Mastering ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams
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- čas přidán 10. 02. 2021
- Full video available now on mwtm.org/gl-rc-pharell-williams
Reuben Cohen plays and critiques the mix of ‘Happy’, delivered by Leslie Brathwaite. He explains how he wishes to enhance the track, discusses the gear, and shows you how he mastered the record.
Step inside the elite studio of Lurssen Mastering for our first ever series with Gavin Lurssen & Reuben Cohen! The two engineers give an overview of the passive mastering console and modified outboard chain they use on a daily basis, alongside detailed explanations of how each piece of gear affects the audio. Cohen opens the mix of ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams and recalls the original mastering settings, taking you through every step of the process and comparing mastered vs. unmastered versions. Lurssen does similar with ‘Ti Fa Stare Bene’ by Caparezza, revealing why he made certain decisions with particular gear. Other topics discussed include gain structure, converter clipping, monitoring, subwoofer crossover, reference tracks, LUFS for streaming, MFiT, and mastering albums vs. singles. - Hudba
Full video available now on mwtm.org/gl-rc-pharell-williams
This inspires me to go in a new direction! Thank you so much to all involved. 🙏 much gratitude
I’m a mastering engineer and these guys always make me feel like I have no clue wtf I’m doing and I’m cool with that
That probably means you're good at your job but not full of yourself :)
😂😂😂
For real 🤣🤣🤣
Don't say that too loud
@@jaydawg4732 cool input
Robin van Persie is a great mastering engineer.
😂
🤣🤣💀💀
👏🏽😂
😂😂
RVP has mastered everything so no surprise 😂😉
The mastered version definitely sounds happier than the original mix
This genuinely made me LOL
That’s what genuinely Mastered Music for.😂
Great work on the mastering, no doubt! Wish there would’ve been a loudness matched demo before and after the processing.
Are you an engineer?
@@nixprod.8517 do you mix and master music?
I have no idea why I'm watching this but I can't look away
Jehan? you? 😍😍
Make some videos!!
me tooo
why did you stop making videos
You high AF bro. LOL!
"So what am i doing? Lets break it down." *Slaps OTT on the master bus*
soundgoodizer if your an fl user like me😂😂
@@tonygibbins3361 FL Users aren’t exempt. Slap your ott
ayo just put a ozone 8 or 9 and do "master assistent" ez master
@@maniacproductions7188 in most cases it ruins your master
more producer jokes pls
Wow. This dude's confidence is fantastic. He's not pretentious or self involved, you just know from his delivery that he KNOWS his shit. Proper safe pair of hands
I disagree, I think he’s just gotten good at selling to people why he should be paid to mix their tracks and that he doesn’t really add much
@@PastheRas peak ignorance...
Yo mostly engineers are man
@@Musicdudeyoutub LMAO!!! Pharrell became "enlightened" after speaking with Mr.Pascal...
@@Musicdudeyoutub Wow!! Sarcasm??? Really??? I thought u were being serious!! Well maybe my quote on quote is not "sarcastic" enough...Hmm nevermind.....
As an artist who engineers their own stuff, this is pure knowledge and wisdom I'm soaking in.
do you master your tracks too?
Yup me too! I do everything from beginning to end.
Same boat
Aye
czcams.com/video/4Fiw7WrYKBo/video.html
This guy could be the next Dark arts teacher at Hogwarts.
lol yes!
😂😂😂
He looks like some actor but I can't think of who...
How do people think of this XD LOL.
I was feeling that but couldnt find the words, brilliant.
@@jsnell126 Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Step 1. Respect the mix
Step 2. Little steps
This guy is an absolute master (sorry about the pun!). Sick of mastering engineers absolutely butchering all the hard work that goes on previously, just removing ALL the dynamics and making it one loud mess.
How to master 101:
Step 1: Bob your head pretending like u k o exactly wat to do next
Step 2: slap some OTT on the master
Step 3: add stereo spreader on full
Step 4 limiter on max so ur wave form looks like a brick
Done
Can confirm 👍
😂
Hahahah ew. Can still relate
😂😂😂😂😂
Realising the song needs to "stay light on its feet", shows such great intuition. What a tasteful master.
You know you're a good master engineer when you can talk for ten minutes maybe even more about the details in that last 1% of sound quality. What a craft. Love it!
i like how he actually shows with and without the mastering. I think it really breaks the myth that mastering is not essential unless you're putting it online or whatever other reason someone might have. Mastering really does have an actual place in the process and this video highlights that really well.
I wish the before and after versions were volume matched in the post-production of this video....
Yeah, loudness tricks us...
