Sound Design Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for sound engineers, producers, editors, and enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I am trying to master a track which is EDM(house) based and I am using izotope ozone 6.
For instance, if there are (Low-end, Low-mid, High-mid, High-end) 4 bands,
Which one would be the most compressed band?
Could you please explain mid/side compression too?
Multiband Compression is not something Standard.Most of the time it's a complex procedure but you have to keep in mind that you are doing this to a whole mix which means your dB reduction should be very careful or you might kill it.
That's a general guideline though , there are techniques that use aggressive/heavy compression.
I would recommend reading the booklet i share from Bob Katz not only the multiband and M/S multiband parts , but all of it !
I quote from Bob Katz's "The Secret of the Mastering Engineer"
MS is another tool that reduces compromises and increases the possibilities of mastering. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination. The Finalizer, and especially the Finalizer 96K, allows you to manipulate stereo separation using MS technique. Let's take a stereo recording with a weak, center- channel vocalist. First we put in our MS encoder, which separates the signal into M and S. Then we decrease the S level or increase the M level. We then decode that signal back into L and R. Presto, the vocal level comes up, as does the bass (usually) and every other center instrument. In addition, the stereo width narrows, which often isn't desirable. But at least we raised the vocalist and saved the day! The Finalizer's built-in width control does this job by changing the ratio of M to S.
But we can accomplish a lot more, often with no audible compromise to the presentation, and make clients very happy. Let's take our stereo recording, encode it into MS, and apply separate equalization to the M and S channels. Here's the traditional (pre-Finalizer) method: Feed the output of the MS encoder to a dual-channel equalizer. Channel one of the equalizer contains the M channel, which has most of the vocal. Channel two contains the S channel, which has most of the ambience and side instruments. With the M channel EQ, we can raise the vocal slightly by raising (for example) the 250 Hz range, and perhaps also the presence range (5 kHz, for example). This brings up the center vocal with little effect on the other instruments, and lowers the stereo separation almost imperceptibly. The Finalizer 96K's Spectral Stereo Imager can also "remix" this material, with a slightly different user interface. By raising the M level (reducing the width) of the 250 Hz and/or 5 kHz range, we bring up the center vocal very similarly to the traditional method, and without seriously deteriorating the imaging of the other instruments. In addition to this "remix" facility, the spectral stereo imager has very creative width control, limited only by your imagination. Spread the cymbals without losing the focus of the snare, tighten the bass image without losing stereo separation of other instruments, and so on.
Currently the Finalizer has a single threshold for both channels, but other TC Electronics products can accomplish even more sophisticated M-S mastering. You've all heard the mix that sounds great, but the vocal is sometimes a bit buried when the instruments get loud. We try compressing the overall mix, or even narrow band compression of the vocal range, but it worsens the great sound of the instruments. MS compression can help us isolate the compression to the center chanel.... By only compressing the M channel, we delicately bring up the center channel level when signals get loud. Or, better yet, use multiband MS compression, so, the bass (for example) is unaffected by our compression. In other words, compress only the midrange frequencies of only the M channel... A very selective and powerful process, only available in today's digital world.
Useful GS Threads :
"Which one would be the most compressed band?"
That depends entirely on the settings you choose. The threshold and ratio settings for each bands will affect the amount of compression.
P.S. I'm not sure if you're asking for a guide to mastering EDM, but if so that is a bit beyond the scope of a Stack Exchange question. A better question would be asking for recommended literature on the subject.
