Do You Pre-Master Your Mixes?

------=_Part_93435072_737209866.1645283131832 Content-Type: text/html;charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Special time-limited offer inside [Waves Audio]( Hey {NAME}, This week there was a light-hearted generational debate about whether the Super Bowl halftime show was meant more for Gen X or Millennials – since most of the artists performing were from Gen X (Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem) – but their music was released while Millennials (like Kendrick Lamar) were still coming of age during the formative years for music lovers. Whichever side of that debate you fall on, in our little mixing world of producers and engineers, one way you can usually tell where the generational fault lines are is by how someone views the processing of mastering. Gen Xers and Boomers tend to see it as a separate stage from mixing, meant for a separate engineer. Millennials and Gen Z tend to see it as just another part of the mixing process they do themselves. What’s your take? How do YOU approach mastering? Pro Tip: You don’t need to choose. I’m what they call a Xennial – the micro generation that straddles the line between Gen X and Millennials – and true to form, I see it both ways. Pre-Mastering: The Best of Both Worlds I can’t help but think of mastering as a separate stage of the mix process – it’s too important to treat as simply another track to mix – but I also pre-master my mixes to get a head start. Pre-mastering is essentially a way to get a preview of how your final mix will sound once it’s mastered. The more you get into mastering your own mixes, the more you’ll notice that when you start applying plugins to your mix buss, it will change the sound of the tracks you already mixed. Of course, that’s what it’s supposed to do, but sometimes it will do so in unpredictable ways that cause you to go back and re-adjust what you did earlier to your individual tracks. This is one of the pitfalls of mastering your own mixes (and in the same session) – you can get into a back-and-forth between what you do to your mix buss vs. what you did while mixing the individual tracks. That’s why some mixers start processing their mix buss early on before they’ve finished mixing – or even from the start – to understand how the mix moves they make now will sound once the track is mastered later (no matter who ends up mastering it). But what then should be placed on the mix buss if we’re not yet at the mastering stage – EQ? Compression? Limiting?? No need to think so hard. Just use [Greg Wells MixCentric](. [Greg Wells MixCentric]( One-Knob Mastering The first question you might be wondering when you look at this plugin is “how can all the fine details of mastering be dumbed down into just one knob?” Fair question. I asked it myself when the plugin first came out. Then someone told me to [try the demo]( and I understood how smart this plugin really was. MixCentric takes 3 basic processes involved with mastering – EQ, compression and analog saturation – and puts them all together as one synchronized process you can easily control with one knob. As you turn the knob up, it turns up all 3 processes proportionally (meaning it’s turning them up in relation to one another) so you don’t have to think about the individual effects and can approach it as a simple “one-knob mastering” plugin. And yes, it really works! The only thing it doesn’t include is a limiter since that’s usually something you want to keep separate. But if you want to fast-track the mastering process entirely without worrying about using a bunch of other plugins, you can put MixCentric on your mix buss followed by an L2 Ultramaximizer and call it a day. Watch this video to see how easy it is: [Audio Mastering for the Internet](. However, even if your goal isn’t to master your mix at this point, or you plan on sending your mix to a separate mastering engineer, you can still use MixCentric to make your mixes sound their best by using it for pre-mastering. Pre-Mastering with MixCentric MixCentric offers the perfect solution for pre-mastering because it’s a no-brainer plugin that gives you an idea of how your mix is going to sound mastered before you even finish mixing it. Simply insert it on your mix buss early in the mixing process – no need to wait until the end. You also don’t need to apply it heavily. Just a little bit of MixCentric early on goes a long way later because you’re already mixing with a preview of how it will sound when mastered, eliminating the need for a lot of back-and-forth once you apply your final mastering plugins. You don’t even need to use MixCentric in your final master. If you want, you can eventually replace it with any other mastering plugins or give it to a dedicated mastering engineer. But using MixCentric lightly early on while mixing your individual tracks will help you get to a better-sounding master in the end – no matter what you end up choosing as your final mastering plugin chain. If you’re ready to start pre-mastering for better mix results, then use the coupon below to take an extra $10 off the already slashed sale price for Greg Wells MixCentric. 48HRS Only: Limited quantity $10 OFF MixCentric Use this code during checkout: MIXCENTRIC10 Valid through Feb. 21, 2022, 5:00 AM EST. This coupon can be combined with current sale prices and additional offers. You’ll need to apply 2 coupon codes: MIXCENTRIC10 as well as coupon HALF for an extra 50% off. [Check out Greg Wells MixCentric]( » While you’re at it, you can also take advantage of the current [50% off sale]( to fill out your mastering chain and get a few more FREE PLUGINS when you spend over a certain amount: Spend $50 get 1 FREE plugin Spend $90 get 2 FREE plugins Spend $120 get 3 FREE plugins But the clock is ticking to get [Greg Wells MixCentric]( with the extra discount. You have 48 hours from NOW. As for whether or not mastering should still be considered a separate process? Eh, don't let a generational divide get in the way of your mixing :) Enjoy, Yoni at Waves Audio [See free plugin terms & conditions](. [Waves Audio]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instargam]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Waves Music Maker Access: Subscribe to the world's most popular plugins [GET 14 DAYS FREE]( Earn credit toward Waves purchases [REFER A FRIEND & GET REWARDS]( Offers valid for a limited time only. 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