Reply To: A Question About Limiting?
ColliderMastering to me is just like getting your tune checked by a second set of ears in a different environment. I have not ever had a tune mastered though so it is only my thoughts.
Generally people would take the limiter off the master and send a version with 3-6db of headroom to give the engineer room for enhancements. But sometimes people set the limiter up so it is a creative part of the tune and therefore might send it with limiting already applied.
I feel like the first option is the best though as you are giving the engineer room to do whatever he feels the tune needs, possibly getting more enhancements for your money spent. There is much more than just limiting that can be done. Multiband compression/de-essing, saturation, mid side processing(which i think can make a huge difference in the size of a mix), eqing and the many combinations of these can give different results.
I have spent a lot of time pushing my tunes into a limiter trying to get that loud energetic sound. It might seem obvious but how balanced the tune is going into the limiter will have a big affect on how it comes out the other side. A not so balanced tune breaks up and becomes thin and harsh very quick but with a well balanced tune you can drive it pretty hard and it still holds together. Its such a struggle though and the best thing you can do to better yourself is to a-b a-b then a-b some more with tracks you love. cheers
