So this is what Im seeing: he gathers the stems and makes sure they are properly divided, then he sends them out of the computer into his summing unit which probably adds some analog warmth. Here he makes slight changes using a number of tools on his board to balance out the dynamic range(such as automation etc), somewhat set up a limiter as transparently as possible, and preset the overall balance keeping in mind he is going to be clipping musically very soon once he boosts the volume. If needed in this stage he might do some additional parallel processing and other mixing techniques if he feels its needed and he didnt already do it in the mix himself. Then he sends out that processed sound into the laptap where he monitors everything that is going on as he drives up the volume using another piece of hardware. Here he takes special note of the gain reduction keeping in mind that the song is shaped to clip musically(via the drums most likely). As he attempts to achieve maximum loudness without ugly clipping nor losing the musicality of the song, he goes back and forth automating certain sections to achieve that final result. If hes working on someone else's mix he might even add some plugins to better fix and achieve whats needed, otherwise he just seeks to achieve the right balance of automation over the loudest version of the song he can produce w/o it sounding bad or losing any integrity. Then he prints it out into the final audio formats and practically calls it a day(maybe after reviewing it a bit more on headphones). Does that sound right? Anyone? Luca, youre the best btw! Thanks for this!
Yep, which is essentially pointless. The same type of mastering chain can be achieved with less noise by simply using plugins. Running tracks in and out of outboard hardware devices will most definitely cause noise or distortion levels to eventually rise, which is a pointless waste of time and money.
Well you probably haven't heard the difference between analog gear and ITB. Of course there are some pretty good digital clippers, none can actually compete with the analog ones.
Oh I know how good analog gear is, but you're missing my point. I said after running in and out of too much hardware, your noise levels are going to rise and you're going to eventually lose more quality, which brings you into the area no different than using sub-par digital gear. On the other hand, there's some digital gear that's far more advanced than analog and can replicate it, sometimes even better.
Hey Luca ,, love your videos. ,, ive been mastering in Los Angeles ,,for over 20 years I will be in Vegas this coming Tuesday.. and would like to stop by... if that is cool ..
this is complete magic and the way most people are rolling now days some of these comments below are crazy and just disrespectful. i am curious if you are still recording with another computer these days or just back into the same computer.
Notice that his pre-master mix is already very loud. I'm sure he accomplishes this with various amounts of compression and limiting and saturation at the end of most channels. It sounded to me like the level difference between the pre- and post-master is about 3dB, pretty much exactly the amount of clipping he gets from driving his DA/AD hot. So, no magic, very understandable. Another way to say it: the crest factor of his pre-master is already quite low, which means he doesn't need much to get the extra 2dB to 3dB loudness and achieve competitive perceived loudness. His DA/AD converters are so good that they clip in a very musical way. This is very much possible in the box with a good clipper and maybe a limiter plugin set up properly. I think it's not understood that when your mix is right (and this is for EDM and other "distortion-heavy" genres), you don't always need a final limiter; a lot of mastering is only clipping. That said, because of the way I make my mix, I almost always use a limiter. Luca is a pro mix engineer; that's why his mastering can be so minimal. For me, the real "secret" is what he said at the end: the dynamics are either 4dB or about 2.7dB depending on the where in song (drop, etc). That about what I notice when I get a good master. At first, I thought I was doing it wrong to have so little dynamics, but then I metered hit songs and realized this is not unusual. BTW, it's dynamics, *not* dynamic range. Channels (CDs, your Bluetooth connection, etc) and devices (speakers, e.g.) have a dynamic range (what they can reproduce). Music, a mix or a master, has *dynamics.*
Hi luca how do you make your insert throught the sigma ??? Do you talk ionserts from the daw or direct outs of the sigma through your gears back into your console i can't figure it out . And mostly why do you choose to make the inserts throught the sigma ??? thanks in advance . I love your videos by the way they great though
Yeah it's definitely clipping but interesting concept. He said he is clipping the converter he just likes it. I think a transparent dsp limiter or two at the end helps
His style of electronic music doesn't need the same dynamic range as a jangly, alterna-rock track. As a matter of fact, it suffers from it. Clipping the converter, if he likes it, is the same concept as saturating tape for 'warmth'. Which almost no one except a handful of audio engineers understood before digital became ubiquitous.
I didn't get how you get more loudness without compression? Could you direct me to another of your videos that explains that. I thought you need compression for loudness.
He does all the commission in the mix. He uses compression, limiting, and saturation (a form of compression) at the end of channels and/or on they group buses when he forms his stems. This is exactly the way Skrillex gets his insane loud masters.
That's the real question isn't it. All he said was he's using channel summing with "stems", which means he's doing more remixing here than anything else, other than mastering. Notice he's using an entire mix and not a single file.
