That’s absolutely right and most succinctly put; sorry I didn’t make that clear. Huge thanks.

Many thanks. Those are extremely kind words. I’m delighted to hear the content is aiding your Logic journey. All best wishes.

Thank you, glad it was helpful. All you need is LUFS... ;)

You're very welcome!

You’re most welcome. Great to have you with us!

Thanks so much Jez!

Thank you so much, Mike. Hugely appreciated. 🙏

Absolutely - either as a processor in its own right, or a useful mirror/track analysis tool, it definitely asks some interesting questions of our mixes.

I agree and I use it to check my high-end hearing loss; lost to years of playing in loud bands. Please protect those ears folks.

Sounds good Peter! Many thanks.

Whole track analysis thoroughly recommended - I agree!

Thanks George!

Thanks so much. Absolutely, more to come on Mastering.

Thanks Angus!

Delighted to have you along for the ride! And many thanks. New episodes here every Wednesday and a new Short every Saturday.

Hi Gianni. This is very much a video about how Mastering Assistant works rather than the aesthetics of mastering, or the need for it in this particular case. I will very rarely (in fact, I suspect never!) use this channel to say 'do this, or this is needed'; rather, I'd hope that people will choose to interpret and use whatever they've found helpful however they choose.

@@jonobuchananmusic I was trying to be funny. Because the loops you used were my kind of music. I appreciate your tutorials and look forward to them. ❤️

Great to hear it’s doing good things for you. Thanks!

Thank you so much!

This is something I’ll happily make a video about sometime - thanks for the suggestion. The short answer to your question is that dialogue always has to ‘win’; whilst music and SFX are an essential part of the sonic fabric of any production, you only have to look at feedback given by any audiences that say they can’t hear the dialogue to realise that those other elements must be subservient to the words in the final mix. So volume automation and side-chained compression, with the dialogue gently ducking the level of the music and SFX, are both techniques which should prove useful. But that’s before we even discuss frequency content!

Thanks so much I look forward to seeing your workflow tips and tricks! I found myself putting together 3 different mixes for my short film -dialogue, sfx, and music and exported them into FCPX as I edit the movie files myself it would be brilliant if there was a way of editing in FCPX and Logic simultaneously so I could mix and match sound and pics on the fly! @@jonobuchananmusic

I think all of that is completely fair and accurate, Andrew. There’s no doubt that MA is capable (highly capable, in fact) of applying some extremely effective ‘general’ mastering techniques to audio and giving it the hype, bump and lift we associate with final-stage processing. And for hobbyists or those looking for a quick solution at the end of a long day before sending off reference mixes which they want to have ‘pop’ in the ears of whoever is the recipient, it’ll do a great job. Will dedicated mastering engineers use it? No. But that doesn’t mean it’s not of value to huge numbers of music-makers.

I’m so sorry you’re still waiting BF. I hope the situation gets resolved very soon. And yes, when you get the chance, I’ll be interested to hear how you think MA measures up against Ozone, sonically.

I will certainly reflect on that.

Hi Jono! Although the Mastering Assistant is a powerful tool I must say I prefer the Ozone mastering plugin. A couple of years ago I started with Ozone 8 and recently I bought Ozone 11. Using Ozone makes it possible to tweak a lot, something which is lacking in the Mastering Assistant. But hey, the Mastering Assistant is free and Ozone is rather expensive… 😊

Agreed, Mastering Assistant is great for getting quickly into something ‘in the right ballpark’. But the all-Manley hardware chain is a beautiful thing, so I’m not surprised it’s become your preferred Mastering choice!

Hi Peter. I'll make another video (at least one, in fact!) about Mastering, as there are too many variables to be able to offer concrete advice about compression at the the Mastering stage, per se. As always, personal taste is the biggest factor in how you want to tackle Dynamics processing but much also depends on the volume of your mix, the genre in which you're working... and so on. This is definitely a topic I'll happily address in a future episode.

