Mastering like a PRO in GarageBand | The ULTIMATE GarageBand Beginner's Guide (Pt 29)

Summary

This video script is part of the Ultimate GarageBand Beginner's Guide Series, focusing on the final stage of mastering a song. It clarifies the difference between mixing and mastering, emphasizing the importance of balancing tone, dynamics, and volume to achieve a professional sound. The guide offers practical advice on using EQ for tonal adjustments, applying compression to control dynamics, and utilizing limiting to increase loudness without compromising the song's integrity. Viewers are also directed to a free GarageBand guide for further insights and are encouraged to share their mastering experiences.

Takeaways

• 🎶 The video is part of a series on mastering a song in GarageBand, aimed at beginners who are following along from the start of the process.
• 📚 In addition to the video series, a comprehensive GarageBand guide is available for free, covering recording, mixing, and mastering processes.
• 🔊 Mastering is distinct from mixing; it involves bringing a finished mix to commercial volume and balancing its tone, whereas mixing is about blending individual tracks together.
• 👂 The goal of mastering is to achieve a balance between loudness and dynamics, ensuring the song sounds louder without sacrificing its dynamic range.
• 📊 Mastering involves focusing on three main aspects: tone, dynamics, and loudness, with the use of EQ, compression, and limiting.
• 👨‍🎤 The video emphasizes the importance of listening to professional mixes to understand tonal needs and using EQ to adjust the presence, high fidelity, and warmth of the mix.
• 🔧 Compression in mastering is used subtly to contain the dynamic range of the song, allowing for an increase in perceived loudness without over-compressing.
• 🚧 A limiter is introduced to push the volume of the song towards the digital zero point, which is the maximum loudness level before digital distortion.
• 📈 Metering is crucial in the mastering process, with specific targets for RMS and LUFS values to ensure the song is loud but not distorted.
• 🔄 The process of mastering is iterative, with adjustments made based on listening back to the mix and comparing it to the unmastered version.
• 💾 The final step involves exporting the mastered song in a high-fidelity format, such as WAV or AIFF, suitable for streaming platforms or professional distribution.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video series mentioned in the script?

The video series focuses on the ultimate GarageBand beginner's guide, covering everything from opening GarageBand for the first time to exporting a finished mixed and mastered song.

What is the purpose of the 'ultimate GarageBand guide' mentioned in the script?

The 'ultimate GarageBand guide' is a free resource provided to help users understand the process of recording, mixing, and mastering within GarageBand, offering quick reference points for these processes.

What is the primary goal of the mastering process in music production?

The primary goal of mastering is to bring the finished mix to a commercial volume, balance the tone, and ensure that the dynamics are contained so that the song sounds louder without losing its quality.

What is the difference between mixing and mastering in music production?

Mixing is the process of making all individual tracks work together, while mastering is about taking the finished mix and optimizing it for volume, tone, and dynamics to match commercial releases.

Why is it important to create a separate mastering session in GarageBand?

Creating a separate mastering session allows for focused work on the mastering process without affecting the original mix, ensuring that the adjustments made are specific to optimizing the final sound of the song.

What is 'digital zero' in the context of audio mastering?

'Digital zero' refers to the maximum loudness level that cannot be exceeded in digital audio, representing the point of digital distortion.

How does the dynamic range of a song affect its perceived loudness?

A song with a wide dynamic range will have more of its audio content at a lower volume level. Containing the dynamics through mastering can help bring the overall volume up without reaching digital distortion.

What is the concept of 'loudness wars' mentioned in the script?

The 'loudness wars' refer to the trend in the music industry where songs are mastered to be increasingly louder, often at the expense of dynamic range and audio quality.

Why might an artist choose to have less loud mastering on newer records compared to previous ones?

An artist might choose less loud mastering to preserve the dynamic range of the music, resulting in a richer and more nuanced listening experience, rather than a heavily compressed, loud sound.

How does EQ play a role in the mastering process?

EQ is used in mastering to adjust the tonal balance of the song, enhancing certain frequency ranges to bring out elements like presence, bite, or warmth, and adding sheen to brighter frequencies.

What is the role of a limiter in the mastering process?

