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Compression of individual parts happens during mixing, compression of the entire audio track happens during mastering. (Compression of the master bus sometimes

Compression of individual parts happens during mixing, compression of the entire audio track happens during mastering. (Compression of the master bus sometimes also happens during mixing, but mastering engineers prefer not to work with tracks that have already had heavy compression applied to the master bus.) The kind of brickwall limiting Metallica's album had, where the volume of the track is maxed out at all times, can only come from compressing the master bus, which is properly a part of mastering, not mixing. (See also: the comically overcompressed mix of Raw Power that resulted when Iggy Pop was allowed to remaster the album himself.)

Benjamin_Dobell 10y ago
True, that is what I meant by: > Mastering may involve a small amount of compression across all components of the song (although it really shouldn't) Admittedly, I've never listened to the Metallica album in question so I don't know what it sounds like. But I thought that in addition to complaints about loudness and lack of variance (compression), there were lots of complaints about distortion (i.e. clipping) etc. Whilst a mixing engineer could theoretically introduce clipping (by pushing the volume beyond its peak) that would be crazy, they typically just do small amounts of master-bus compression to make it sound louder (as you stated). But yeah, judging by its reputation that album was messed up by several people along the way ;)
- maldusiecle 10y ago
  That is the opposite of the truth. A small amount of compression across all components of the song is absolutely a legitimate part of mastering; nearly all records have this. It's excessive compression and limiting that's the problem. Most of the time this only sucks dynamics out of the record, but in extreme cases (like the Metallica record, or the Stooges record) an inept mastering engineer can introducing clipping to the track.
  - Benjamin_Dobell 10y ago
    That's subjective. Just because people do something doesn't mean that I can't say they shouldn't do it. I didn't say it never occurs, I specifically said it may occur. I'm not against master-bus compression, but as it's fundamentally altering the waveform, dynamics of a song and hence artistic expression, then I personally considering it mixing, even if for some reason Mastering Engineers decide to do it. EDIT: Man, I just realised how stupid that sounds. "master-bus compression" not considered mastering! Okay, perhaps I need to change that perception... ah, nomenclature.
    - TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
      If the mix engineer does it it's mixing. If the mastering engineer does it it's mastering. Either can use bus EQ and bus compression. The mastering engineer usually approaches the job as a final polish of something that's already finished. The mix engineer can go back and change the mix after adding bus EQ and/or compression. Usually the mix engineer makes [n, which may be a large number depending on time and budget] of mixes, with feedback from the band and producer and sometimes a record company exec. Then everyone's favourite mix goes off to the mastering engineer for that final polish, assembly into a consistent-sounding album (if it's an album) followed by final format sourcing. These days artists often do their own mastering. It's not hard to get something better than cheap mastering, but DIY won't be as good the best full-fat pro mastering. I was always a fan of the sound of the DBX Quantum processor, which is highly rated by professional mastering engineers - not as highly as custom hardware, but a good few steps up from most DIY mastering options.

Benjamin_Dobell 10y ago

True, that is what I meant by: > Mastering may involve a small amount of compression across all components of the song (although it really shouldn't) Admittedly, I've never listened to the Metallica album in question so I don't know what it sounds like. But I thought that in addition to complaints about loudness and lack of variance (compression), there were lots of complaints about distortion (i.e. clipping) etc. Whilst a mixing engineer could theoretically introduce clipping (by pushing the volume beyond its peak) that would be crazy, they typically just do small amounts of master-bus compression to make it sound louder (as you stated). But yeah, judging by its reputation that album was messed up by several people along the way ;)

maldusiecle 10y ago
That is the opposite of the truth. A small amount of compression across all components of the song is absolutely a legitimate part of mastering; nearly all records have this. It's excessive compression and limiting that's the problem. Most of the time this only sucks dynamics out of the record, but in extreme cases (like the Metallica record, or the Stooges record) an inept mastering engineer can introducing clipping to the track.
- Benjamin_Dobell 10y ago
  That's subjective. Just because people do something doesn't mean that I can't say they shouldn't do it. I didn't say it never occurs, I specifically said it may occur. I'm not against master-bus compression, but as it's fundamentally altering the waveform, dynamics of a song and hence artistic expression, then I personally considering it mixing, even if for some reason Mastering Engineers decide to do it. EDIT: Man, I just realised how stupid that sounds. "master-bus compression" not considered mastering! Okay, perhaps I need to change that perception... ah, nomenclature.
  - TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
    If the mix engineer does it it's mixing. If the mastering engineer does it it's mastering. Either can use bus EQ and bus compression. The mastering engineer usually approaches the job as a final polish of something that's already finished. The mix engineer can go back and change the mix after adding bus EQ and/or compression. Usually the mix engineer makes [n, which may be a large number depending on time and budget] of mixes, with feedback from the band and producer and sometimes a record company exec. Then everyone's favourite mix goes off to the mastering engineer for that final polish, assembly into a consistent-sounding album (if it's an album) followed by final format sourcing. These days artists often do their own mastering. It's not hard to get something better than cheap mastering, but DIY won't be as good the best full-fat pro mastering. I was always a fan of the sound of the DBX Quantum processor, which is highly rated by professional mastering engineers - not as highly as custom hardware, but a good few steps up from most DIY mastering options.