How to get your Audio Mix loud with Mastering
Here is a summary of the main techniques suggested in the comments for getting loudness in a mix, organized by importance and whether they occur in the mixing or mastering stage:
In summary, proper gain staging, sidechaining, EQing, transient control, saturation and compression techniques during mixing seem to be the most important factors according to the suggestions. Quality converters, monitors, samples and parallel compression also help. Clippers, limiters and advanced EQ techniques can also assist in loudness during mastering if the mix foundation is solid. the mix foundation is solid.
Here is a list of the most popular DAWs (digital audio workstations) that the mixing and mastering techniques discussed would apply to:
- Ableton Live
- Logic Pro
- Pro Tools
- FL Studio
- Cubase
- Studio One
- Reaper
- Presonus Studio One
- Cakewalk by BandLab
- Reason
- Bitwig Studio
- Digital Performer
- Nuendo
- GarageBand
- Audacity
- Adobe Audition
- Waveform
- Tracktion
- LMMS
- Harrison Mixbus
- Ardour
The core concepts around gain staging, compression, EQ, limiting, and clippers are applicable across any professional or semi-pro DAW. The specific techniques may vary slightly depending on the stock plugins and workflow of each DAW, but the general principles are widely relevant.
The most commonly used DAWs for mixing and mastering work are likely Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Cubase, and Presonus Studio One. But skilled engineers use a wide variety of platforms. The key is understanding the core mixing and mastering concepts that translate across any DAW.