A limiter is used to prevent the audio from exceeding digital zero, effectively containing the dynamics and ensuring that the audio does not distort, while also helping to increase the overall loudness of the track.

Outlines

00:00

🎼 Introduction to Mastering in GarageBand

In this introductory paragraph, the speaker, Colin, announces the final step in the Ultimate GarageBand Beginner's Guide Series: mastering their song. He recaps the series' journey from opening GarageBand to exporting a mixed and mastered song, and encourages viewers to check out previous videos for context. Colin also introduces a free GarageBand guide available in the description for additional reference. The main focus of the video is to distinguish between mixing and mastering, clarifying that while they overlap in tools, they serve different purposes. Mixing is about blending individual tracks into a cohesive song, while mastering is about achieving commercial volume and balancing the song's tone. Colin emphasizes the importance of mastering to ensure the song's volume is competitive with other commercial releases and to maintain consistent tone across multiple songs in a project.

05:02

🔊 Understanding Loudness and Dynamics in Mastering

This paragraph delves into the concept of loudness in mastering, explaining the digital zero limit that no audio signal can surpass. Colin clarifies that the perceived quietness of an unmastered song is due to the lack of mastering, which is necessary to achieve a balanced dynamic range and competitive volume level. He illustrates the trade-off between loudness and dynamics, cautioning against over-compression which can lead to a loss of dynamic range and a 'thin' sound. Colin uses examples like Metallica's controversial mastering choices and the band Bleachers' shift towards more conservative mastering to emphasize the importance of maintaining dynamics for a better sound quality.

10:12

🎛️ Setting Up the Mastering Session in GarageBand

The speaker outlines the process of setting up a mastering session in GarageBand, focusing on three key aspects: tone, dynamics, and loudness. He suggests starting with EQ to adjust the song's tone, using the session's master meter to monitor loudness during the process. Colin provides a brief guide on how to set up the session, recommending viewers watch a previous video for detailed instructions. He then moves on to demonstrate the EQ adjustments, aiming to enhance the song's bite, presence, and brightness, as well as adding warmth and low-end frequency content. The paragraph concludes with a practical demonstration of making subtle EQ changes to achieve the desired tonal balance.

15:13

📉 Containing Dynamics with Compression

In this paragraph, Colin discusses the use of compression to control the dynamics of a song during the mastering process. He introduces the Buster SE plugin and explains the importance of setting a low compression ratio, slow attack time, and适中 release time to achieve a natural sound. The goal is to contain the dynamics subtly without over-compressing the song. Colin provides a detailed demonstration of adjusting the compression settings, emphasizing the need to avoid choking the song's natural dynamics. He also explains how to set the threshold and make up gain to compensate for any volume loss due to compression.

20:13

🚀 Maximizing Loudness with Limiting

Colin explains the role of a limiter in the mastering process, describing it as a tool to prevent digital distortion by setting a hard ceiling on the audio signal's volume. He warns against over-limiting, which can result in an unnatural, pumped sound that detracts from the music's quality. The speaker demonstrates how to use a limiter to increase the song's volume while maintaining its dynamic integrity. Colin discusses the importance of monitoring the RMS and LUFS meters to ensure the mastered track meets industry standards for loudness without sacrificing sound quality.

25:13

🔑 Finalizing the Mastered Track

The final paragraph focuses on the final steps of mastering, including comparing the mastered track to the original mix to ensure it sounds better or at least as good. Colin discusses the trade-offs between dynamics and volume, and how limiting can affect the overall sound. He emphasizes the importance of not letting the mastered version sound worse than the original mix. Colin then guides viewers through the process of exporting the mastered song in GarageBand, highlighting the options for different file formats and bit depths suitable for various distribution platforms. The paragraph concludes with a comparison of the song's progression from raw tracks to a mixed and mastered final product, showcasing the impact of the mastering process.

Keywords

💡Mastering

Mastering is the final step in the music production process, where the mixed song is polished to achieve a professional sound quality. In the video, mastering is the main theme, where the host explains the process of taking a mixed song and enhancing its overall sound to match commercial standards. The script mentions mastering in the context of increasing the song's volume while maintaining its dynamic range, using tools like EQ, compression, and limiting.

