression, and limiter on the track file, not the master track? Also, where on the chain is it best to include a little saturation?
That’s correct! Typically you do master processing on the individual tracks for 2 reasons...
1. If you are working on mastering multiple songs you can cater the settings to be perfect for each track
2. So the master processing isn’t affecting your reference track
You could do saturation anywhere before the limiter! I sometimes do a little at the very beginning of the chain and again right before the limiter. I would just play around with it to find what’s right for your song!
The major issue I have, is that Garageband on my apple mac sounds strong and meaty in my headphones (monitor headphones plus normal ones) but when I put it in the car, phone or on the soundbar it sounds thin and tinny, but and this is where it gets odd, is that it sounds thin and tinny identically in the car and the soundbar and my phone, it's only the apple mac that is sounds meaty, I can't find anywhere in the mac settings where I could alter the sound to get it sounding more like my other devices. What am I doing wrong here?
Do you have any tips for mastering in the metal genre that might fall outside of what you’re doing here?
Mastering in metal is the same process! The big difference for metal is really in the recording/editing phase- everything has to be SUPER tight in timing to get the big impact you hear on a lot of metal records
So with youlean I make sure it doesn't go above 14? I stay around 12-13? or stay at 14?
I have no idea how to import a reference track. I have tried bringing in Mp3 files, but they never play right.
How do i bring in a reference track?
How do you set up youlaoud directly to garageband?