Dub Studio

I get asked this question a lot, and there is some information on the site about mastering but I thought it would be interesting to share a few thoughts about it here.

A dubplate is not technically a master. Its a one-off, more like a pre-master or a work in progress. I do monitor each track before cutting to see if I can make any improvement to the sound before cutting and I do go through pretty much the same process as mastering, so for want of a better word that's what I call it. Sometimes cuts can be a little bit unpredictable, so I also do a test cut of each and every track before doing the final cut, just to make sure its going to sound its best. I find this saves on plates and pays rewards in quality.

The process happens like this: I open a template in Pro Tools which has all the typical tools I might use in a session. This includes: an M/S matrix using the Brainworx bx_control (see Stereo Processing), an EQ (usually Sonnox), a dynamic EQ (usually Sonalksis) and a Limiter (Sonnox). I also have the Transient Modulator handy. If I need anything else I will stick it in later.

I import the whole day's work into the new session in one go and then save a new session for each side of each plate. This not only saves time rummaging around for files after each cut, but also allows me to do lots of test cuts in rapid succession, saving as I go. I can easily compare how one dub will sound against another, which is really useful because its easy to lose your sense of reality when listening to one track for too long in isolation. Its amazing how often I am stuck with a track and then after tweaking a couple of others it suddenly clicks into place. Once I am happy that all the sessions are ready for cutting I sit back and let the lathe do its thing, monitoring while I cut to make sure nothing is going wrong. Sometimes I will do a whole plate again if I think a track just didn't work very well.

I basically listen for 4 main things, tonal balance, loudness, dynamics (micro and macro) and noise. I want to make sure that when a cut is played out on a sound system it doesn't sound too quiet (so it causes feedback through the turntable) or too loud (so it distorts). I also want to make sure it has a pleasing tonal balance, and the right dynamics. This is partly instinctive, partly learned. I think I know what sounds best, but I also make sure I listen to all the feedback I get from clients, to make sure I am hitting the mark for the genre I am working in. Then there is noise, too much and it will swamp the sound, too little and it might sound lifeless and empty.

In my eyes, dubs are distinct from most other forms of master. They are a very specific format that need treating a certain way. In some ways this simplfies things, because by and large they only need to sound good on a club system, and that's it. The only exception is that they also need to sound good on a bedroom mixer turntable setup, but as most DJs will have their system set up to sound like a club, this is a rather moot point. So what does this mean in practical terms? It means you want it to sound good on a big sound system in a crowded club full of people making loads of noise (see the blog on sound systems for more info). The aim is to let everyone enjoy the sound of the music above the general din of the club, while at the same time maintaining enough dynamic range to make it as rhythmic as possible so people feel like dancing. You need more than just the beat to keep people interested though, so bringing the rest of the mix out is also vital.

Generally, club sound systems are very bass heavy - too much bass can be a disaster, swamping the sound in a sea of low frequency vibration and overloading the system, so I always bear that in mind and let the sound system do the talking. The other thing is that being a noisy environment, the macro-dynamic range can't be too great. Otherwise, you will have people wondering what happened to the music during the intro, and jumping out of their skin at the drop. At the same time, the drop has to be impressive enough to blow the wall flowers onto the dancefloor.

When it comes to micro-dynamics, while they are essential for maintaining a strong sense of rhythmn, you also need plenty of loudness to break through the crowds, and immerse people in the sound. I spend most of my time making sure I get the microdynamics just right, checking that the attack of each beat is not too aggressive and not too limp, and that it sits nicely with the rest of the track, poking out just the right amount, while leaving enough room to turn the gain up on the mixer if needs be. Needless to say its a very fine balance.

Of course there is more to it than that, but those are just some of the thoughts going through my head when mastering dubplates for club use. I also do a lot of stuff for home use so different rules apply. I am always happy to discuss any aspect of mastering so feel free to get in touch.