💡GarageBand

GarageBand is a digital audio workstation (DAW) software developed by Apple for creating music or podcasts. The video is part of a beginner's guide series for GarageBand, where the host walks viewers through the process of mastering a song within the software. The script references GarageBand as the platform for recording, mixing, and mastering a song, highlighting its capabilities for music production.

💡Dynamic Range

Dynamic range refers to the difference between the quietest and loudest parts of a song. In the script, the host discusses the importance of managing the dynamic range during mastering to avoid overly compressed or 'squashed' sound, which can negatively impact the overall listening experience. The concept is integral to achieving a balance between loudness and preserving the song's dynamics.

💡Loudness Wars

The Loudness Wars is a term used to describe the trend in the music industry where songs are mastered to be increasingly louder, often at the expense of dynamic range. The script briefly touches on this topic, mentioning how some artists, like Metallica, have been criticized for over-compressing their masters, leading to a loss of dynamic range and potentially a less pleasing listening experience.

💡EQ (Equalization)

Equalization, or EQ, is the process of adjusting the balance of frequencies in a song to achieve a desired tonal quality. In the video, EQ is one of the primary tools used during mastering to shape the tone of the song. The host provides examples of using EQ to bring out presence in the upper mid-range and add warmth to the low end.

💡Compression

Compression in audio is used to reduce the dynamic range of a song by decreasing the volume of louder parts. The script describes using a compressor, like the Buster SE plugin in GarageBand, to subtly contain the dynamics of the song, allowing for a louder overall sound without compromising the punch and impact of the music.

💡Limiter

A limiter is a type of compressor that prevents the audio signal from exceeding a certain level, thereby controlling the loudness of a track. In the script, the host uses a limiter to push the song's volume towards the maximum digital level without causing distortion, achieving a competitive loudness for the mastered track.

💡RMS (Root Mean Square)

RMS level is a measure of the average power of an audio signal. The script mentions aiming for an RMS value between negative 12 to negative 9 as part of the loudness goal during mastering, indicating a balance between loudness and dynamic range preservation.

💡LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale)

LUFS is a standardized unit for measuring the loudness of an audio signal, taking into account both the average level and the true peak level. The script refers to achieving a certain loudness level in LUFS, specifically mentioning a target integrated LUFS score to ensure the song is loud enough for commercial release.

💡Export

Exporting in the context of DAWs like GarageBand refers to the process of saving the final mastered song in a specific audio format. The script explains how to export the mastered song as a WAV file for high fidelity or as an MP3 for more common listening scenarios, ensuring the song is ready for distribution or sharing.

💡Tonal Balance

Tonal balance is the even distribution of frequencies in a song, ensuring no particular frequency dominates the overall sound. The script discusses the importance of achieving a good tonal balance during mastering by using EQ to adjust the presence, brightness, and warmth of the song, as heard in the host's adjustments to the upper mid-range and low-end frequencies.

Highlights

Introduction to the mastering process for a song in GarageBand, emphasizing it as the final step in the ultimate GarageBand Beginner's Guide Series.

The distinction between mixing and mastering, highlighting their separate goals in the music production process.

The importance of creating a separate mastering session in GarageBand for focused tone, dynamics, and loudness adjustments.

Understanding the concept of 'digital zero' as the maximum loudness limit that cannot be surpassed in digital audio.

The strategy of containing the dynamics of a song to achieve a louder and fuller sound without losing its natural feel.

A discussion on the loudness wars and the shift towards more conservative mastering levels for better dynamic range.

Techniques for adjusting EQ in the mastering process to enhance specific frequency ranges and improve overall song tone.

The use of a compressor in mastering to subtly contain the dynamics of the song for a more balanced and polished sound.

Setting up a limiter to increase the song's loudness while avoiding over-compression and maintaining the song's dynamics.

The significance of metering in mastering, including RMS and LUFS measurements, to achieve industry-standard loudness levels.

The practical demonstration of exporting a mastered song from GarageBand, including format selection and settings for optimal audio quality.

A comparison of the song's progression from raw tracks to mixed and finally mastered versions, illustrating the impact of the mastering process.

The presenter's personal preference for manual mastering over AI mastering, citing the importance of creative control.

Invitation for viewers to share their mastering approaches and experiences, fostering a community of GarageBand users.