Guys chill.... When you have fought with t-racks of waves l3 for so long and not get good results, you will appreciate this funny looking guy.... Work hard, make money, save and buy good hardware.... Peace
ow, learn your lights man. Don't put it on the camera. When camera closer to the laptop everything is to bright. I know this is not video tutorial but...
People are clipping now even the converters 😂 Every meter seems to be glowing red, and the song file looks like a square, with 0 dynamics. The only dynamics comes from changing one sections total volume, compared to another section 😂 This whole video is just about manipulating volume, not about mastering. 2 completely different things. There really should be a separation with these volume chasers, and mastering engineers.
I totally agree. Pointless video, since first of all this goofball didn't even make clear the basics, such as how he's using an original mix, rather than just a single file. This is confirmed because he mentioned using "stems", which would logically be individual tracks.. and incidentally, there's no way in hell I'd ever send anyone like this guy an entire mix. Ha.. that's a joke.
The job of a mastering engineer today: - "How do I make this louder than Nicki Minaj's latest song?" - "Should I use Sausage Fattener or an iZotope Ozone limiter? Hmm decisions decisions" - "MONEY MONEY MONEY GIVE ME MONEY RIGHT NOW
Guys chill.... When you have fought with t-racks of waves l3 for so long and not get good results, you will appreciate this funny looking guy.... Work hard, make money, save and buy good hardware.... Peace
Luca, straight up- you are the real deal. No BS.
So this is what Im seeing: he gathers the stems and makes sure they are properly divided, then he sends them out of the computer into his summing unit which probably adds some analog warmth. Here he makes slight changes using a number of tools on his board to balance out the dynamic range(such as automation etc), somewhat set up a limiter as transparently as possible, and preset the overall balance keeping in mind he is going to be clipping musically very soon once he boosts the volume. If needed in this stage he might do some additional parallel processing and other mixing techniques if he feels its needed and he didnt already do it in the mix himself. Then he sends out that processed sound into the laptap where he monitors everything that is going on as he drives up the volume using another piece of hardware.
Here he takes special note of the gain reduction keeping in mind that the song is shaped to clip musically(via the drums most likely). As he attempts to achieve maximum loudness without ugly clipping nor losing the musicality of the song, he goes back and forth automating certain sections to achieve that final result. If hes working on someone else's mix he might even add some plugins to better fix and achieve whats needed, otherwise he just seeks to achieve the right balance of automation over the loudest version of the song he can produce w/o it sounding bad or losing any integrity. Then he prints it out into the final audio formats and practically calls it a day(maybe after reviewing it a bit more on headphones). Does that sound right? Anyone? Luca, youre the best btw! Thanks for this!
That and he pipes his mix throughly about $15,000 of analog gear.
Yep, which is essentially pointless. The same type of mastering chain can be achieved with less noise by simply using plugins. Running tracks in and out of outboard hardware devices will most definitely cause noise or distortion levels to eventually rise, which is a pointless waste of time and money.
Well you probably haven't heard the difference between analog gear and ITB. Of course there are some pretty good digital clippers, none can actually compete with the analog ones.
Oh I know how good analog gear is, but you're missing my point. I said after running in and out of too much hardware, your noise levels are going to rise and you're going to eventually lose more quality, which brings you into the area no different than using sub-par digital gear. On the other hand, there's some digital gear that's far more advanced than analog and can replicate it, sometimes even better.
TRUE
Beautiful studio.
Extravagantly pointless is more like it. Ohhhh.. look at all the pretty blinking colored lights !
Hey Luca ,, love your videos. ,, ive been mastering in Los Angeles ,,for over 20 years I will be in Vegas this coming Tuesday.. and would like to stop by... if that is cool ..
this is complete magic and the way most people are rolling now days some of these comments below are crazy and just disrespectful. i am curious if you are still recording with another computer these days or just back into the same computer.
Why do u have second laptop as a print ing destination instead if the original pc?
fantastic Studio
Thumbs up
wish you Happy Easter
many greetings Frank
I want that monitor management unit! Holy cow, 4db dynamic range! No wonder!
Exactly!! It's all in the mix.
4:50 you clip the converters for a better sound? Do you need a Prism Lyra to clip your audio interface? That sounds like nonsense but I'm intrigued.