@@jonobuchananmusic Perfect! Looking forward to it, thank you 👍

Lots to unpack here! But try not to make maximum volume your primary concern. As I mentioned in the video, streaming platforms will simply turn down the volume of tracks which are louder than other tracks on the platform (and they'll also turn up the volume of tracks which are quieter), so aim for choices which sound good rather than ones which are visually hitting the meters hard. I'm happy to look at dithering and to tackle mastering, conceptually, in another video. Many thanks for the suggestion.

Aha! It's possible - I definitely find my AirPods like to make their presence felt with different aspects of mixes from time to time.

All of these relate to different time periods of LUFS analysis. M (momentary, the shortest), S (short-term, usually the last 3 seconds) and I (Integrated). The last of these covers the average LUFS level for the entire duration of the track and is the one most streaming platforms use to measure the level of tracks across their service.

@@jonobuchananmusic Wonderful! Thank you!

Thanks. Glad it was helpful!

Hi Shaun. You're absolutely right. Best Practice (note caps!) is that you should always view the Mastering stage as a discrete, separate one from the mix process. And, as such, bouncing mixes of your tracks before Mastering is an excellent idea. I would aim for closer to -3dB as a target volume for your 'unmastered' mixes to ensure maximum resolution going into the mastering stage. Otherwise, yes, the specs you've suggested are right, unless you're writing tracks intended 'for picture', in which case 48kHz (instead of 44.1kHz) is the norm. Apologies for jumping straight into Mastering Assistant on an open project. In truth, this does happen too. Often, busy composers seeking to get a cue signed off at the demo stage, or looking to add some extra weight and power late in the day when they want the 'boost' of Loudness, Stereo Width and a character-enhancing EQ solution, will flick processors like this on and then enjoy them so much that they stay on until their track is finished. But whenever you're taking Mastering more seriously, the method you've suggested is certainly correct and optimal. This is definitely a topic to which I will return in future episodes.

@@jonobuchananmusic Thank you for responding; your instruction and feedback is hugely appreciated by a Luddite brought up on tape. I’ll use the target of -3.0 db at the mix stage from now on but I assume using -14.0 LUFS as a target/limit in the Mastering Assistant stage will ensure all my finished pieces are of a similar volume. Thanks again.

Good question. I haven’t found a way to set a LUFS limit within Mastering Assistant, so it’s definitely about regulating volume coming into the plug-in. That said, if you need a ‘quick fix’, using the Gain plug-in (in the Utility folder) in the top slot of the Inserts on the Stereo Output track, will let you do exactly that without having to go back to every track of your mix to make output level adjustments (which can get messy if your mix is heavily reliant on Volume Automation). I hope that helps.

@@jonobuchananmusicCheers Jono. The gain plugin has been my workaround since MA came out. Great minds and all that ... 😃

Hi Ian. It’s a good question. This video is very much a ‘how Mastering Assistant works’ rather than a best-practice video about Mastering. That said, many Mastering engineers do layer up resources to achieve an optimum master. So, you’re absolutely right - MA has been designed to be a one-stop-Mastering solution which can be the only plug-in on the output chain if you like. But I suspect others will use it in combination with other resources in the output channel. I hope that all makes sense! I will make videos about Mastering in future, to focus far more on a musical and best-practice approach.

Thanks Jono@@jonobuchananmusic

I’m flattered, thank you!

That’s what I’ve been thinking. But it seems like everyone is touting it or Ozone 11.

Hi Michael. If speed of result is a priority, there's no doubt that Mastering Assistant is faster. Remember, the Auto EQ will create a tonal shape at the analysis stage, leaving you with a dial to engage as much Dynamics processing as you like, a single button for Excitation and another dial for Stereo Width enhancement. And you're done! But as always, I'd advocate taking your time and comparing MA with the more traditional ways in which Mastering in Logic can be applied, to make the best-sounding results for your tracks. And do remember that those tools haven't been taken away; if MA isn't for you (which would be entirely fair), you can continue to use the mastering tools of your choice.