Final Mix
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| The three-band dynamics overview |
Mastering is not an easy art, however, even with the best tools. Top mastering engineers are paid handsomely for their ability to bring a mix to life, and are generally worth every penny. There is no magic solution-in-a box that instantly turns a dull, dry, drab mix into one that sparkles. Every piece of music must be evaluated individually to determine the mastering approach. And there's not even one best approach -- different mastering engineers take different approaches. What Final Mix does is give you the tools in a well-organized format. After that, it's up to you.
I'm certainly not a mastering engineer. But like a lot of people, I've done my share of mastering out of necessity. I use a variety of outboard processors, compressors and equalizers, plus onboard effects in the D8b. For me, there's a lot of trial and error in the process. I went through this just recently, recording a Los Angeles-based rock band, The Downtown Kicks. They have great songs, a devoted following in the clubs, and very little money. At the end of the session, naturally, they looked at me and asked, "Can you master this?" It was six against one, and I said yes. Overall, the 10 songs were well-recorded, with good levels and strong performances. I did an okay job with the mastering, and the band was happy.
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But there was one song I just couldn't get. The drums were dull, the bass just wouldn't sit well, and the three-part harmony was either too far back or too far forward despite my best efforts. The big problem was a stereo rhythm guitar part with a chunka-chunka-chunka string-damped riff at the end of every verse that sounded like a train wreck in the low-mid part of the mix.
| The Presets An excellent place to start your mastering process. Acuma Labs will have new presets for download on their web site. | |
| Acuma CD Mastering Acuma Dance Mix Acuma Final Mix Acuma Gentle Comp Acuma Punch Acuma Rock + EQ Acuma Techno EQ Acuma The Leveler Country + EQ Country Female Country Mix Drums Drums with Exp Female Broadcast Female Vox Comp Final Mix Vocal General CD Mastering H_+6 dB Gain H_12 Band EQ H_Bass Comp-Treble Exp H_Jazz Mix H_Leveler With EQ H_Loudness & Mild Comp H_Loudness EQ H_Mid Lift H_Mild Expansion H_Notch EQ H_One Comp Band H_Punchy Kick H_Smooth Highs H_Telephone Comp | H_The Leveler #2 Heavy Vox + 10K Boost Instrumental Jazz Final Mix Light + EQ Light Vox Comp + EQ Long Distance Loudness Male Broadcast Male Vox Comp Moderate + Hi Low EQ Moderate + Mid EQ Orchestral Pop Pump DA Bass Punch Radio Punch Mix Sell It! Smoothed Out 1 Smoothed Out 2 Smoothed Out 3 Squash It 1 Squash It 2 Squawk Squash The Brass Balls Vocal |
They said they liked it! But I didn't. I thought it sounded thin, and it's been gnawing at me ever since. So when I got Final Mix, the first thing I did was get this song back from the archive and see what I could do. For an accurate evaluation of Final Mix's impact, I used none of my outboard effects and none of the D8B's standard compression or EQ. I did end up using the Massenberg MDW EQ in stereo on just the rhythm guitar part because of its surgical ability to zero in on very specific frequencies, using the board's automation to subtly raise and lower the low and midrange frequencies in the offending guitar track. From the Final Mix presets, I chose one called Acuma Rock +EQ (see preset list at left) as a starting point. It sounded pretty good, but still not great. So I started tweaking.
In a very short time, I was just flat out impressed. Both the EQ and the compressor are first rate. Their effects are very musical (not harsh, but not too clean), and even slight changes make a real difference. Because all the tools for adjustment are in close proximity, I was able to make changes quickly while thinking two or three steps ahead. The program makes it easy to grasp how EQ and compression are interrelated, and adjust accordingly.
I ended up making numerous small adjustments to the song, too many to list them all here. They included placing a nice gentle wavy pre-dynamic EQ curve that dipped slightly where the guitar was doing its damage, and rose a little at the high end. I did extensive tweaks with the Dynamics Countour Edit pop-up, making individual adjustments for each of the three compressor bands, things like increasing the attack from a consistent 17.3 ms to 30.2ms in band one, 45.7 ms in band two and 72.4 ms in band three. I slightly increased the threshold in each band, and increased the gain a little. Then I went to the post-dynamics EQ and reinforced my overall EQ -- a nice feature to have, because altering the dynamics can change any EQ you set up beforehand. Post-dynamics EQ then allows you to rebalance the overall EQ of your mix.
To tell the truth, I didn't much like this particular tune before. Now I do. It has great balance throughout, all the instruments are distinguishable, and the vocals are strong but in the mix. Amazing. This was an acid test, and Final Mix passed it with flying colors.
After that little experiment, I tried many of the other presets on the song, and there are some very good ones that might work for a lot of mastering projects as is. (You can also have some fun listening to a rock song roaring through the board on a telephone setting.) Some of the presets that I found particularly interesting were CD Mastering, a great full-range sound; Drums, like the name says; The Leveler, a really hot sound; and Squash It, a compression-drenched sound that the manual says is "reminiscent of the main mix compressor on an SSL when it's pushed hard into a Pultec EQ."
You could learn a lot about editing the Final Mix presets by reading the descriptions in the manual (which, by the way, is excellent). Here's an example: "H_Leveler with EQ: Three bands of pre EQ with a shelf set on the highs. A pronounced key in the lows, and 6dB of gain makeup. Comp bands are linked." Just investigating the settings and curves on the presets to see how they were created gives you ideas for other settings.
I would strongly recommend Final Mix to any D8B owner, and if Mackie has any plans to introduce its plug-ins to a wider audience beyond the D8B, this would be a great one to start with.
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