@@benjihuntrods9658 it's BS, you can volume match the eq changes
@@benjihuntrods9658 thats what UNITY GAIN is after you've EQ'd and compressed a track.
Otherwise your levels are all over the place when you've levelled already.
exactly
same thought. only one db more is enough to make any master sound better. you can easily test this with friends and family
Me: I'm just gonna keep twisting knobs til it sounds good.
I could listen to this cat talk about audio all day. He has a tremendous gift for teaching and explaining the process. Dope content.
Really though? He talked a lot but didn't show us a thing.
@@drinkinslim my thoughts exactly. I think it’s the implied “i am an experienced engineer and know stuff” part that the engineer felt like starting off with.
It’s an ad. They’re not going to show you the whole thing.
@@drinkinslim we obviously have different learning styles. What he said completely registered with me. YMMV
He speaks with so much knowledge and experience, it’s no longer about mastering its quantum mechanics!!!
this is the normal language amongst experienced in the Music profession,,,,,
remember - Quantum mechanics - nobody can hear, feel or see them ;)
The key to a great master is a great mix. The mix was phenomenal. The master brought all those quieter elements out and they sounded fantastic. Obviously he knows what he is doing but not many people start with Grammy winning mixes like that.
I didn't think the mix was all that great, to be honest. They could have mixed it closer to how it sounded after the master.
@@drinkinslim Perhaps. I know a lot of engineers who pre-emptively mix a certain way to leave room for the mastering process. So for example, if a certain mastering engineer was known for making mixes brighter and with more stereo width, they'd send them something neutral and narrow. It's not that they can't do it themselves, but that it may be impossible to recreate that certain sound in the studio, as mastering suites usually have very specific high-end gear and also some signal-chain trickery that remains a closely guarded secret...
It's not that complex of a mix. You got a drumloop, claps, congas, Rhodes and a bass guitar. And vocals.
I guess the secret here is the sparsity, which of course takes a certain taste.
Reuben is not only an amazing Mastering Engineer he’s incredible at putting context behind every decision and explaining ‘WHY’ he makes those choices and how it effects the audio. Golden 🖤
I was sooo anticipating him turning on the different processors one by one, with the song playing, to hear the differences being layered. Not disappointed at all, that’s for dang sure, not even a little, not the slightest of bits, no sir.
Yeah I'm really confused why they bothered getting close up footage of him turning on bypass for every single module..
Was that sarcasm? I can't tell. I mean, he bypassed the entire mastering chain off and on, not each processor one by one, so I don't know what you're talking about, lol.
Just came back to this video after just 1 year and I'm surprised at how much I can understand about what he's saying.
Growth is real guys. To anyone watching this, you'll be surprised at how much growth you will experience when it starts clicking in.
The confidence and knowledge from Reuben is inspiring. No umms and aahs, just 100% "I know what I'm doing" expertise.
probably the best mastering advice i've seen in countless videos honestly. an entire masterclass in less than 10 minutes
Me: slaps ozone on it
ME too
Me three.
MA MAN... lol
I feel exposed
nothing wrong with Ozone if used properly
Love how he about Pharrell like he’s just another client calls him “the artist”
Music over the artist.
I am in awe at how clear and articulately he explains everything.
What did he say though? He keeps talking about adding frequencies and never explaining and where. He mentiones using the compressor musically but then never explains how and in what way. Musical producer of 17 years here, I very much understand the technology and I didn't learn a single thing listening to this video.
@@milosmilosmilos It's a promotional video for the course. Why would they spoil it by giving out the details? lol
I think he delivered enough detail, he mentioned the freqs he cut and boosted and why, and how the gear worked together. I found it incredibly helpful because it was an instruction on how to think about applying the gear, or maybe how not to apply the gear. A light touch.@@milosmilosmilos
When he started flipping the Knob MIX vs MASTER, I was like "man, I wish it was THAT SIMPLE!"
I said the same thing 😅
You have to have a mastering console which cost a ton of money. Or you could use ozone. There is always a work around.
it will be pretty soon. AI based plugins will take over
This is the definition of mastering to me. When he took off the bypass the song just came alive! Incredible
Every sentence he uttered out of his mouth was beautifully said lol He could probably talk about the design of a shopping cart at target and it would be like him explaining the universe to me.
I thought he did an absolutely spectacular job with his mastering. Everything in the mix became beautifully clear and sat in its own space in the spectrum. He’s got a really interesting approach to Eq. Keen to experiment with some of his ideas
'Sitting in its own space' thats a good way to explain thanks.
but the master was much louder, and it didn sound like he levelled the mix vs master. Naturally youll think the louder track is better. The loudness difference makes it hard to compare
@@gamesrozes5516 😊
@@QueArgh that’s what mastering is supposed to do. A good mixing engineer will deliberately leave the mastering engineer some leg room with loudness because it’s the mastering guys job to set that.