Promotion of the ultimate GarageBand guide as a comprehensive resource for recording, mixing, and mastering in GarageBand.

Conclusion of the GarageBand Beginner's Guide Series with an encouragement to apply the learned skills in mastering to achieve professional-sounding results.

Transcripts

foreign

professional sounding music I'm a band

guy Colin and today we are finally

mastering Our Song if you've been

following along you know that this is a

video in the ultimate GarageBand

Beginner's Guide Series where we've

walked through everything from the first

time you open up GarageBand to export

out your finished mixed and mastered

song and we've recorded and mixed a song

and now we're finally mastering it

together in this series so if you

haven't seen the other videos definitely

go back and check them out and before we

get into today's video I want to give

you something in addition to this video

series I've also put together the

ultimate GarageBand guide it's

completely free from the description

below this guide walks through recording

mixing mastering it's going to cover the

process that we're talking about here in

this video today so that you can just

quickly reference back to it anytime

you're working on recording mixing

mastering anything inside GarageBand

it's really the ultimate GarageBand

guide and it's completely free from Link

in the description below so be sure to

pick it up but let's go and get into

today's video where we're talking about

mastering and we're actually going to go

through the mastering process together

now mastering I think a lot of people

miss or they get confused with mixing

and I get it because there is a lot of

overlap I was confused by this for a

long time ultimately mixing and

mastering are two separate functions the

overlap in some of the tools they use

but you have different goals and mixing

you're making your song work together

all the individual tracks your guitar

Your Bass your drums whatever work

together in that one individual track so

blending those together and then in

mastering you're taking that finished

mix and you're bringing it up to

commercial volume and you're balancing

the tone across either other songs that

you've released against other commercial

releases or if you're working on a

project that has multiple songs making

sure that the tone of all those songs

next to each other works really really

well together so there are two distinct

processes and because of that you should

treat it separate from the recording and

mixing process you should create your

own mastering session if you haven't

already seen the video that we did

yesterday where we're setting that up

definitely go check that out and in that

process you're really focusing on three

things the tone the Dynamics and then

making it loud which is something I'm

sure we're all looking for if you've

been frustrated when you take your song

out of GarageBand you try to play it on

Bluetooth or on headphones or in your

car and it's super quiet that's because

it's not mastered yet so we're going to

jump in and look at this inside

GarageBand but first I just want to

really quickly walk through the idea of

what it means to make something loud

because I think a lot of people get

confused by this so there is a point

that's called digital zero that you

can't go past in your computer that is

the top loudest Point period no one can

go past it pro Engineers can't go past

it you can't go past it so that is the

loudest point that we can get to so

where our song is actually quiet has

nothing to do with anything relative to

just like pushing up to some unknown

level the fact is this level exists for

everybody the secret is containing the

Dynamics of our song so if our song is

super Dynamic and has this super wide

dynamic range then the bulk of Our Song

is going to live kind of down in this

range whereas a pro mix and mastered

song they're going to do really really

subtle things throughout the mixing and

mastering process to shave off some of

the Dynamics in a way that sounds good

and bring that mix way up so that it's

louder because if you hear a song up

towards here where the bulk of the song

is up towards here it's going to sound

louder than a song that's way down here

right now you can overdo this and smash

your mix up against the top and it's

going to seem loud because it's all the

way up near the loudest point that it

could possibly be but you are losing all

of your Dynamics so you constantly are

working this battle of containing the

Dynamics in a way that is letting you

get more volume out of it but also not

completely squashing it into just like a

thin little weird sounding mix I know

Metallica's gotten a lot of hate over

the years for just absolutely destroying

their masters and this is something to

do with the loudness Wars we can't

really get into that in this video but

if you're interested definitely look at

the loudness orders online but my goal

for you is to be thinking through always

balancing the idea of loudness and

Dynamics you don't want to make your

song sound worse just because they're

trying to get it loud and there's been a

pushback on that over time where you

will start to see modern releases that

aren't as loud as previous releases from

that same artist there's a band called

bleachers that I love I really really

respect them they have some songs that

are mastered super super loud I mean

like negative six lefts which you'll see

left here in a second and they've been

slowly walking that back and their

newest record is mastered in a much more

conservative level and has way more

