Clean Up a Recorded Set

Match the sample rate, then import to Arrangement

Set Preferences → Audio to whatever the recorder captured (44.1 or 48 kHz). A 90-minute set is one linear thing: drag the WAV onto an audio track in Arrangement View, not Session.

• Ableton Live

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Turn Warp OFF

Live may auto-warp the file on import. Warping time-stretches with a real-time algorithm, which is pure degradation for a file you are only playing back. Warp off plays it at true speed and pitch, untouched.

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Trim and fade

Drag the clip edges in to cut dead air, then pull the top corners for a 1–2 second fade in and out. Surgical fixes only — do not re-edit your actual transitions.

Watch Thales Matos

Build the Master chain in order

EQ Eight → Utility → [Glue Compressor, optional] → Limiter → Youlean. Even out levels before the limiter sees the signal, and meter dead last so it reads the final output.

• Youlean Loudness Meter

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High-pass at ~25 Hz

EQ Eight band 1, high-pass shape, steepest slope available. That is the whole EQ job: no stems, already-mastered tracks, nothing to sculpt.

Watch LNA Does Audio Stuff

Ride track-to-track levels with Utility Gain

The highest-impact step. Automate Utility → Gain on the Master and draw slow moves by ear across whole tracks — pull the hot ones down, lift the quiet ones. Preserves dynamics where a compressor would flatten them.

Watch Distinct Mastering · Matt Warren

Check mono compatibility

Toggle the Utility's Mono button and listen through your blends. Phones, Bluetooth and club systems sum to mono, and a phase-cancelling overlap can make bass vanish.

Watch Matt Warren · Distinct Mastering

Skip the glue compression

Bus compression usually flattens the energy arc you programmed. If you try it: Glue at 2:1, slow attack, 1–2 dB gain reduction at most. If bypassing sounds better, leave it bypassed.

Watch LNA Does Audio Stuff

Limit gently, with a conservative ceiling

Intersample peaks turn into crunch once the platform transcodes to lossy. On Live 12.1 or later, switch the Limiter to True Peak mode and set Ceiling to −1 dB. On older versions the Limiter is sample-peak only, so set Ceiling to −1.5 dB for headroom. Push input gain only until you catch 1–2 dB on the loudest moments.

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Meter with Youlean, last in the chain

Aim for around −14 LUFS integrated for SoundCloud and YouTube, and confirm true peak stays at or below −1 dBTP. A dynamic set landing under target is fine — platforms turn everyone down anyway.

• Youlean Loudness Meter
• SoundCloud
• YouTube

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Export the archive: WAV 24-bit, Limiter bypassed

The permanent copy keeps native level and full dynamics. Normalize OFF, no dither at 24-bit, no mono conversion. Keep only the high-pass, trims, fades and level ride.

Watch Distinct Mastering · Collective Intelligence

Export the upload: WAV 24-bit, Limiter on

Upload the WAV and let the platform transcode — never pre-compress to MP3 yourself. Normalize OFF; you set loudness deliberately. Dither only if you ever drop to 16-bit, and only on that final export.

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A/B against the raw recording, loudness-matched

Level-match with the Utility gain and compare. If the processed version is not clearly better — not just louder — ship something closer to raw. The whole chain should feel almost transparent.