How to control sub transients with MDynamicsMBLarge

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ve probably heard about my low-end obsession. It’s something I care about a lot during mixing and mastering.

One of the key elements of my low-end process is getting a sound that is stable and controlled while still being beefy, full and punchy.

Control the sub transients first

How do I achieve this?

First, I need to control the sub transients. This is something many people ignore or simply don’t consider, but if they’re left uncontrolled, chances are they’ll distort way earlier in the limiting stage. And I don’t want that.

So the first thing I do is limit those peaks, using one of my secret weapons: MDynamicsMBLarge from MeldaProduction.

This thing is a true hidden gem. It splits your sound into bands and gives you full control over each one: compression, expansion, gating, you name it. You can even draw your own custom shapes. It’s way more flexible than most multiband processors out there.

How I use it on the low end

Before you begin, change the filters to linear phase. You can do that by clicking on the analyzer. They sound fantastic in this plugin, and I’ve never heard any pre-ringing issues.

Then:

1. Isolate the low band, setting it around 120-150 Hz.
2. Turn on “graph” mode. This is where it gets fun.
3. With the visual editor, set the compression threshold exactly where you want it to start working, then add another point so it doesn’t affect anything beyond that range. Sometimes I even expand the middle a bit to bring out some weight.
4. Attack and release: the default settings are a great starting point, but adjust them to taste. It’s crazy how much you can shape the low-end dynamics with the right settings.

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Stabilizing is not squashing

Go too far and you’ll kill the sound, so be gentle.

You want it controlled, not lifeless.