dynamic range because of that so just

something to know as we're getting into

that we're going to try to explain as

best as we can in the session speaking

of let's go and dive into this session

here and you'll see the first thing I

want to point out is you see all these

little Peaks if I zoom in here you can

see them a little bit better those Peaks

are the Dynamics and those points

they're they're short so we don't hear

them particularly well so by trimming

them down a little bit in the dynamic

controlling process we can get more

loudness out of our song and our song

will sound bigger and Fuller

okay so first things first we are

breaking this out into three parts tone

controlling the Dynamics and making it

loud and the way we make it loud also is

contain the Dynamics you'll see that in

a second and we are starting with tone

and we're going to do that with just EQ

when we get to making it loud that's

when things like the meters that we set

up on our Master Meter over here are

going to be important right but when

we're just focusing on tone that doesn't

really matter again if you haven't seen

the video on setting up this session

definitely go check that out but in

short the way we've set up our session

is that we have the song that we're

mastering here then we have the

processing on that song Under the track

here and then on the master over here we

are looking at the loudness when we get

to that stage okay let's go ahead and

jump in and start dialing in the tone

now there are way more steps you can do

in the mastering process but these three

are the fundamental three that all

Masters have for the most part and or

the three that you should focus on early

on over time slowly you can consider

working in some more Advanced Techniques

but generally speaking just start with

these three and they can get you what

you need in the mastering process so

first we're going to focus on tone now

with tone you want to cue your ears into

other professional mixes and other mixes

that you've done to get a sense of what

your mix might need so listen to those I

can't show that on this channel because

copyright and all that stuff so keep

that in mind and let's go and just

listen through our song here and

determine what we think tonally we might

need and we're going to dial in just a

little bit more of that with EQ here so

let's just go back to kind of this intro

area

[Music]

foreign

foreign

all day long I get no work done all day

long I get what have I done

okay so the first thing that I hear is

that I think I want to bring out a

little bit more bite and a little bit

more presence in the upper mid range

maybe try to bring out a little bit more

Sheen in the brighter frequencies see if

I can get it descending a little bit

higher Fidelity and then I think there's

a little bit more low end and like

warmth in that area that I want to try

to bring out as well too and then maybe

we'll look at bringing in a little bit

more just general low end as well but

let's go and start with just bringing in

that bite that's going to be more in the

presence range so let's see if we can

find that generally it's going to be

somewhere around there

and you just want to sweep in the range

where you think it might be because not

all of these sections across this EQ are

equal if you haven't already seen my

video on EQ definitely go check that out

link to that above here but we want to

be thinking in the range where can we

find and then sweep within that until

you hear something that's just working

for you trust your ears if you like it

then it's good right and once we find

that then we're going to dial it back to

one to maybe three decibels but

generally speaking and mastering we're

going super super subtle here so one

maybe two decibels is generally where

I'm starting let's try to find that

frequency range first

thank you

what I think somewhere around here maybe

[Applause]

I'm gonna make it a little bit narrower

you can adjust your Q down here this

will make it wider if it's a lower cue

tighter if it's a narrower or higher

number Q I'm just going to try to find

The Sweet Spot and if you're working on

a newer GarageBand you can also do that

with these points right here I'm just

going to try to find a sweet spot where

I'm getting what I want but not more

than I want

is

[Music]

every day we keep racing through space

[Music]

cool okay that's working pretty well for

me let's go ahead and try to dial in uh

just a little bit more of that High

Fidelity Sheen that's going to be up in

this like super bright area range and

I'm going to do this with a bell you

could do this with a shelf which is

going to be everything from here and

above I think I just want to do this

with a belt so I'm going to use this

point here let's see if we can find this

[Music]

foreign

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

way up there is working for me and we're

just gonna do a gentle slope up to it

and again just like one to two decibels

let's see if we can find it here

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

cool it's subtle but it's already

bringing out a little bit more just

higher Fidelity Sheen and tone to this

song and then this is cutting through a

little bit more with that like one and a

half cat okay let's pay attention now

into the warmer low end area which we're

going to find down in this region

thing

[Music]

so it starts to sound like almost muddy

right up here for me

let's but I think I was over something

that was feeling pretty good around here

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

foreign

[Music]