Notice that his pre-master mix is already very loud. I'm sure he accomplishes this with various amounts of compression and limiting and saturation at the end of most channels. It sounded to me like the level difference between the pre- and post-master is about 3dB, pretty much exactly the amount of clipping he gets from driving his DA/AD hot. So, no magic, very understandable. Another way to say it: the crest factor of his pre-master is already quite low, which means he doesn't need much to get the extra 2dB to 3dB loudness and achieve competitive perceived loudness. His DA/AD converters are so good that they clip in a very musical way. This is very much possible in the box with a good clipper and maybe a limiter plugin set up properly. I think it's not understood that when your mix is right (and this is for EDM and other "distortion-heavy" genres), you don't always need a final limiter; a lot of mastering is only clipping. That said, because of the way I make my mix, I almost always use a limiter. Luca is a pro mix engineer; that's why his mastering can be so minimal. For me, the real "secret" is what he said at the end: the dynamics are either 4dB or about 2.7dB depending on the where in song (drop, etc). That about what I notice when I get a good master. At first, I thought I was doing it wrong to have so little dynamics, but then I metered hit songs and realized this is not unusual. BTW, it's dynamics, *not* dynamic range. Channels (CDs, your Bluetooth connection, etc) and devices (speakers, e.g.) have a dynamic range (what they can reproduce). Music, a mix or a master, has *dynamics.*
Hi luca how do you make your insert throught the sigma ???
Do you talk ionserts from the daw or direct outs of the sigma through your gears back into your console i can't figure it out . And mostly why do you choose to make the inserts throught the sigma ??? thanks in advance . I love your videos by the way they great though
I don't think 4db qualifies as dynamic range.
Not even 4 lol, Izotope Insight shows 2.5 LU of DR at 3:45
Also says "not clipping" while it's very clear on the peak meter shown that it is clipping.
Yeah it's definitely clipping but interesting concept. He said he is clipping the converter he just likes it. I think a transparent dsp limiter or two at the end helps
His style of electronic music doesn't need the same dynamic range as a jangly, alterna-rock track. As a matter of fact, it suffers from it. Clipping the converter, if he likes it, is the same concept as saturating tape for 'warmth'. Which almost no one except a handful of audio engineers understood before digital became ubiquitous.
what kind of monitors are the small ones in front of the focals?..
Why the HATE?
I didn't get how you get more loudness without compression? Could you direct me to another of your videos that explains that. I thought you need compression for loudness.
He does all the commission in the mix. He uses compression, limiting, and saturation (a form of compression) at the end of channels and/or on they group buses when he forms his stems. This is exactly the way Skrillex gets his insane loud masters.
You also use the lynx converters?
How many channels is the sigma?
Jay Electronica just put this in a playlist
*dope*
1:42 "quindi..."
Spazio Jobim Gli è partito il quindi tattico
Comunque, Luca Pretolesi in Italia: a Milano il 24 e a Roma il 25 Giugno. Chi può vada studiodmi.com/allianceacademy/
Grande "Digital Boy", un saluto dal Piemonte :)
Hello Luca How can setup all that gear
That's the real question isn't it. All he said was he's using channel summing with "stems", which means he's doing more remixing here than anything else, other than mastering. Notice he's using an entire mix and not a single file.
Guys chill.... When you have fought with t-racks of waves l3 for so long and not get good results, you will appreciate this funny looking guy.... Work hard, make money, save and buy good hardware.... Peace
If you're working with stems isnt that mixing?
grande digital you the best :)
Great Vid Brotha!!!
d-boy the real hardcore old school
GRANDE LUCA
Interesting
Finally found a mixer on Logic X
And at -5.6 LUFS on the meter it would not meet broadcast standards and when / if broadcast would sound like crap
ow, learn your lights man. Don't put it on the camera. When camera closer to the laptop everything is to bright. I know this is not video tutorial but...
People are clipping now even the converters 😂 Every meter seems to be glowing red, and the song file looks like a square, with 0 dynamics. The only dynamics comes from changing one sections total volume, compared to another section 😂
This whole video is just about manipulating volume, not about mastering. 2 completely different things. There really should be a separation with these volume chasers, and mastering engineers.
Oh the internet trolls...
JEAN CLAUDE VAN DAMME
E parla italiano
Lukha Padosi
waste of 5 minutes 48 seconds
SMH how is it a waste like your comment is
I totally agree. Pointless video, since first of all this goofball didn't even make clear the basics, such as how he's using an original mix, rather than just a single file. This is confirmed because he mentioned using "stems", which would logically be individual tracks.. and incidentally, there's no way in hell I'd ever send anyone like this guy an entire mix. Ha.. that's a joke.
this not a good info for beginers who now learning how to master
That’s because he is trying to confuse. Good for you.
The job of a mastering engineer today:
- "How do I make this louder than Nicki Minaj's latest song?"
- "Should I use Sausage Fattener or an iZotope Ozone limiter? Hmm decisions decisions"
- "MONEY MONEY MONEY GIVE ME MONEY RIGHT NOW
Rubbish
Why are you mastering from multi tracks? HAHAHA!!!!!!!!
All information known to Engineers. Nothing worthwhile here. Waste of time and effort. Huge Fail!!!
Guys chill.... When you have fought with t-racks of waves l3 for so long and not get good results, you will appreciate this funny looking guy.... Work hard, make money, save and buy good hardware.... Peace