setting levels/recording a mix or demo

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-- setting levels/recording a mix or demo

Posted by aidanwelsh on Dec-17-2003 21:10:

setting levels/recording a mix or demo

Hey -

I had a quick question about how people go about getting the maximum volume when recording without clipping or distortion. I have recorded about three demos now, and there always seems to be an inevitable constructive interference between the bass drums during a mix that causes a really high level or clip. Once this happens, normalization does nothing. Wondering how people go about setting levels for a recording or dealing with this problem...thanks.

cheers,
-aidan

Posted by Dj Ricky H on Dec-18-2003 06:31:

What I usually do b4 recording is set up all the volumes....I would first play a record and watch the levels on the mixer.....I set it so that it will only peak to 0db (or whatever u want the max to be....but I find mixing to 0db is best), peaking past that point once in awhile is okay...but not by that much though.....While the record is still playing I would adjust the input volume on my comp so that it will be just touching the red zone, but still mainly be a hair under.....and now that the volumes is set up I would just keep my mixes peaking at 0 and it works fine.....About the contructive interference....what I usually do it back the bass down on the live record abit while bringing in the incoming....and keep doing that and watching the level meter to stay peaking at about 0db and still maintain the same volume....but once in awhile it will peak at +2, but only for very short instances....hope this made sense.....

P.S. - I find maintaining a constant volume through a mix (and through ur whole set) is one of the hardest things to learn.....since I only have an Vestax 170a with no cue signal meters...

Posted by aidanwelsh on Dec-18-2003 07:08:

thanks for the advice mate. yeah, i've been EQing the bass and such, always do that to keep the mixes smooth, but i guess I'll just try and keep it the initial levels as close to 0 dB as possible and watch the levels throughout the set. it just sucks when you're halfway through the mix and you end up getting a clip, ;p. any other advice or thoughts are welcomed...

-aidan

Posted by kr00t0n on Dec-18-2003 09:54:

Find the level of volume you want to be coming out of the speaker while you are mixing.

Check in Soundforge to see where it sits. If its clipping, turn down the line-in on your pc a bit.

It's much better to record a mix round the -4db mark as you can just up the volume on the mix in SF, if you clip and it distorts, lowering the volume wont make any diff.

Posted by DjJade on Dec-20-2003 06:18:

i thought it was always better to keep the levels low...like -10 to -15db max and then normalizing the peak value to -1 or zero db using soundforge

thats what i do atleast

Posted by DJTJ on Dec-20-2003 12:13:

quote:
Originally posted by DjJade
i thought it was always better to keep the levels low...like -10 to -15db max and then normalizing the peak value to -1 or zero db using soundforge

thats what i do atleast

That would work great if you had a perfect soundcard that didn't introduce noise. I find that if I do that, there is too much noise and normalising amplifies the noise as well as the signal. To minimise the noise, you want to get the desired signal as loud as possible without clipping, thus maximising the S/N ratio.

Posted by DjJade on Dec-20-2003 17:22:

ahh.. well i guess its the spioled m-audio user speaking out of me : )_

Posted by aidanwelsh on Dec-22-2003 08:31:

thanks for the comments everyone...i'll post my mix in the forums when i've finished for a possible mix critique.

-aidan