Track inserts vs master inserts

bluedaffy

New member
Using Studio One Pro. I have an insert rack for the individual tracks, and an master insert rack for anything I would want added to all tracks on the album. My question is, what types of things are common to be on the master insert rack? I can't really think of anything, and maybe that means I'm taking the wrong perspective with my first mastering endeavor, but there must be a reason it's there. How is it normally utilized?

Also, after processing the individual tracks needs (eq, compression, etc.) is it common practice to put a limiter on each track insert, or to match relative track volumes and put a limiter on the master insert to bring up the volume until just the peaks are being clipped? Thanks.
 
Using Studio One Pro. I have an insert rack for the individual tracks, and an master insert rack for anything I would want added to all tracks on the album. My question is, what types of things are common to be on the master insert rack? I can't really think of anything, and maybe that means I'm taking the wrong perspective with my first mastering endeavor, but there must be a reason it's there. How is it normally utilized?

Also, after processing the individual tracks needs (eq, compression, etc.) is it common practice to put a limiter on each track insert, or to match relative track volumes and put a limiter on the master insert to bring up the volume until just the peaks are being clipped? Thanks.

It depends on how you go about it and want to have things set up. There's really no one right way, because everyone develops their own work flow that works best for them. I use one session for each song. If you're working on all the songs in one session,.. do you have each stereo mix on it's own track or all stereo mixes on one stereo track that feeds the master channel?

Basically if you have a track insert and a master insert, I would put processing like de-essing, eq and compression on the track insert and the limiter and dither on the master insert. I am not a fan of mastering everything within the same session even though at first glance it would seem easier to compare one track to the others that way. It usually will take quite a few albums until you develop a system that you are comfortable with and even then there might be instances where some songs or projects will work better with a different work flow. gl
 
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