How To Master EDM

Hey guys! Welcome back to another production tip blog! Today I'll be taking you through my method of mastering EDM and what I use when it comes to creating a mastering chain! *Disclaimer* I'm still relatively new to mastering so I'm no expert however, what I have done so far has worked relatively well. Lets jump right in!

Mastering changes with Genre

Firstly I'd like to point out before I begin that mastering changes depending on the genre you're producing. For example, I'm predominantly a bass house producer (occasionally Future Bass) and that is a heavy low end based genre. Considering this, it is relatively safe to assume that high end peaks wont really be as big of a deal. However, this changes instantly when producing other genres such as Future Bass which thrives on the mid and high end.

Before the chain - reduction

Before you start mastering in general, there needs to be a sizeable amount of headroom available for when the limiter comes in to bring the mix back up. A useful tool for this in Ableton (my DAW of choice) is Utility, a gain control plugin that allows the user to reduce or raise the (guess what) gain on the track that it is plugged on to. This can really come in handy on the master as it free's up a lot of headroom in the mix.

Chain essentials

No matter what you're mastering, there will always be essential ingredients for a mastering chain to ensure the overall sound is well polished. I've listed some of these below.

EQ

EQ is actually something that can occur more than once in a mastering chain depending on the plugins the producer has available. Personally, I always like to start with an EQ and use to sweep and filter any resonant frequencies that may be harmful to the ears out of the mix. However, this process must be done carefully as this is an EQ on the entire mix. Another really important role for this EQ is to use the mid/side function to mono all bass below 100Hz. This ensures that when your track is played on a mono club PA system, that the full body of the sound remains. Following this I occasionally plaice another EQ then over the top to basically catch anything that I missed. Although, the placement of this EQ isn't super important in fact, most of the time it comes later in the chain.

Glue Compression

Using compression on the master has always been a go to for pretty much every song ever but more specifically, I wanted to talk about Ableton's Glue Compressor. Essentially, besides just normal compression, this compressor pulls the mix together and makes certain elements 'stick' together (thus the name). This can really be useful for when you have a song or track that has a heap of different stuff going on at once and seems a bit all over the place. The glue compressor steps in, pulls everything together and then warms it up a bit. I find this one really useful to place just before the saturation in the chain so you can pull everything together before the mix gets a bit warmer and thicker. That and compressed distortion can really wind up sounding nasty.

Saturation

Although this one isn't entirely necessary, it is my favourite to use. However, you need to be really careful when applying it. Saturation is actually a harmonic distortion plugin that adds extra harmonics to the sound source it is applied to. By using this on the master, you're technically distorting the entire track. However, if lightly and carefully applied, you can bring out colours in the mix that you couldn't do if it was an unmastered mix. It also assists in beefing up the overall mix and creating more of a body.

Limiter

Without this plugin your mix is basically just going to be a very good sounding, quiet track. The limiter has a few jobs at the end of the mix but the most important things that need to be remembered are basically just these two:

1. it creates a ceiling

By doing this, the limiter basically creates a, well, limit as to how far the sound can travel before it is cut off. I personally like to set mine -0.1dB, which is basically only just activating it. This gives the mix the absolute maximum amount of space possible to move and I won't have to worry about losing any body or important aspects of the mix.

2. It makes everything loud again

This is the fun part, when a threshold is activated on a limiter plugin, it automatically begins applying makeup gain for every dB you take away. Essentially, the more you pull the threshold down, the louder the mix gets. However, it is important to remember that just like a compressor, a limiter also has attack and release settings and the more the threshold is applied, the more the limiter goes to town on your mix. In the world of mastering EDM however, this isn't as much of an issue as its a genre where organic instruments are rarely used and half the elements in a track are side-chained, creating a 'bounce' effect which is half the reason people jump to this sort of stuff. When the limiter takes time to breathe in the mix, it usually goes unnoticed because it just camouflages in with the side-chain and compression. To put it simply, crush it hard but not too hard, you still want that clarity in the end over everything else.

Seeing it in action

One of my influences in the production world, Zen World actually made a video on this topic and used mostly Ableton stock plugins to do it. I've listed the video below, it goes for almost 20 minutes but its well worth watching if you have the time!

How To Master EDM Properly - Uploaded by Zen World on May 1st, 2017

To finish

I'll be honest, I used to think mastering would be so boring compared to the actual composing and mixing stage and in a way, it sort of is. However, I came to realise that after I started learning to master my tracks myself, I found it incredibly interesting and fun as well. I hope this blog has been helpful for any producers that have just started mastering like I have and I'm keen to do more blogs like these in the future!

Until next time!

Levels :)

works cited

- Volans, M, 2013, '5 Tips for Mastering EDM', Last Date Viewed: 20/8/18

https://ask.audio/articles/5-tips-for-mastering-edm

- Zen World, 2017, 'How To Master EDM Properly', Last Date Viewed: 20/8/18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8DRWciEWsQ