Should I Master My Beats?
Mastering Chain - (Mastering Plugin Chain)
Mastering may be a little more complicated than vocal chaining but the process is very similar. Here are some basics:
Gain – Before you start your mastering session you need to add a gain plugin so you can give yourself some “head room” which lowering the volume of your mix in case it’s already distorting.
EQ – EQ can be really tedious but you want to put it at the beginning of the chain so you can get a nice balance before you move on to other processors.
Multi-band Compression – Multi-band compression is preferable to normal compression because you want to treat frequency ranges differently.
If you want to get a juicy and compressed drum sound and low-end you don’t want to take the vocals and high-end with you. You want to keep the lows tight while making the highs breathe. That’s what multi-band compression lets you do.
Limiting – Is when you bring up the overall volume of the mix without it clipping.
Be mindful that before you enter a mastering session make sure your mix is not clipping and at a good level before you add your mastering chain.
I usually master a bounced out .wav from my mix in a totally different Protools session. Also keep in mind that every one approaches plugin chaining different so just take your time, research, and experiment.