Also, loudness doesn’t make clarity. It can actually detract from clarity
@@devondeswardt6239 Completely irrelevant to my point
This guy is definitely a fantastic mastering engineer but I wouldn't want him to be the guy who tells me I'm fired from my job
Btw, his name is Reuben Cohen and he is a Mastering Engineer at Lurssen Mastering Studio.
Gus, you’re fired. Ok, fine... you’re hired again... ;)
@@reubencohen6476 🤯😵
@@reubencohen6476 :O
@@reubencohen6476 LOL
Damn. I could listen to this guy talk about this shit for hours. Does this guy have a masterclass? Jesus.
I believe this video is the teaser of the masterclass
Yeah, Jesus has a masterclass. I'm surprised you haven't heard about it. ;)
As a Producer , I think Engineers are underrated next to the producer... without us, your favorite song wouldn't sound like it does with just your favorite artist vocals.
True. Imo a song is 25% artist, 25% producer, 25% engineer and 25% marketing. The marketing includes videoclip and the hype created around the song as human psychology tends to like songs more when their is a videoclip and got some social proof (hype).
@@Invalid07 it's definitely a group effort and sometimes that does not happen as expected. marketing, it takes alot of effort but the music gets out there.
Hahaha, Billie Eilish's brother came by and said he's going to return the Grammys, since he produced his winning single without marketing and without an engineer.
This A>B mix/master video is, without doubt, the 'ultimate' example of 'subtle' changes that can be made during the mastering process, that, at the time, created an environment the listeners were never going to be aware of... until now.
He is so eloquently spoken
He’s like a mad scientist of mastering.
Automating the mastering process is so key. Glad he puts it out there so bluntly and immediately.
Me: How did you master this song?
Master: We chained together a bunch of equipment you will never have, then moved a whole bunch of knobs at once in real time.
Me: k thx bye
hahaha
haha perfect, this comment made me... "HAPPY"! lol
Its not about the equipment (don't get me wrong hardware is a GREAT and all, but a good 60/40 of the hits today are made in box). What its really about, is understanding the "feel" of the record, and how that feel in certain section can translate into multiple "real time" movements on certain volumes, eq, Q bands, sends, gates and etc to help make the song "BREATHE/have air" (notice how in the mix you couldn't really hear/FEEL the notes of the bass line but in the master you could hear not only the bass clearly but each instrumental respectively). Everything he does or any mix engineer with a real console or piece of outboard gear can be done with automation in the box. However it all comes down to how and when based off of the "feel" of that track. Ie.) when song "x" hits at the chorus do you know when it "feels" right to boost "y" instrument in the 7k range and lower "z" instrument's volume at the same time to make this section feel more bright and happy and then in the following verse, filter this other instrument up in real time "riding" to enhance the emotion that the artist is attempting to convey their(weird example hopefully you're still following me). Gear ("CAN" really) help[s] but it's not about gear its about the "feeling" of the record. I could be wrong or confusing in my slightly late night buzzed state but coming from someone whose has learned a fair amount of their mixing and audio engineering skills from youtube and being very plugin heavy prior to working in a real studio to then working a real studio and finally "getting it". I think one of the biggest differences most new people don't get is Music IS alive it and if your song doesn't breath I don't want to say it's not a record because like wtf am I lol but I it ain't it chief. IFYKYK
@@user-es7ro5zn7u aint nobody reading all that.
U dont need those today, a laptop and decent headphones or monitors with the right kinda knowledge and is pretty much enough! Room treatment is very important so spend money there forget about analog u can do same results with plain plugins:)
I have ZERO ideas what he's talking about, but I can't look away. It's so fascinating!
wow, the way the backing vocals and drums glue together on the master sounds incredible. Great video thanks for sharing!
It’s unfortunate that they didn’t balance the volumes between mix and master. Hard to hear the subtle tonal and dynamic differences when the master is that much louder.
100% couldn't agree more
yeah that's true, the end of result just sounds louder and you're left wondering what else has actually changed.
@@maximthefox I think there was a greater proportion of low end in the mastered mix. I know that's a feature of turning something up but you can really hear it in the kicks.
