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Studio One’s unique Project page lets you move seamlessly between mixing and mastering. The rise of DAWs has eroded the division between the traditionally separate production phases of recording, overdubbing, editing and mixing. People now start mixing as soon as the second track is laid;. Come see how to master your own music tracks with software by Studio One! Just follow the step by step instructional video. Mastering is done from the project page, which is not available in Studio One Artist. May 05, 2019 Many people use Studio One 4 for mixing and mastering, but what you don’t hear about is Studio One’s mastering capabilities. Studio one has what they call “projects” that are a full-fledged mastering program. It’s almost two like having two pieces of software in one.
One of the great features of Studio One is the ability to save preset chains that can be recalled when needed. I have one called 'Russ Master' which features plug-ins I find invaluable when mixing.
SSL 4000 G Series Master Buss Compressor
This plug-in comes in several flavours with versions from both Waves and Universal Audio on their UAD platform. Rather than use the SSL 4000 G Series mix buss compressor for adding loudness it has the effect of gluing a mix together, which I find works best when used in a subtle fashion.
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I get a rough level up and then set the threshold so the meter is showing no more than 4db of compression, in fact barely kissing the first segment of the VU markers. Then I add a little make-up gain and mix into it adjusting the rest of the settings to taste and depending on the genre of music.
The SSL 4000 G Series master buss compressor is magic.
Slate FG-X MASTERING PROCESSOR
Second in the chain is the Slate FG-X MASTERING PROCESSOR, which is used to add some energy and loudness in the mix.
I find the Slate FG-X MASTERING PROCESSOR is able to increase the level of a mix without any audible effects like nasty pumping or crushing. In fact, you can push it quite hard before noticing it.
The unit is split into a compressor and leveler, when combined the two sections are powerful compression and leveling tools with some smart features like Dynamic Perception and Transient Preservation.
Non-Lethal Applications Snapshot
Snapshot is a simple concept and invaluable for those using hardware on their mix-buss - but as the guy who invented it, I'm bound to say that.
Snapshot lets you take a photo of your hardware settings then store them on the tracks in your DAW. So if you ever need to recall a mix that uses Pipeline attached to hardware then you can see how things were set.
Sonarworks Reference 4
Sonarworks is a room calibration software plug-in that once set can dramatically improve your mixes. Used with their reference microphone, the set-up process takes less than 30 minutes, after which your speakers should give a truer sound in the room.
When I first used Sonarworks I found my mixes had better mid-range and spatial positioning. You can use Sonarworks with headphones too so that you can have a consistent sound across all transducers you mix with.
It's well worth considering something like Sonarworks to help give you a better-calibrated mix environment - this leads to your mixes translating better in the real world.
on Aug 11, 2014 in Presonus Studio One 1 comments
Studio One Professional comes packaged with a great mastering tool application. You can create songs, and then bring these songs into projects to master them. Let’s take a look at some of the tools that are available and how they can assist you with your mastering. First I’ll cover the different metering options that are available, and then I’ll finish off with a suggested mastering chain order to use.
Tip 1 – Using The Frequency Spectrum Meters
The Projects page comes bundled with great visual meters that can help to assist you with your audio mastering. You should always first be using your eyes to judge the quality of your mastering, but these visual aids can be really helpful in confirming what you are hearing. I like to use the Frequency Spectrum graph and set it to FFT mode. You get a very clear indication of where the audio is most prominent along the frequency range. Use this graph to make sure you’re not overcompensating in areas.
Maybe you think your mastering is sounding ok, but from the frequency spectrograph it is showing a bit of a bump in the low midrange. By using the meters you will pick this up and your can correct it by doing a slight frequency cut in this frequency region.
If you hover your mouse pointer over the region it will give you details on the frequency and level, so use these accurate meters to assist you.
I find using the Hold mode also helps. This will draw in a line where the highest peaks are. You can set different hold times so that you can see these peaks for longer, or shorter if you prefer.
Tip 2 – Using The Peak/RSM Level Meter
Studio One Professional has an advanced output metering system in the Projects page. It uses a Peak/RMS mode and you can also choose different K-metering systems. The Peak/RMS mode is a great way to see your peaking levels on the output by the Peak Meter, and the RMS shows the average level. So maybe your highest level peaks are at -2 dB, but the average is sitting at -10 dB. This gives you a good indication of how much headroom you have in your song.
There is also a clip button that will go red if any of the audio clips the output. If your output level does clip, adjust accordingly and then click the Clip button to reset it. Then check if your output is still clipping, as you don’t want any digital distortion being introduced into your audio.
