Beginners Guide To Mastering DJ Mixes

[Jester]

Spot on. Its always easier to add gain later than deal with clipping.

[Holiday]

My process is simple. I use Pro Tools and merely do volume automation where needed, no normalizing or limiting. Note that the quieter sections of songs, i.e. the break, are suppose to be quiet so boosting the volume there works against the track. Additionally I may add a slight EQ here and there especially on frequency related mistakes. Just recently I was near tail end of a mix when I was recording when the audio program glitched and skipped the beat. Luckily I had a previous similar mix and I merely swapped out the section of the glitched track with a clean one. Saved me another redo. All in all I think volume edits are really all that's needed. What FX I use I use during the mix is being recorded.

[Monotheo]

Hiya. If you are simply looking for something after a crossfader, to take a few dBs of peaks, then I highly recommend my own limiter, from my own mastering process:



Itunes, Others

The limiter is set to do the most general processing, from many years of experience with mastering and DSP. Additionally for production and voiceovers, a compressor before is optimal.

Peace Be With You.

[DJShinobiShaw]

Thank you

[groovejedi]

Don't:

Use a limiter, ever.
Normalize your mix, ever.
Use Vintage Warmers or other similar plugins.

Do:

Use your ear
Make necessary volume adjustments
Tweak EQs when necessary.

Ultimately, if you need a limiter, normalizer or any of those types of tools, you are doing it wrong.

2cents

[GoldKush]

Thanks for the guide.

[xuka123]

This tutorial is geared towards entry-level DJ’s (many seasoned veterans will probably find this information redundant). It is a quick crash course on how to master your mix right from your computer before uploading the MP3 to the web or burning to CD

[DJ Spiderhat]

In what universe is using a hard limiter a good idea? I'm genuinely curious about what could possibily necessitate its use. That video on the last page of the dude limiting the mix by -8db... where did half of his waveform just go? Surely that can't be doing much good for the dynamics.

I often had difficulty getting a loud enough mix (always had to turn my shit up), but I feel like it's way better in general to boost the quiet parts up rather than limit the louder parts? I'd much rather turn the volume up a bit for one of my mixes than damage the dynamics.

I think groovejedi has some nice pennies

[ketoanbiz]

Wonderful! Thanks for sharing.

[vincearnone]

Thanks for this guide - its epic and very useful!