This video is 9-minutes-snippet out of a 2-hours-video
@@GabrielQuiroz95 sure, but that is no excuse for not balancing the volumes. If they had, we would’ve been able to hear the differences more clearly, even in this short snippet.
i like the way how he is explaining it, not asuming you allready know every term and trick
even the speakers looks happy when the song hits
Wow listening to him talk is mesmerising, clearly a very intelligent person mixed with an absolute master of his craft
This guy is so good at giving details and explaining his process
I’d love to hear the raw then mastered with the levels matched, louder always sounds better to my shitty ears.
exactly. A really basic omission that makes much of this video pretty pointless. Good tips to begin with, but the comparison is useless without loudness matching
@@martingarreis lol
Yeah, I don't understand a lot of the things he's talking about, but this is pretty awesome
as someone who did understand everything he said, it is incredible that this is free to watch on youtube
@@TheEagleFace I totally agree! I'm jelly of your engineering knowledge
@@TheEagleFace As someone who understands I wish I could get into one of these mastering studios and listen to those ATC's and see what I have been missing!
When he turned on the mastering, I smiled
The flat version sounds incredible.
Yeah by its own is fantastic, i guess that makes mastering a bit easier
like every legendary mix and mastering eng says
sound selection is what makes a song hit
The snare kind of pushed me away at first, but this guy showed me that it didn't need much to tuck it back into place!
Very groovy mix though
@@pepe7drum absolutely. Good mix is a canvas for creative work, not a field to plow through.
This guy helped me understand mastering chains more in 10 minutes than any other video I've seen
This is insanely helpful to us artist that do everything from beginning to end entirely ourselves. Thank you!
I love how the vocals come alive with the processing 👌🏾
From the first switch on it was really wow, so much warmth and smooth sound. Amazing work!
What an incredible job of mix in the chorus. Love it
This makes me feel like I don’t speak full English
Is there a marketing with the Masters series? I would like to know how a lot of these guys got their starts and eventually started working with famous people.
a lot of the time, it's that they knew a guy who knew a guy who knew these artists. since professional music is a war of attrition and patience to profitability, very tight networks get created this way.
watch this video if you wanna see how cory wong got his gigs:
czcams.com/video/qmNEhOKfZ9A/video.html
@@oldethangoogleacc8484 thanks for the reply! I'll definitely check that video out
I once spoke to the guy who mastered billie eilish's stuff and he said he just took the jump and moved to LA (Cliche i know) and he said its a cliche because its true. Not as clear cut as moving there = big jobs, but he said it made it more accessible and possible. Still had to find the studios, talk to people, work his way up etc
@@imryangallus this, networking is so important. it's a gigantic game of convincing people with money to give you money, and that takes a network of people to give you bargaining power
Guy's a Cohen , so there's that
Reuben is great! Had the opportunity to sit in while he mastered an EP I made many years back, and it was incredible watching him work. Top of the game!
A lot of these conversations consist of feelings & understanding more than skill sets 🔥
I never realised how creative a process mastering is, you've made a great painting a masterpiece, beautiful work Reuben
It really isn't though
@@TheRealCowlick and what would suggest that his extremely accomplished mastering engineer do in your inexperienced, unfounded opinion?
I’m so upset with how abruptly this video ended we wanted to hear everything working together
This is called a teaser. This ain’t free. It’s 319 bucks a year to learn how to use equipment you will never get to use let alone afford to own.
@@themattshort the best part is they have their own youtube channel where they actually show them using the equipment. that's about it though. they're so advanced i don't think they know how to teach. this dude made a .5db boost with one eq & a .5db cut with another 15hz higher like we'd even be able to hear the difference if we did it. (obviously it does make a difference but to hear that takes a ridiculously advanced ear)
Honestly had no idea mastering could be so impactful but its absolutely night and day for this track
The mix is so good! They just let place for the mastering to work.
The way this dude just described feeding a mix into a compressor as opposed to compressing a track just blew my fuckin mind. Invaluable insight that can only come from years (aeons???) of experience.
Mastering is indeed a dark art; and you, my friend... are the darkest of artists.
Godspeed, and THANK YOU for sharing this!
7:48 for the people wondering about this trick this is how the pultec EQ's curves work, but I presume the reason he doesn't use a pultec is because it's very limited for surgical eq'ing. it's a neat trick tho, and you can do it with plugins as well
This is something I don't understand; everyone goes on about how great the Pultec EQ is, but whenever I've tried a software version of one, it sounds like shite - quite hard/harsh sounding top end, not sweet and musical. Either I'm not doing something right or I just haven't found a good Pultec emulation yet.
Yaah..it has limits in doing surgical work
I use an UAD console and the pultec that I get in the plugin bundle along with that has a great warmth in the top end
What an amazing song to demonstrate, so happy to see this : )
This series is awesome, I am not a mixer really but find this fascinating. As a musician this gives me a real appreciation of what you guys do and is helping me understand the thought process for making things sound great. 👊👊
this confirms it. mastering is quasi-subjective wizardry
I felt the same about this song over processing would've kill the life of it. It's light and easy on the ear. Gentle goes a long way as he describes. I bet this song is still racking in millions, just timeless!
