Why Is My Master Chain Doing This?

G

GendoPose

New member
Hi All!

There's this very strange thing happening at the start of this song after the first snare hit..

Basically, it's almost like the mastering chain stops the bass from coming in straight away, I can't figure it out.

Here is a dropbox link to the song I'm working on - it only happens in the first few seconds, the rest of the song is fine.



Any ideas?

Here is the current chain;

SSLComp - 1 or 2db of compression
Ozone 5 EQ - 0.5db boost at 160Hz and 1db boost at 12kHz
Ozone 5 Comp - Expanding between 20 and 200Hz, light compression between 200 and 10kHz, expanding 10kHz and up
L2 Maximiser - Slightly compressing to bring up the volume
Ozone 5 Imager - Mono 200Hz below, narrow between 200Hz and 2kHz, wider between 2kHz and 10kHz, even wider 10kHz and up
Ozone 5 Maximiser - Bringing the RMS level up without compressing too much
 
Do you really need all that processing in the chain...?

You have two comps and two maximizers...could be one of them is swallowing up the bass at the start.
Strip it down/bypass one at a time and see what makes a difference.
 
Probably not really, but it's the best mastered sound I've managed to get so far!

It was the expanding on the <200Hz frequencies that was the problem, I can't really figure out why though.

But thank you for the help!
 
try smashing the tits outta the guitars on a separate sub bus ... maybe using a bus for cleans and one for distorted guitar parts ...

put the bass n drums on another ...

vox on another sub


work on the mix before trying mastering enhancements ... should stop the limiters killing spree


nice track,looking forward to listening to the finished mix :)


btw,get a good tuner and check your guitars intonation ;)
 
You have 2 compressors and 2 limiters in the chain, too many.

I would put 1 eq first.
Then a compressor, pick the best one, I would pick the ssl and you may be able to hit it a little bit harder than 1 to 2 db, try and see.
Remove all the ozone stuff. If you really want to use the imager put it here in the chain, I don't like them.
Use the L2 last to adjust the final volume, use preset for CD master and adjust the volume from there.

If you can't get a master with this setup go back and revisit the mix.

Alan.
 
GendoPose said:
There's this very strange thing happening
Click to expand...

Lemme rummage around in here and see if I can find your problem...


Ozone
Click to expand...
Found it.


:thumbs up:

Okay, back to my reasonably serious face -- You had an expander -- a maul-the-band expander, no less -- running below 200Hz. I'm not sure why you can't figure out why it was doing that -- Sounds like it was doing precisely what you told it to do. Again, why you'd want it to do that, I have no particular idea. That said, "Ozone." It has all sorts of stuff that no one would ever typically do.
 
Obviously there is a plug sucking the life out of the initial notes after the first snare hit.

Miro described a way to figure out what is doing it.

And then there is how much you are using to master this. Are you sure you need this much manipulation?

I would sit back and listen to the unmastered version and make sure you are not just using OZONE for the sake of using. Ask yourself if it really needs it?

I am only saying this because I have made those mistakes myself before.

Sounds like you have a great production already. Maybe you are trying to hard?

:)
 
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