Mixing & Mastering in Ableton Live: Bus Processing, Gain Staging & Pro Tips w/ Dan Giffin (Philia)
Take a deep dive into advanced mixing and mastering techniques inside Ableton Live with Dan Giffin (Philia), recorded live at Ableton’s U.S. Headquarters on November 9th, 2025.
In this session, Dan breaks down his complete workflow for mixing and mastering dance music, including:
🎛 Bus Processing & Grouping Strategies
🎚 Gain Staging for Maximum Headroom
🔊 Limiter vs. Clipper Techniques
🎧 Dynamic EQ, OTT, Sidechaining & Multi-Band Compression
📈 Stereo Imaging, True Peak Limiting & Oversampling
🎶 Mix Translation, Referencing & Mastering Chains
📦 Why Sound Selection Matters More Than Plugins
… and tons of real-world examples from his upcoming Philia track called Nostalgia.
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https://www.philia-music.com
/ philiamusic
00:00 – Sound Selection & Mixing Mindset
04:00 – Bus Groups: Drums, Bass, Leads & Vocals
06:00 – Gain Staging Essentials
08:00 – Limiting, Clipping & Headroom
11:00 – Frequency Zones & EQ Concepts
13:00 – Soft Clip vs. Hard Clip
15:00 – True Peak Limiting Explained
18:00 – Compression vs. Limiting
21:00 – Sidechain Techniques
26:00 – OTT Tips & Multiband Compression
34:00 – Bass Monoing & Sub Control
40:00 – Pro-L Workflow & Oversampling
46:00 – Dynamic EQ on Leads
50:00 – Vocal & FX Bus Processing
52:00 – Serial Bus Limiting
55:00 – Mastering Chain Breakdown
58:00 – Stereo Imaging & Phase Checking
1:04:00 – Referencing Tracks & Using SPAN
1:10:00 – Export Settings & Dithering
1:12:00 – Final Q&A