[Applause]

and let's just see about just a little

bit more sub through that off there

let's put that back where it was a

little bit more sub with this low shelf

here

[Music]

cool okay so really really subtle you

might have already noticed there's a

pretty big difference though last thing

we need to do though just to make sure

we like what we've done is balance the

output volume here so because we've done

all boosts I'm just going to turn this

down a little bit on this output volume

until it sounds like it's the same

volume off and on Okay let's listen to

this off and on and notice that there's

just this subtle tonal shift here

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

it's subtle but it definitely pushes Us

in the direction that we want and you

want to be doing that in this master and

Stage you're not trying to fix things

you're just trying to push yourself in

the direction that you want okay so now

that we've gotten our tone right let's

just tame the Dynamics a little bit more

and we're going to do that with Buster

SE here now if you haven't seen my video

where I break down a compression a

little bit more generally I'll link to

that above here in general here though

we're just going for a little bit of

very very subtle containment of the song

so we want a really really low ratio so

one and a half to maybe two to one so

either of these first two options here

and then we want generally a really slow

attack time so we can let the punch of

the drums through but contain them a

little bit and then generally a

slower-ish release time so that it's

kind of moving in time at the song I

will generally play around with this and

I actually kind of like Auto a lot of

the time on mastering but we'll just

play around with it and find what we

like and then you're just using your

threshold to get the right right amount

of compression and then make up gain to

make up any volume that you're losing

okay so let's go ahead and

set this initially in the louder part of

the song but then we also want to check

in these quieter sections of the song

like this first over here as well let's

start in this ladder section this chorus

here

and dial it up to two to one if you're

working on a really really light song

starting at one and a half to one is

good but we'll do two to one since this

is a pretty rock song

every day

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

we keep racing through space so what I'm

watching here is this meter and I want

to see that I'm getting a little bit of

compression in general we're going to

end with this hitting somewhere around

two to three decibels of gain reduction

which is what we're seeing on this meter

or even a little bit less sometimes one

to two decibels of gain reduction so

just kissing the meter if you will but

we can start with it a little bit more

aggressive while we're dialing in our

attack and release time so we'll get a

little bit more aggressive here

[Music]

[Applause]

so notice that this feels a little bit

choked like it wants to get louder but

it can't

that is an example of over compression

we do not want that this is really

really compressed here

so what we want to do is find kind of

where we're hearing it but it's not way

overdone

and now listen as I bring this attack

time back at how much it changes the

tone of the song generally speaking with

mastering 30 milliseconds is actually on

the shorter side for mastering but I

found that I typically like it on rock

music as well but you rarely are going

to be using anything in these super fast

ranges but listen as I bring this too

super fast how much it impacts the drums

in particular

[Applause]

[Music]

face

right what I want is to let those drums

breathe but I want to just contain them

a little bit so somewhere around 30

milliseconds I think is the right attack

time for me

[Applause]

compared to

[Music]

feels more natural right okay so we're

in a good place there let's go and dial

in the release time

dressed in my face

[Music]

every day we keep racing through space

[Music]

[Applause]

so this is a fairly fast song and so for

me I think a slightly faster release is

working pretty well for me so let's go

and just dial in and pick between

probably this one and this one for our

release time

[Applause]

pay attention to the drums and when I

move to this notice that they feel like

they're they're kind of a little bit too

contained by this compression I'll make

it a little bit more extreme here so you

can hear it let's listen to like the

snare drum cat hit and pay attention to

that

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

so that seems to be working pretty well

for me so I'm going to leave it here 30

milliseconds and 0.3 and then we're just

going to bring our threshold down until

we're getting the right amount of

compression which again we're just

kissing it maybe two to three decibels

of game production

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

his face but I'm so stuck in your face

[Music]

