I recently had the pleasure to provide a “Mastering Masterclass” via The Music Production Club. In preparing for it, I decided to craft an audio mastering template using Ableton Live native effects only that is up to the same standards as my own personal “Tasty Mastering” workflow (which has seen continual evolution in use on many professional mastering jobs).
This rabbit hole (like most projects) ended up consuming more time than initially anticipated, partially due to honing protocols for implementations of fresh features that all PerforModule packs are gradually being updated with (macro variations, xyz control, consistent styling, etc). But it’s done now!
𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 is a self-installing Effects Pack and Template Set for Ableton Live Suite 12.4.1+.
It includes seven bespoke custom effect racks, each meant for a specific purpose in regards to audio finalization and optimized for the highest-quality fidelity and most tasteful results possible. You’re not meant to use every single effect for every mastering job — but amongst the tools provided are all the capabilities towards such ends that one might ever need.
𝐕𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫. Smooth out top end sharpness.
𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐄𝐐. Unique multichannel EQ.
𝐓𝐫𝐢-𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐩𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. Next-level effects layering.
𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐟. Low cut and boost duties combined.
𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐀𝐮𝐱 𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐇. Auxiliary density injection.
𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫. Inflator clone using Ableton’s Saturator.
𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭. Seamlessly blend MS and LR Limiting.
Tag Archives: eq
Guitaritis Pack Updated for Live 12!
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬?
Guitaritis is a deluxe suite of sophisticated amp racks, designed to make the most of Live’s Amp and Cab devices for electric stringed sounds, plus various effect racks to further modify and bolster them.
It Includes…
𝟹𝟶 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚘 𝙰𝚖𝚙𝚜.
𝟽 𝚂𝚙𝚕𝚢𝚝 𝙰𝚖𝚙𝚜.
𝟹 𝙼𝚒𝚜𝚌． 𝙰𝚖𝚙𝚜.
𝟹𝟶 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝙿𝚎𝚍𝚊𝚕𝚜.
𝟷𝟸 𝙼𝚒𝚜𝚌． 𝚁𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚜.
𝟹7 𝙼𝙸𝙳𝙸 𝙲𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜.
Bussification Pack Update!
Hi, i’m happy to report that the 𝓑𝓾𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓯𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 pack update for Live 12.3 has dropped!
This is the first of planned updates to every PerforModule pack in order to implement the latest Live 12 features. Continue reading to see the User Manual, the Changelog, and D&D-style Effect Rack Statblocks.
Continue readingSimple Tip to Avoid Boosting Highs Too Much
Plugin Review: BassTame by lkjb
BassTame by lkjb
BassTame from the KVR Developer Challenge 2023 is purported to be a bass compressor, yet level-independent. The blurb about it says the energy of the bass signal is compared to the overall signal to determine the bass reduction. lkjb‘s ReFine and QRange plugins are oft used and much beloved, so I was intrigued to find out what this new one had to offer. I’ll break it down based upon my experience testing the plugin out.
Continue readingNew Years 2023 Freebie: “Introspection” Pack.
Effect Racks for Live Intro.
Since my son has now acquired Ableton Live 11 Intro, I thought it would be interesting to make a pack of effects that utilize only effects native to that iteration of the software. These include Audio Effect Rack, Auto Filter, Auto Pan, Beat Repeat, Channel EQ, Chorus-Ensemble, Compressor, Delay, EQ Three, Erosion, Gate, Grain Delay, LFO, Limiter, Looper, Phaser-Flanger, Redux, Reverb, Saturator, Tuner, and Utility. This is no paltry collection to smirk at! Quite a range of possibilities. But also — a nice change of pace, being arbitrarily limited in options according to what I am used to as a rack craftor. I saw it as an exciting challenge. At the end, I’m super proud of what I’ve come up with. Methinks I’ll definitely be using these racks in the full version of Live 11 Suite aplenty moving forwards.
~`~
-> Download the Introspection pack for Ableton Live Intro, Standard, or Suite <-
(or acquire via Gumroad if you prefer).
Read about the process of the device creation below.
Continue reading
A Simple Rule for When to Use a Dynamic vs a Static EQ.
So you’re working on a song and you’ve found a frequency which you want to adjust. Let’s say you want to nudge down 4.4k a little bit to reduce a bit of harshness. Now you ask yourself: what type of EQ should be used?
As time passes by, there becomes more and more dynamic EQ plugins available. Besides, in Ableton, Bitwig, and other DAWs, it’s easy to make any automatable EQ plugin act as dynamic by the use of envelope followers. On the other hand, when using a dynamic EQ plugin, there may be times when you want to use the bands as typical, with no reactivity.
So, we have a pretty much open choice of whether to use a static or dynamic EQ on a track we’re working on. So what to do?
Narrow Down Your Plugin Needs
So Many Plugins
Brand new plugins… promotional sales on plugins… they are SO tempting. But do you really need that new compressor plugin that just dropped?
In order to assess which plugin types are lacking in your toolbox, i recommend making a spreadsheet of all the plugins you own by category. You might discover, as i did, that you have such a vast variety of compressor options to choose from, it’s likely that you won’t benefit a whole lot from purchasing any more of them. You also might discover, like me, that you’re somewhat lacking in gate plugins, and could indeed benefit from picking up a few new models. Etc… Continue reading
Go-To Q Values
There are not many controls for digital plugins where i prefer stepped options as opposed to continuous values, but the Q factor of EQ slopes is one of those that generally i do. Not really sure why i prefer them that way; i suppose there are a few reasons.
Regardless, i made myself (and you!) up a nifty spreadsheet of “Go-To Q Values”, based on logarithmic steps between the basic Q value (0.70607) and the minimum or maximum ranges. These Q values are optimized for Ableton Live’s EQ Eight, but can be applied to most any parametric EQ, when you want no-brainer go-to Q values to fall back on.
Demystification: What’s Up With EQ Three?
What is this mysterious “colouration” that ableton’s EQ Three has with “flat” mode disabled (also the default mode for versions 8 and older) which we hear so much about?
Why does it have a reputation for sounding “bad”?
Analysis provides the answers we seek.
Continue reading
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