Mixing and Mastering Tips – Double Limiting

Danny Wyatt here. Thanks everyone for all of your thoughtful questions and comments. I’m having fun passing my 30+ years of music industry knowledge along to you. And I’m always learning new things, which keeps it fresh for me.

I’ve been teaching a new online class for six months now and I’m amazed by the results my students are getting. Their tracks sound dramatically better than when they started. They’re loud, they’re punchy, and they’re musical. In fact, I’m watching my students getting traction in all echelons of the music business.

And I want to help you do the same thing!

Today’s tip will help you make your track as loud as Knife Party–while still sounding musical. Thanks to Jason from Good Lyfe Addikts for the dope track! Here’s how double-limiting works:

1. Add the first limiter to your chain (I’m using Izotope Ozone)
2. Leave 1-2db of headroom
3. Drive the first limiter as hard as you can without distortion
4. Place a second limiter in the chain (In this case FabFilter Pro-L)
5. Leave at least 0.1db of headroom (some real-world playback devices don’t like digital zero)
6. Drive the second limiter to taste

Be sure to use a reference track so you know how far to push the loudness. And make sure everything still sounds good when you’re done–if you go to far your track won’t sound musical anymore.

Here’s the double-limiting video:

And I want to answer some of the questions you’ve been sending me:

Q: “Does what you’re teaching work in any DAW?”
A: Absolutely! I’m a big fan of both Cubase and Logic, but my students also work in Ableton, ProTools, Reason, Bitwig, and anything else you can think of.

Q: “What if I don’t understand what you’re saying?”
A: Some of these concepts come quickly and some take more time. It also helps when you actually try a technique on one of your mixes rather than just watching me do it. One of the reasons I like recording videos is so you can go back and review a topic and learn what you missed the first time.

Enjoy, and please keep the questions coming!

danny

daniel wyatt

ceo/founder

mix:master wyatt academy