Thee most greatest transparent description and example of mastering out on CZcams. Love it
Thanks Rio!
explains his process so well
Holy crap. Robin is next level!!!! Where did he learn this stuff?? I've been producing, mixing, mastering for years, He makes me feel like a total beginner!
Oh, wow, he made it louder! Genius.
Cloth ears.
This was so elaborate and well made, amazing. Thanks alot
I love the "I don't need to add any of these adjustments but it sounds better if I do" mentality here. It's really good to appreciate what other artists or yourself have already done and saying "it's good enough, but I can go a step further if I want"
The Mastered version sounds much more musically strong. It made those instruments sound exciting, clear, defined, sharp and very cleanly separated. It's too bad we can't hear the 24bit version to really hear how perfect it is.
This guy talks like he a old master sensei calm everything planned out
*panned out
Such beautiful processing!
Wow! Incredible stuff!! Thank you so much for the wisdom and masterful demonstration. Love it!!!
this dude is a mixing assassin. he is also nikola tesla's grandson. also, after pharrel heard this he changed the song to "ecstatic".
He is too young to be Teslas grandson. Maybe great-grandson.
@@johnwalter6410 Tesla died a virgin, allegedly, childless certainly - so not the grand-daddy.
@@jimbojazza5539 damn Tesla didnt get no puss? Damn
@@Mikcraw he got pigeon love
Mikcraw how do you think his brain worked so damn well?
Very good, lots of hand waving with excellent eyebrow acting.
That's all mastering is lol
He is so specific & detailed...great!!
Kudos!! One of the few that actually gave a big secret in terms of preserving the emotion of a song. How he approached the compression (Tube) to react to the eq made in the lower spectrum of the mix so that it wouldn’t react to the other “info” info in the mix, and automate it so that it stays in that general spectrum and vary when needed is genius. Also, the gain staging is meticulously done.
This is extremely interesting. That he was attenuating 2db to account for his eq boosting was something I didn't know. He also has incredible analogue tube driven hardware that most of us dont have. But I'll be using his attenuation idea, plus eq'ing before compression in my own mixes.
Not to mention his Studio and the ATC full range system!
@@jayrillabeats2059 Killer
Enlightening video. This guy is obviously very knowledgeable in his field.
Outstanding and informative video. Thanks for sharing
This guy is such a teacher, also really great voice 👍🏼
this dude would rock a moustache hard af
Good tip! I’ll see if my girlfriend approves
Yo what’s up Gavin
The only tip here is : ATC speakers and Room
I don't follow. How is that the only tip?
Love this guys approach,
If the mix and master is volume matched, it sounds so similar. The main thing I hear is that the main vocals take a step back and blend more. Seems like it's mostly a volume boost
this guy is so well spoken it's insane, his words convey such colour and precision about the mastering process
Thanks for the kind words Alex!
"Now I'm going to introduce what the mix sounds like with processing" *volume increases by 2db*
furthermore; "that second one definitely sounds better" yes we all know the louder one always sounds better
He is a mastering engineer, he is supposed to make it louder it's his job.
If you can't hear the compression then you still don't know what compression really sounds like. The fact that you aren't aware of the pretty big difference is a testimony to how skilled he introducing the compression.
@@benhelmuth9129 regardless it I could hear compression, could we not assume that not everyone who’s interested in learning through mixing with the masters understands or hears compression? I’d guess that 95% of their audience doesn’t.
@@Johnnylaurelli So what’s your point then? Lol
Wow. Watching a true master speak his craft. Amazing content
happy i found this channel. I hope to learn some tips and tricks to improve my future mixes 💎
As a pop/radio record it goes without saying that there needs to be a lot of compression in a track in order to make it pop through different sound media, but I know this guy would have left more space in the track if he didn’t need to account for limited playback conditions.
Mixing and Mastering is arguably one of the most important roles in music production
For me the most important thing is arrangement, otherwise the song would be boring as hell no matter how it's mastered
@@DjTrackcube thats true but it goes hand in hand, without good arrangement it sounds wack but same goes for bad mixing and mastering
Composition is the most important part lol. You can be the best mastering engineer in the world, but if the song itself is a turd you're not gonna polish it into a masterpiece.
@@illuwe good point
Nope, i heard amazing songs with poor mix/masters.
very well described. This guy really explains his process well!!!
Awesome breakdown. Would love to hear the corrections you made regarding pre/post eq feeding the compression. It is truly a delicate process. Grateful for your guidance here!