[Applause]

cool Okay let's listen in a quieter

section here

[Music]

oh okay I'm digging that all right so

now we have shaped the tone we've

contained the Dynamics a little bit now

it's time to make it loud and contain

the Dynamics more inherently to make it

loud you're going to contain the

Dynamics as I said because as you're

pushing up against that loudest point

you have to inherently kind of Smash

those transients a little bit we're

going to use something called a limiter

for this now limiter is just a brick

wall limiter it just sets a brick wall

before that point where it could

digitally distort and it just doesn't

let anything pass it it turns it down if

it tries to get past it so it's really a

very extreme compressor and a lot of

limiters are very easy to set but very

easy to mess up at the same time so for

example let me show you like a really

over compressed signal so I'm going to

send a lot of volume into this I'm going

to turn it down a lot so it's not crazy

loud for us and listen to this how just

over compressed and weird this

[Applause]

trust in my face

[Music]

compared to space

pay attention to the drums if you're

having trouble hearing it pay attention

the drums when I turn this on and notice

that they just kind of get like weird

and squashed

[Applause]

[Music]

[Music]

so that is pumping if you've ever heard

people talk about that we want to try to

avoid that here so we're going to

put this back to zero now the output

level you want to set to negative one

that is the industry standard for uh the

loudest point that it can be so let's

bring in here's the digital Distortion

this is just send it just below that so

this is negative one is your output

level and then you're just going to turn

up the gain which is the volume into

that now this is where you want to start

paying attention to your metering that's

on your master track so our RMS value we

want to be looking for negative 12 to

negative 9 generally speaking quieter

songs you might be a little bit lower

but in that range still usually

and then on here we're looking at our

left score now lefts are a kind of

complicated science of a meter but

really what you're looking for is on

your integrated score that you're

hitting at least negative 14 and

generally a little bit higher so in a

previous video at that time it was

really the understanding was that hey

Spotify is saying negative 14 is the

loudest that it can be so if you go

louder than that you're stupid because

they're just going to turn it down

that's not actually played out in that

way quite as much over time and so what

we found is that people are still

mastering that Pro Engineers are still

mastering to negative eight as a

standard

um as they're like on a louder song

quieter on some quieter songs but as I

mentioned even bands like bleachers have

moved away from being quite that loud

because as you get really close to that

number you're having to smash your song

way up to that meter or up to that limit

and that's going to like destroy the

Dynamics as we just heard so

the secret to doing this is doing it in

small amounts so if you are starting

with just a little bit of containment on

with compression for example and you've

already contained it with some in your

actual mix then on your limiter you

might be able to get by with just one

limiter but sometimes stacking limiters

can help you get to that louder score

without it being as obvious like we just

heard where it's really really pumping

so let's go ahead and see where we are

currently on both the RMS and the left

meter and try to get closer to those

numbers that our goal range is

[Applause]

trust in my face

[Music]

every day we keep racing through space

so we're seeing about negative eight

point or 18 so 19. so we can come up

quite a bit to get to that minimum like

negative 12 range and then on our left

score let's see what we have here and

integrated is over a short period of

time we're just going to look at Short

Term here since we're not listening to

the whole song but when we get done we

want to check our left score integrated

which will mean over the whole song

[Music]

foreign

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

okay so we're seeing about negative 18.

now my goal is negative 10 ish maybe

negative 11 but I want to get there in a

way that's not hurting the sound either

so let's go ahead and use this limiter

here and I think right off the bat I'm

just going to bring it up and I'm going

to listen and if I start to hear it in a

negative way I'm going to stop but let's

check this out here

[Music]

[Applause]

trust in my face

every day we keep racing through space

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

okay so I'm getting closer here but I'm

not quite there yet and I feel like I'm

starting to hear it impact the drums a

little bit more than I want to it's

always going to be a bit of a trade-off

here but I feel like I'm getting a

little bit more than I want to so what I

want to do is try to spread out this

load across two limiters so I'm going to

reduce this here to about negative five

or plus five I mean and I'm going to try

to bring in a second limiter so I'm just

holding option and clicking and dragging

this down so this is now my first

limiter this is my second limiter we're

going to set this to negative one on the

output level and then I'm going to bring

up the gain until I get a little bit

more volume without it sounding terrible

[Music]

okay

so okay let's look at how we're doing on

our meters here

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

so to me it's really starting to affect

the sound of the drums more than I

wanted to so I'm going to settle for a

slightly lower left score than the ideal

here but I'm going to be happy with that

because I know I'm not negatively

impacting my music and it's still going

to be loud like listen to how much

louder this is if I turn both of these

off listen to how much louder it is when

I turn them on

[Applause]

