All I can tell you is that every time I sent a song or an EP to a record label to master without doing anything on the mix bus I always regret why I didn’t do it. Unfortunately there’s no EQ Chart or Guide for the mix bus as genres are all mixed and equalized differently. Instead of using 10 fingers to automate the individual drums, you can have just one fader to control the overall level of the drums. Every Move You Make…: Be Subtle! 8. Now that you know how to set up a mix bus, it’s time to break down the most common mix bus processing plug-ins. Some people have asked me if I add any processing to my Mix Bus before sending a mix to the mastering engineer. Remember, the key to mix buss processing is subtlety: A little bit goes a long way because everything you do affects the whole mix. This week’s injection from your doctor is about BUS ROUTING – one of the most important factors in a professional mix architecture. You also don’t need to bring up the volume of your mix using a limiter. This makes automation a lot simpler as when you have each group of instruments as one fader then you can “ride” the whole mix in a much more effective way. This keeps the sample mix true. This kind of mix architecture is ultimately designed to achieve a better and more controlled sound on the master bus. Use a really small amount of gain reduction on the master bus, there are no certain rules but anything above -3dB will be too much. each section individually will make your master bus behave in a more controlled way. But what you want to do at this stage is remove any mud, rumble, harshness and any other problem frequencies. Also avoid adding stereo image processing tools to avoid any stereo image balance issues. The ol’ Bottleneck. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. You don’t need to add a limiter to your mix bus because the compressor takes care of the loud peaks. For example, if you recorded a Bass both as direct and through the cabinet you’ll have two channels which you can compress individually, then you might have a parallel compression channel too. Each bus you’ve prepared will be summed into the final master bus, and having divided (and compressed!) Have you tried one of our services yet? Experiment with both techniques and see what works best for you. Using buses provides one more stage for layered compression. The master bus. How To Make My Mix Sound Professional: 10 Golden Rules. Outs 1&2. That’s it for today guys, remember to leave the rest of the mix bus processing to the mastering engineer. MXL V67G Review: A Must-Read Before Buying. The drums for example are often comprised of numerous different channels. Add plug-ins to your new Mix Bus whenever you need to tweak the sound of your whole mix. Bus routing can (and should) be applied to each group of instruments: Drums, Guitars, Keyboards, Backing Vocals, Lead Vocals etc. A medium to long release time works well on the stereo bus. Processing your mix bus also allows you to get a feel of what the mastering is going to sound like. You’ll have to use your ears. For example, you have 2 different kick drum channels (direct and parallel compression) then you can group them into a single Kick Bus and then route the Kick Bus into the Drum Bus. To put it in simple terms, the mixing board takes all of the different instrument channels and combines them into a single pair of Left and Right channels. For better results, add it early and mix into it. https://talkinmusic.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to www.amazon.com, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.co.uk., and any others that may be affiliated with the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. The bottom line is that there is no right or wrong. Having a mix bus lets you apply plugins to your entire mix without applying it to any sample mixes. The master bus is where your final piece of music comes out of, and working with well structured mix will help your master bus and plugins perform better. It’s basically the master channel, that’s the simplest definition I can give you. So let’s jump right in and see what we can do to make a mix sound better and ready for mastering. If you’re reading this, I assume you’re done with a mix and just want to add some final touches. You'll find it on every single mixing console (usually as the last channel on the right side). For those who are wondering what the hell is a mix bus? Routing all of them into a single stereo bus helps to control the Drums as one fader. For instance, you can’t use Hip-Hop mix bus eq settings on a Dance Music song. Just remember not to overload the bus. If your mix bus needs more processing then go back to the mix to fix the problem. Lastly, any ratio setting less than 2:1 will be fine. In fact you can even nest bus channels into one another. The most popular mix bus is the basic main stereo mix bus (also called the "master bus"). The stereo bus. Only use EQ and compression on the mix bus. Behringer X18 vs XR18: Hands-On Comparison [2020], Samson Q2U vs ATR2100: Hands-On Comparison. Related Articles:How To Make My Mix Sound Professional: 10 Golden Rules. Remember, you’re not mastering, all you’re doing is gluing the song together. Try our online video course “The Official Guide To Mixing” with 20% discount from this blog. The Master Out. So I always do minor processing to the mix bus and in this tutorial I’ll show you how to process your mix bus but still keep the mastering engineer happy. The more you use buses the better you can control the final sound. One other thing, always A/B test your processing.eval(ez_write_tag([[580,400],'talkinmusic_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_4',107,'0','0'])); This is where you need to listen to your mix very careful, if you don’t have much experience with equalizers then I would advise you to leave this part to someone who’s going to do the mastering. If done correctly bus compression can help you achieve the loudness that you are looking for. Each bus you’ve prepared will be summed into the final master bus, and having divided (and compressed!) THE MASTER BUS. Remember that loud doesn’t mean it will sound good. The Mississippi Mud Basin. Add mix bus processing at the end of a mix, and you can easily destroy the delicate balance you’ve spent days crafting. This way, every decision you make throughout the mixing process will be shaped by what it’s doing. Don’t do any boost or cut that is +/-3dB, rather go back to the mix to fix the problem. This allows you to use the A B technique. Including mid side processing, leave that stuff to the engineer.eval(ez_write_tag([[468,60],'talkinmusic_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_6',108,'0','0'])); Other stuff I think you shouldn’t add to the mix bus chain is reverb, saturation, modulation, exciters, de-esser any multi-band and other effects except for EQ and compression. If you apply the plugins to your master track, the plugins will also affect the sample track. Do you want to know more about mixing techniques? EQ. Bus routing means having different buses (also known as AUX channels or groups) for different sections of the mix. Most of the frequency balancing should be done in the mixing stage. When you insert a compressor on the mix bus then add a subtle amount of compression. MXL 990 Condenser Microphone Review: Worth The Money? As a general rule it’s best to layer different compressors where each is compressing very little as opposed to using just one to compress a lot.