Squashing mixes

[Chrono]

I don't want to argue the virtues and shortcomings of the highly limited and squashed "hot" mastering jobs that are so prevalent these days on commercial releases. I *am* interested in simply discussing how it's done. Last night I was using Wavelab to compare one of my mixes to cuts off Eminem's newest and Janet Jackson's "All For You." Although I habitually use Peak Master as a master effect in Cubase (with about 6 dB of input gain) to louden up all my mixes a bit, these cuts were of course vastly louder. In addition, the waveforms on their tunes looked like the proverbial brick while mine was spiky with a lot of unused amplitude in between. (Also, I noticed that Janet especially was sizzlingly hot in the high end. Do they just boost it with EQ, or is it a little more involved?) So for kicks I took the already-limited and dithered-down (UV22) mixdown and applied another 11 dB of Peak Master input gain. Well, it was starting to get squashed,but it still couldn't match up in volume to the mainstream CDs, so I once more applied another 11 dB of input gain to the already twice-limited track. Now we were equivalently loud. We were also pumping and reeking of unpleasant artifacts that I certainly didn't hear from my guest artists. So I threw out the over-squashed mixes and went back to something a little more conservative. But I'm curious...what would it take to emulate he quality of their limiting? What kinds of compressors/limiters are Dre and Jam/Lewis using for this task? 1176? LA2A? Or something specialized for the job? I suspect the issue is as much in how it's done as it is in what tools are used. This is all of course also in regard to Rip Rowan's recent and oft-cited tirade against the new Rush Album and its squashed dynamics. Also, how do they get all that high end? Thanks for your opinions and insights. -Chrono

[jpmiii]

I can't speak on all of the methodology used but by reading the lists of gear involved they certainly have some of the most high end hardware you can buy. The compressors used seem to be analog, which would lead me to believe the most of digital programs we use are not up to the task at hand. I'm sure others have spent time in the mastering suites with their material and would have more insight.

[evets]

Chrono, maybe you should post this over on Roger Nichol's forum...anyway, if ya get some usable answers, let us know. I'm using a software mastering program (Ozone) and I run into the same problems with artifacts, etc. I have a feeling that the answer requires taking out a loan.

[AudioMaverick]

There are two different base processes that will give this result... 1. Hard Limiting -- this is the process of running the gain/amplitude of a track so high that the peaks get chopped off into plateaus. Literally flat tops or square waves. This widens the *body* of the wave form, thus driving the speakers harder. 2. Custom Compression/Expansion curve – By setting a “splined” curve, one can cause the Compressor/Expander to over drive the amplitude range in the mid-amplitude range while compressing the peaks. This results in a kind of bell-curve rounding of the wave form without the clipping. Also, it is not as radical with the amplitude. But, it does cut down on the resulting distortion from chopping off the peaks. More about this, here… [url=http://www.audiomaverick.com/tidbits/compansion.html]AudioMaverick\'s Compansion Page[/url] {Oops... that was the general page. Fixed...}

[DJDM]

I'm not privy to any special information here but I would guess that the limiting that is happening is happening all of the way down the board during the mixdown. By that I mean that they are probably mixing the individual tracks with loads of very carefully programmed compression settings, (that are set up only to create a "flat" master), on each instrument and track as they are sending the finals to two track and not just the final approach with a master compression setup. I could be wrong but I have seen some amazing results accomplished using dozens of compressors and some crafty EQ'ing. My $.02, - DJDM

[KenElevenShadows]

I wish i could remember all the equipment used the last time I was at a mastering studio. Lots of different kinds of compressors and analog EQ (maybe it was a GML EQ?). Very high-end compressors, used in a chain. Also, they were using an L1 (rack mount). They ran the mix through a couple of analog compressors and through an L1, with the EQ somewhere in the analog chain as well, although I don't know where. At least one of the analog compressors was a multi-band compressor, I believe. Sorry I am not more specific, but I just don't remember.