The MS mastering technique is a technique that is used for mastering a track, and the MS stands for Mid and Side. This technique works by having a stereo mix split into 3 different outputs; Bus 1, and output 3 and 4, this bus outputs are then outputted to the master bus. The first bus, bus 1, is a mono bus as it only requires one signal to be sent through it, this then goes a mono Aux track then to the master channel and is left alone for now.
The next step is to send the same signal, the stereo mix, though a stereo output that gets sent to two different Aux channels, each with a plug in that can phase invert the signal. The side L mix will phase invert the Right channel and the side R mix will phase invert L channel, these signals then get sent through Bus 5 and 6, left mix on bus 5 and right mix on bus 6, these then get inputted to a new stereo Aux channel as a group. This then collects the two phases inverted signals together and creates a stereo mix that is missing the middle pan. Once the two groups of signals have reached the final Aux channels, the Mid and Side channels, these then get sent to the master bus.MS Signal Flow Diagram
What does this mean? basically it means that you have a larger control over what you can edit and master during the mastering stage. This is because the phase inverted signals has cut out the middle of the mix, this is why there is a second Aux channel labeled Mid, as it is the signal that fills out the middle of the stereo field.
When it comes to my own practice of mastering, I haven’t had a lot of experience as I haven’t fully mastered a track on my own before, but when I do eventually master a track this will be my go to technique as well as some other editing. When it comes to my own mastering there are a few steps; firstly I would head and tail the mix and fade them in and out slightly, just to make sure there are no pops and clicks when the track starts and stops. Next I would look over the track and see if there are any parts with dead air and reduce the dB of the mix so there are no noises in between the silence of the mix. next I would use the MS technique to get a better surround mix and begin to process the Mid and Side mixes. Once I have done that I will use a Maxim brick wall limiter, using this limiter I will use the threshold to boost the signal until it reaches- 0.1dB and use a ceiling of -0.3dB so then it will limit the signal from peaking.
Jackson Parker 