trust in my face

[Applause]

so I'm getting volume it's just maybe

not quite as much as I'd hoped but

that's okay right okay so

we're dialing in a good amount here I

think I'm okay with this point I've

scaled it back

[Music]

so now my last goal here is to make sure

that it's not worse than the mix itself

so obviously as I said there's gonna be

a bit of a trade-off in terms of

Dynamics as you're pushing that volume

up so I might have a little bit more

Dynamics in my unlimited mix but as I've

applied this limiting I'm going to

contain that a little bit so what I want

to do now is go to my unmastered track

here and I want to listen to this this

is completely unprocessed so it's the

exact same song here but I've not done

any processing on it and what I want to

do is try to bring my mastered volume

closer to this unmastered mode so I'm

just going to bring this volume fader

down a good starting point is typically

six to eight decibels

[Applause]

every

everything through space

[Music]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

this is actually a little bit louder my

unmastered okay so I just want to hear

here that they that I don't dislike the

way my master sounds relative to my

unmastered song and ideally I might even

like it a little bit better so let's

just listen through this verse here into

this pre-chorus and chorus one time just

flipping back and forth between these so

this is the master

[Music]

not get no work done all day long I get

what have I done

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

what

every day

[Applause]

[Music]

cool okay so yeah I like the tone of the

mastered a little bit more there is a

little bit of the pumping that I can

hear from the limiter but not to the

point that I don't like it and in some

ways I almost like the way it sounds on

a snare drum the way it kind of fattens

up the snare drum a little bit so I am

good with this and I'm gonna go ahead

and hold option and click on this to set

it back to zero and I'm going to make

sure that I've selected this region I'm

going to go up to share here export song

to disk

and then we are going to go through this

really quickly so ideally you are going

to want to save it as a way for

uploading to streaming platforms but if

you're just listening to in your car

sharing with your friends an MP3 is fine

but wave for all High Fidelity like

where it's being distributed sources and

then uncompressed 24-bit you can do

16-bit but generally speaking we're kind

of moving towards 24-bit and higher and

then expert cycle area that means it's

only going to export the selected region

here so since I've selected my song it's

only going to export that length if you

need to trim it down some you can use

the cycle region at the top and just set

it just for the length of your song so

that is how you export out the song now

instead of doing that for you in this

video what I want to do is pull in our

static mix and I want us to listen

really quickly from our earliest mix to

our finished mix and then to our

mastered version so you can hear kind of

the evolution of this song so this is

when we'd only set the volumes and we

hadn't done an actual processing on the

song that's what this sounds like

[Music]

sounds fine almost like a demo when you

compare it to the mixed version which is

what we have here

[Music]

[Applause]

and then now we have this full loud

version

[Music]

it's like a real final mixed mastered

song right okay so that is mastering in

GarageBand you can see here how we've

gone from raw tracks that we were

recording going through the mixing

process just incrementally doing small

little tweaks and now same thing in this

mastering process small little tweaks

and we have now shaped it into a very

cohesive professional sounding final

product so if you stick with this you

can do all this in GarageBand it's

completely possible now your song is

going to be loud now it's going to be

feeling up closer to those commercial

releases and as I mentioned there are a

lot of little tools that you can add in

over time but start with these three

basic ones EQ compression and limiting

and once you get a sense of those and

feel confident moving through those

three tools then maybe try in adding in

some of these other kind of advanced

mastering tools right okay before you go

be sure to grab the ultimate GarageBand

guide from the link in the description

below it's really going to help you out

as always I'd love to hear from you how

do you approach mastering in GarageBand

have you been doing it yourself if you

you've been doing AI mastering I'm

personally not a big fan of that have

you been using something like the master

desk classic still a great plug-in but

something I moved away from because I

just like to have the control and the

separation of the individual stages but

Master desk is great as well but let me

know in the comments below how have you

been approaching mastering before and if

you've never mastered before are you

going to try it after watching this

video let me know in the comments below

this video is helpful be sure to like

comment subscribe and I'll see you

tomorrow with the very last video in the

ultimate GarageBand beginners guide

series

one thing at a time

foreign

[Music]