Academy Dashboard › Forum › Production › Mixing › Can we talk about the master bus chain, please? › Reply To: Can we talk about the master bus chain, please?

June 24, 2018 at 8:12 pm #46832
Jason Davenport
Participant

    The answer to the next question is yes... The master chain is used to simulate what a mastering engineer would do. Warren calls it "fake mastering". It is a way to make your mix sound competitive to other mixes your client might compare it to. This step is not absolutely necessary if you plan on sending it to a mastering engineer.

    I also try to use a light hand at this stage, because the hard work has already been done upstream. Subtle comp, light eq, and a light limiter to end the chain. If I am going for a more vintage sound I might put some tape saturation on there before the limiter. All that is taste driven, so often the best option is just to experiment with different combinations until you find something that works 🙂

    • This reply was modified 6 years ago by Jason Davenport.