Jbox Prod. Sessions 04 (Part 2): Ozone Workflows

Hey guys!

So onto the second part of this production session! Towards the end of last year I decided to invest in Ozone 7, which is mastering software by Izotope that can be used standalone or as a plugin in your DAW. What I've found is that the more I've used its different features and go through different mastering processes, is that it's essentially an excellent processing multi-tool!

Today I want to go through the variety of ways I work with Ozone, how it's relevant in my productions and preparation for live performance! Firstly as an intro to Ozone, and the concept of 'Mastering' itself; here's a really great video by Izotope which gives a fantastic explanation:

If you're interested in mastering your own tracks, even just to check out the full capabilities of Ozone - I would highly recommend watching the whole YouTube series, it explains steps in more of a discussion format which makes everything really easy to understand and its just helped me out a bunch.

So inside Ozone you have a selection of processors to choose from, and you get some extra ones if you choose to purchase the Advanced version as well. I have the standard version and I haven't really felt disadvantaged or lacking in what I can do with the plugin so I can't really comment on those extra tools.

Probably my favourite part about Ozone is it's Stereo Imager:

In a mastering chain, I like to put it just before the final limiter (or 'Maximiser' in Ozone) so I can put a final shape on the stereo separation before the audio gets brought up in level and pushed into the ceiling. The great thing about the Imager is that you have free reign over four customisable regions which you can control independently. Typically in dance music and in my production workflow (and unless this has already been done in the mix), its a good idea to reduce the width of any information below 150Hz - or just put it into mono entirely.

Our ears have a really hard time determining the direction of sub-bass frequency content when listening on monitors/PA - which is why it's often mentioned as non-directional. I found a great discussion on AVSForums which explains this really well:

"Theoretically it becomes non-directional when the sound wavelength is longer then the distance between our ears. Our brain determines where the sound came from by checking the delay between when the sound hits our left ear and right ear. When the sound wavelength is longer then the distance between our ears, we hear it with both ears at the same time."

However, this is where using the Imager as an individual channel tool becomes really valuable.

On the subject of making bass sound great in both mono and stereo; if you've got a bass instrument with plenty of sub but also has some body in the lower-mids and above - you can utilise the imager to create extension with the higher information whilst controlling the lower frequencies to keep the sound transparent and compatible in mono. Drop everything below 150Hz to mono, and start playing around with bringing up the width of the mids & highs. The stereoize option gives width to narrow or mono sound sources/recordings, and works great in achieving a transparent, wider image. Doing this to the bass channel is a great way to provide more space in the stereo image for the kick, giving each element their own space to control, ultimately resulting in more clarity and more headroom at the mastering stage.

Here's an amazing video with on about exactly what I'm talking about, and outlines how powerful a tool Ozone and it's Stereo Imager can be in the mix!

When you're up to the stage of mastering. Theoretically, all the elements & frequencies are well balanced - and you've left enough headroom for any polishing/extra processing/dynamics you'd like to do. In the 'Dynamics' plugin, it defaults to having four separate bands of compression similar to the way the Imager works. There are presets which come with Ozone that are worth testing out to see if you like any of them in particular, however what I've found which is working great for me lately is to reduce the bands to a single compressor to glue the final mix together:

I keep it fairly light so that you cannot audibly hear any compression/gain reduction happening, but just to give it a final balance out. In the chain, this will usually come straight after any EQing I'm doing in Ozone:

In Ozone's 8-Band EQ, you can choose whether you want to process the whole stereo image, mid/side information or left/right independently. In the screenshot above I started with a preset which provided some clarity by controlling some of the more problematic frequencies. Then I will always use a low and high-pass band to remove any unnecessary information (as our hearing range is from 20Hz - 20kHz) to provide headroom and clarity. With the high-pass, I'm either removing anything below 20 or 30Hz. And the low-pass, either 18kHz and above or 20kHz.

Most of us will have already lost the ability to hear anything above 18kHz, so more often than not - you'll just be carving out extra space for all your important elements! And again, if you prefer how this EQ works as opposed to the native one in your DAW, you can absolutely use it as an independent channel tool. :)

Ozone's Exciter is a great tool to add some final sparkle and saturation to the mix. Izotope states that it's generally best used on the mids-high frequencies, and that EQing is better suited to boost the low information. You can use the exciter in either Stereo or Mid/Side mode, however at this stage in my chain - I want to leave leave adding any presence to particular elements of the image to the Imager. There's a good selection of different types of saturation you can work with, each adding their own kind of character and warmth - hovering over each one gives a better description of what they do differently. I've found that my favourite options is the Tape or Tube saturation, and that it's best used in subtle amounts. These two algorithms seem to be the most transparent out of the pack and cleanest in terms of adding that shine to the high-end. I would say when using this plugin however, that just to make sure you're actually helping/adding to the mix, rather than just using it for the sake of it being available or making stuff louder.

Finally we've got Ozone's 'Maximiser', which is their modern limiter:

It's fairly straightforward in terms of a limiter. However, I've got a few options I usually stick with when mastering. Below the threshold meter is 'True Peak Limiting' which I will always have checked, it stops the track from peaking in the Analog domain as well.

The 'IRC' options on the left are different characters/algorithms of the limiter. III and IV are the newest options, most transparent and seem to work the best for the music I create.

One of my go-tos and especially for really punchy tracks, the 'Transient' option in IRC IV actually looks ahead in the track for any transients and makes sure it preserves them when gain reduction occurs. The Stereo Unlink control is another great feature which allows you to limit the Left & Right sides independently. Fantastic for wide mixes and for tracks where you make use of a lot of panning, as loud sound sources won't affect the other side when being limited.

~

And that's about it for how I've been working with Ozone in my productions as of late! It's been such a great tool for many situations and fantastic for getting out a quick master for demos or if you want to test a new track at a club gig! I will keep you posted on any new tricks I discover with it!

Cheers,

Lachy :)