In most areas of life, there are things that we hold sacred and dear to us. It could be a relationship, a place, a guitar, a car, a piece of clothing… you name it. What is sacred to one person is different to the next.
The idea of what we should hold sacred is a little more uniform when it comes to organised religion with the observation of hallowed ground in churches, temples, graveyards etc.
Interestingly, that idea spreads out no matter what religion you are. It’s common practice to respect the hallowed ground of another religion despite your own faith and beliefs.
There are areas in all walks of life that people hold sacred.
When it comes to mixing, that sacred ground is the stereo bus. And if you’re not treating it with the respect it deserves, it’s time for a change.
The stereo bus is often also referred to as the “2 bus” or “mix bus” and it’s the final stop in your signal flow before your music hits your monitors or headphones.
The stereo bus is the place where you put all of your final processing before the mix is complete. But rather than thinking about it as a place where you add processing at the very last minute, think of it as the guardian that helps you make great music.
From the very start of the mixing process, your stereo bus is protecting and moulding the music that gets released to your ears and out into the world.
Whatever you put on the “2 bus” has to be doing a very specific job. It has to earn its place and it has to add to the end goal of helping you make amazing music.
Here’s what I recommend:
- An EQ – The goal here is to gently smooth out the frequency spectrum and get it sounding more in line with the vision for your music and your reference mixes.
- A Compressor – Here you want a compressor that will gently bind and glue your mix together. Nothing crazy and no limiting.
- A Saturator – Adding some tube or tape saturation will help to give you a nice analog sound and that’s something I like. You might not and your mix might not call for it. Experiment with this.
An EQ and a compressor alone will do an amazing job. Adding saturation is a step I’ll leave up to you. More often than not, it’s a step I’l take.
The exact plugins you use are entirely up to you but stock plugins will do the trick as long as you have the settings dialled in right.
In general, you should stay away from delay, reverb and modulation effects on the stereo bus. It’s far too messy to include them here and you’re much better off adding those types of effects to your individual tracks.
Mid-Side EQ, stereo width etc. can be used on the stereo bus but can also be handled by aux/instrument busses earlier on. That type of processing can also be added at the mastering stage when your mix is finalised.
So, the next time you’re worried about stereo bus processing or what should be on your stereo bus, you can simplify things and start with the 2 – 3 essential plugins that will truly help your mix and get you much closer to your end goal.
Now, I’d love to know…
What are your “go to” stereo bus plugins?
Leave a comment below!
professional sounding mix every time...
Hi Stephen,
I use an eq plugin, usually just to low and hi pass the mix (a little). Then the tegeler creme which has a pultec style eq (these settings change). the comp I usually set to the fastest release and and have a slow attack (2:1 or 4:1 ratio). I’m interested to see you use saturation as this is not familiar to me on the mix bus. I sometimes use the waves mushroom pusher to get a little extra width out of the mix but, gentle setting. What saturation do you use? how do you use it? Cheers.
Nice! I use the Waves Kramer Master Tape for the most part. The settings are material-dependent but I usually keep it quite gentle unless it’s a very heavy track.
I do use a compressor on the mix bus to “glue” it together, but I don’t really know, why it does it. Is it because it decreases the volume of the peaks and brings up the quieter parts?
When the transient hits, the compressor affects the volume of the whole mix. Maybe this is the reason for the glueing effect? I’m curious about this.
Thanks, Michael
Hi Michael. A compressor on the stereo bus with the right settings will mirror fader riding in and out, just like the old day.s That’s where the glue effect comes from.
Didn’t think of that. Thanks!
You’re welcome!
Waves Kramer Tape
T-Racks 5 SSL Buss Compressor
FabFilter Pro-Q
In that order.
Robin.
Nice choices, Robin!
Hi Stephen,
I’ve tried stereo bus processing during the mixing stage on and off over the last couple of years. Nowadays, I don’t use any processing other than a slight 200hz EQ dip.
It just works better for me to apply some extra ‘glue’ after the mixing stage. Mainly saturation and compression.
Sounds good, Marcel. Is there a reason why you take out 200Hz on every mix?
Stephen hi
I always put the following on
EQ, Compressor, Match EQ (this is a Logic Pro plugin that lets you measure your mix frequency spectrum and compare and adjust to a selected reference spectrum) Limiter (don’t always use) Utility with mono switch to check the mix in mono and a multimeter with various measurements available – peak, RMS, LUFS etc.
Always enjoy your posts. Keep up the great work
George
Thanks for sharing, George!