Stereo bus processing

[Jay Messina]

Originally Posted by Cegor

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer questions from everyone!

On to mine, do you ever do on any processing on the stereo bus when your mixing? If so, what's the reason and vice versa if you don't.

Thanks,
Chongor

I like to hold off on any buss compression until I'm totally happy with the mix. I do this for several reasons. If you put a compressor on the bus early in the mix, the compression action will keep changing, so you can lose your perspective. When you don't have processing on your bus right from the start, it makes you work harder to get something that sounds good. If you get a mix sounding good without something on the 2 trk bus, that means you've probably done some individual treatment of instruments. That kind of detail is what make a mix stand out. If I have a mix that I'm happy with, I'll then try some processing. If it doesn't make it better, I leave it out.

[Cegor]

Lets say the mix is truly glistening after you've added the stereo bus processing, is there a limit to where you stop processing and leave the rest to the mastering engineer? Aside from Limiting for loudness (assuming).

[Jay Messina]

Originally Posted by Cegor

Lets say the mix is truly glistening after you've added the stereo bus processing, is there a limit to where you stop processing and leave the rest to the mastering engineer? Aside from Limiting for loudness (assuming).

I feel it's a mistake to not be totally happy with your mix when you're finished. Expecting it to sound better after mastering is not a good habit to get into. So, to answer your question directly, I would stop processing when I am happy with the mix, and feel there is nothing else I can do to make it better.