Tip 3 – Using The K-Metering System Level Meter
The K-metering output options can be used to meter different styles of music, as the K-metering system suggests that different styles have different dynamic ranges and output levels. K12 is recommended for any broadcast audio. This will show a green meter and when it goes over the 0 dB level it’ll go yellow. The ideal level is below 0 dB, so probably around -6 to -3 dB, leaving you enough headroom in the audio. This metering system can also be used for rock and pop style music.
The K14 meter can be used with music and audio with more dynamic range, like the rock and country genres.
And K20 is used for styles with the most dynamic range such as orchestral and classical style or high fidelity recordings.
So if you want to use the K-meters, use the one that is most appropriate to the genre or style you are mastering. These meters are more sensitive to the audio than the Peak/RMS mode so make fine changes to the levels and keep a close eye on the meters to see when your audio is reaching the optimum level for the style.
Tip 4 – Using the Correlation Phase Meter to correct Phase Issues
If you have any potential phase issues in your audio, this is where the Correlation Phase Meter comes in handy. This visual graph in the Projects page next to the level meter is a little small, so I’d recommend rather adding the Phase Meter plug-in to your inserts and viewing it from there. The big visual graph shows the stereo image of the audio, and the bottom line shows the correlation phase of the audio.
Try changing the pan of your audio, maybe pan your stereo audio track all the way to the left and see how this changes the stereo image of your audio. Now try something else. Add the Binaural Pan plug-in to your inserts and click on the Mono button to mono your audio. See how this displays on the stereo width display. So you can get a good idea of how narrow or wide your audio is on this graph.
Now looking at the Correlation meter at the bottom of the Phase Meter, this should jump around between the 0 to 1 range. If this drops into the 0 to -1 range then there could be a possible phase issue somewhere in your audio. You’ll probably need to go back to your mix and check the tracks to see where the phasing issue could be stemming from. So go back to your Song file and use the MixTool plug-in to help you correcting phase issues. First insert the Phase Meter on your master track. Then solo each track while viewing this plug-in and see which track/s could be out of phase. On the tracks that are causing the phase issue, insert the MixTool plug-in and invert the phase.
Tip 5 – Building Up a Master Inserts Chain
What can really help streamline your mastering is to build up a mastering chain. This works especially well if you are working on a collection of songs for an album as you can have a coherent mastering process applied across your song and similar related mastering projects. The mastering processing chain is broken down into 3 sections. There’s the Inserts which is processing applied to each track, and then there is the Master Inserts and Post which is applied globally. So let’s build a mastering chain that can be applied across all tracks. Let’s do this by using the Master Inserts section, and then you can use the Inserts to apply processing to individual tracks.
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First add a ProEQ. The ProEQ has a frequency analyzer as well so you can use this to analyze your audio. Use the ProEQ to make minor EQ adjustments. If you need to make any big EQ changes, rather go back to the mix to make them. I usually use the ProEQ to cut out some of the low frequencies that are inaudible (such as a low cut removing out all the frequencies below 50 Hz) and this will free up some extra headroom.
Next add the MultiDynamics plug-in. This is a multiband compressor that can be used to alter the dynamics on your stereo audio file. Maybe you want to tighten up the lower bands with some compression, and then increase its level. And then maybe you want to increase the level of the higher frequency band. This can all be done through a multiband compressor like the MultiDynamics plug-in.
After this, add in the Limiter to increase the overall perceived volume of your audio, but at the same time prevent the audio from clipping. With the Limiter, set the ceiling to -0.3, so no audio will go over this ceiling. Now increase the Input and hear how this raises the overall level of your audio, but it doesn’t clip no matter how hard you push the Input level. Just make sure to keep some space for dynamics, so if you push the Input too far it’ll squash your audio dynamics that you worked so hard on in the mix. You can also change the metering on the Limiter from the Peak/RMS to K-meters.
The beauty of the Projects page is that you can still go into each track and add different processing through the Inserts section. Let’s say on your one track you’ll like to add in a tad more reverb to the sound than the others, then you can add a reverb effect on the Inserts, and it’ll only be applied to that particular track.
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Conclusion
Take these tips and apply them in your next mastering project. Using the visuals meters will really help guide you with your audio and confirm that what you seeing is what you are hearing as well. And streamlining your mastering with mastering insert chains will help you focus more on the audio and less on the setup process.
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For more Studio One tips and tricks check out the following tutorials: