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Coin Operated Boy
Just popping in
Joined: 24 Jan 2008
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Thu, 24 Jan, 2008 2:05 Post subject: Mixing problem...the mixdown is too quiet! |
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Evening all, this is my first post on this forum and I'd like to say hello to everyone before I say anything else!
After years of producing music purely by ear and guessing what works and what doesn't, I've recently been trying to produce 'by the book' as it were and by that I mean EQ tracks properly, compress properly etc.
I've not been doing too badly, mostly because my intuitions about what was right and what was wrong were mostly correct however I have encountered one confusing problem...
Before, I always used to mixdown my songs at whatever volume other songs of that style used. However, I've since found that doing this means that my tracks are clipping like nobody's business at about 6.0db and above. This never sounded bad to me, as all other songs were of a similar volume and I couldn't actually hear much of an adverse effect on the sound. So, on a track I'm currently doing I brought down the master volume until the peaks topped out at 0.0db. While the track does sound marginally tidier, it is also much quieter than most other tracks of the dance music genre. How do I boost the volume to a standard level without monstrous clipping?
I'm using Logic Express 8 if that helps!
Much thanks |
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BalistiK
Contributing Member
Joined: 01 Mar 2007
Posts: 1888
Location: Perth, Western Australia
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| Posted: Sat, 26 Jan, 2008 2:19 Post subject: |
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hi mate and welcome:)
i had the same sort of problem that you have written about now. what i did was leave the EQ flat and crank it up as much as it could go until it peaked. but the problem with that is once you do that and you go back to EQ it, it starts to peak at the slightest adjustment of the EQ. so i never realy managed to fix this problem either but ive made it louder and louder each time. so basically the first thing would probably leave the EQ flat but not a whole heap of people want to do that. next thing is to level up the master vol until its peaked and then adjust the track volumes. if theres more db room on the master then level that up more. thats what i did if that is of any help to you. id be interested if anyone else noes how to fix this
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"Yeh, I'm a club head. What of it? I dance Better then you. Your a punk! You bounce your head up and down, I move my feet around. I feel the rhythem; You feel the scream. The Difference between you and me:
I'll save my breath, but i'm gonna club 'till I die"
- Paul Oakenfold |
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AdamC
Just popping in
Joined: 21 Jan 2008
Posts: 10
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| Posted: Thu, 31 Jan, 2008 13:51 Post subject: |
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this is one of the biggest problems in music production now
they call it the "loudness war" because everyone is pushing there tracks to get louder and louder ... but that means to compete the rest of us have got to do the same thing which makes it worse!
one of the problems is that digital equipment has alot less headroom than analogue equipment!
I've consulted with a friend about this..
Its the bass content in most songs that clips because you do want that to punch through, so if you use compression and EQ to control it then it will help because then the next step is to use Hard limiting, so by doing the first step it will enable you to use more hard limiting.
and other things like EQ'ing to help instruments cut through the mix rather than needing the volume to be turned up will help!!
i would check for articles on www.soundonsound.com which usually have some useful stuff!
also what kind of music are you making? |
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Anthony Paul
Contributing Member
Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 363
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| Posted: Thu, 31 Jan, 2008 14:58 Post subject: |
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You should try not to ever clip any of your channels. The loudness doesnt come from EQing. It comes from mastering your track. You may eventaully get your track to sound like a mastered track but it will always be right behind an actual professionally mastered track. When you are "finished" producing your track and it sounds as good as you can get it (sound levels, etc). THEN you master it. If you dont have the necessary mastering tools or settings, then dont try it. Find someone who can and either pay them or hope they are your friends and can do it for free.
My brother uses Logic 8, David Michael (beatport.com). When I am finished with a track, I render it as a .wav file and I send it to him. He masters it for me and sends it back and then I play it out as a final test. If I like it, sweet. If I dont, I fix what sounds needed the level changes and then resend it to him, and repeat the process. Trial and error. Clipping is bad. You can actually hear the clipping too if you listen closely. So always keep your sound levels at a volume thats below clip level.
If one of your sounds is still too low and you cant do anything but make it clip, then bite the bullet and lower everything else in the track a good db or 2. Then adjust all the channel volumes till nothing is clipping. Then you can adjust the 'overall' volume so that it is not clipping. If you dont possess the settings and vst for mastering, then render it out and send it off to get mastered. If you do have the mastering settings, then do it yourself. This will make the track louder and bigger without any clipping at all.
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www.myspace.com/dj_anthonypaul |
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digitalrushmusic
Just popping in
Joined: 14 Feb 2008
Posts: 8
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| Posted: Thu, 14 Feb, 2008 23:20 Post subject: |
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The thing with most electronical (dance) music is it dosent really need to be eq'd (other than acapella or anything live played in) as long as the mix down is ok, a subtle amount of compression and a good ear can do just as well. If you want to make your mix punchier, try Layering (presuming you have not already done so) As long as the frequencys are right it will boost the mix. Try a parametric equalizer and boost your mid-high but check your bass isnt going below 40hz. You'll probably find that the rest will follow, books can get you so far, but then again, so can instinct, "never follow life by the book, as the next new thing isnt registerd yet"  good luck with it |
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DJDaveCurtis
Just popping in
Joined: 24 Feb 2008
Posts: 15
Location: Cleethorpes UK
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| Posted: Tue, 04 Mar, 2008 16:47 Post subject: |
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| Anthony Paul wrote: |
You should try not to ever clip any of your channels. The loudness doesnt come from EQing. It comes from mastering your track. You may eventaully get your track to sound like a mastered track but it will always be right behind an actual professionally mastered track. When you are "finished" producing your track and it sounds as good as you can get it (sound levels, etc). THEN you master it. If you dont have the necessary mastering tools or settings, then dont try it. Find someone who can and either pay them or hope they are your friends and can do it for free.
My brother uses Logic 8, David Michael (beatport.com). When I am finished with a track, I render it as a .wav file and I send it to him. He masters it for me and sends it back and then I play it out as a final test. If I like it, sweet. If I dont, I fix what sounds needed the level changes and then resend it to him, and repeat the process. Trial and error. Clipping is bad. You can actually hear the clipping too if you listen closely. So always keep your sound levels at a volume thats below clip level.
If one of your sounds is still too low and you cant do anything but make it clip, then bite the bullet and lower everything else in the track a good db or 2. Then adjust all the channel volumes till nothing is clipping. Then you can adjust the 'overall' volume so that it is not clipping. If you dont possess the settings and vst for mastering, then render it out and send it off to get mastered. If you do have the mastering settings, then do it yourself. This will make the track louder and bigger without any clipping at all. |
^^
What he said!
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Ravealution, Cleethorpes Pier Resident DJ |
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federico_giust
Junior Member
Joined: 24 Oct 2007
Posts: 68
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| Posted: Thu, 08 May, 2008 19:39 Post subject: |
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1 - don't clip on your master output when your working
2 - after you finish it, render it as a wav file and then masterize, using something like waves l2 (multiband compresor)
3 - check your mastering with waves paz analyzer and vumeters and try to get the rms level closer to the actual output to sound louder by lowering the threshold on your compressor |
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