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-- Do you alter the volume of a sound?

Do you alter the volume of a sound?

Is it critical to boost or attenuate the volume of a particular sound, lets say a kick, when all the other instruments are playing, so that to find the right balance between the sounds and avoid clipping? Or is it rather to use limiter or any other technique?

There is only one correct volume to each track in the mix.

quote:

Originally posted by Subtle There is only one correct volume to each track in the mix.

...which is?

+1 dBfs

anyways being serious, it is always more accurate to change the individual part via automation than to use a limiter/compressor but it will take more time and will lack the colouring most want from a compressor.

The thing is when all the instruments are playing in my track kick seems to be a little bit loud and another weird thing: why if i listen it on my speakers, it sounds ok, but when i transfer it to my phone and listen it through its tiny speakers, everything sounds distorted sometimes and the kick is heavier than when listening through the speakers?

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Originally posted by Microlab ...which is?

...dependent on the track you're making.

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Originally posted by Mr.Mystery ...dependent on the track you're making.

So one may change the volume of a kick as all the channels are playing? And how would you comment on my previous post?

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Originally posted by Microlab ...which is?

Everything relative to the kickdrum.

The volume of a track is a piece of cake, its the other things you have to do in order to make a sound sit good in the mix that counts (equaliser, compressors, reverb, delays etc.)

By automating the sound?

You shouldnt have to automate the volume of the kick drum unless its for a creative reason e.g. at the end of a certain phrase or some type of buildup effect etc..

If your kick is too loud then just turn it down, if it sounds weird when other sounds come in then you'll have to maybe choose different sounds, use eq on those conflicting sounds or some other alternative.

Also if your track sounds different on your phone as opposed to your monitors then thats a matter of translation from your monitors to other speakers....

quote:

Originally posted by Subtle Everything relative to the kickdrum. The volume of a track is a piece of cake, its the other things you have to do in order to make a sound sit good in the mix that counts (equaliser, compressors, reverb, delays etc.)

I actually completely disagree. I think volumes are the most important parts of a track, and knowing how to set them, and then how to ride them is all you should need to produce a good track.

I always mix with the kick drum as a reference, for what its worth.

quote:

Originally posted by kitphillips I actually completely disagree. I think volumes are the most important parts of a track, and knowing how to set them, and then how to ride them is all you should need to produce a good track.

I do tend to use the equaliser more than the volume knob, which is sort of the same just more control over it.

quote:

Originally posted by Subtle Everything relative to the kickdrum.

Not always. Sometimes the bass leads, or the percs and bass are very minimal so it's something else. Generally in 4x4, the kick is a good reference point.

quote:

Also if your track sounds different on your phone as opposed to your monitors then thats a matter of translation from your monitors to other speakers....

And it means that...?

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Originally posted by Microlab And it means that...?

Good translation means whatever you hear when your sitting at your DAW, would be pretty close to what you would hear on other device i.e. hifi, car, ipod, phone.....

This isnt the case and its usually down to your room acoustics and monitors.

Do a search as its a huge subject to explain in a post!

quote:

Originally posted by evo8 Good translation means whatever you hear when your sitting at your DAW, would be pretty close to what you would hear on other device i.e. hifi, car, ipod, phone.....

I wouldn't put it that way. You wouldn't actually be "hearing something that sounds pretty close to a hifi/car/iphone". You'd have an awareness of how all those mediums sound different, and mix with that in mind - knowing that, for example, if a bass is all low end, it may be inaudible on a small speaker. Things like that.

To reiterate, you'd still be hearing what you're normally hearing when you play music through your monitors, and that would sound quite different to playing the music through the other systems mentioned.

quote:

Originally posted by Subtle There is only one correct volume to each track in the mix.

i disagree, unless i'm not understanding what you mean


@ OP- i never fuck with the kick's volume unless it's for purposes of dynamics (i.e. a drum fill or something). imagine what that would sound like in a club- a nice, thick, chest-shaking kick that suddenly ducks underneath a synth because there's too much going on at once? wouldn't make any sense. if anything you correct the volume of the synths.

..or am i misunderstanding what he's asking?

quote:

Originally posted by derail I wouldn't put it that way. You wouldn't actually be "hearing something that sounds pretty close to a hifi/car/iphone". You'd have an awareness of how all those mediums sound different, and mix with that in mind - knowing that, for example, if a bass is all low end, it may be inaudible on a small speaker. Things like that. To reiterate, you'd still be hearing what you're normally hearing when you play music through your monitors, and that would sound quite different to playing the music through the other systems mentioned.

emm im not sure, i think you took me up wrong (or i worded it wrong), are you talking about actual mixing? im talking about mix translation

Thats the whole idea of an accurate monitoring situation right?? That if your track sounds good on your monitors, it will sound good on other devices?

I agree that if you have only a subbass in your track, and not much mid, then you wont hear that on tinny little speakers with no bass, but im not sure thats down to translation per se, i think thats more down to constructing your mix such that its filling the frequency spectrum, there are plenty of mid-frequencies in your track etc...

Everyone has their own technique in getting the mix right. My advice would be adjust the volume 1st of everthing before diving in with EQ and compression.

As others have said make the kick a reference to everything else until everything sits nicely. After you can eq frequencies and use compression. You could even change the kick if its just not working, I've often done that and things work much better immediately.

Also read up on some mixing from resources on the net, it will definately give you more in depth detail.

quote:

Originally posted by evo8 emm im not sure, i think you took me up wrong (or i worded it wrong), are you talking about actual mixing? im talking about mix translation Thats the whole idea of an accurate monitoring situation right?? That if your track sounds good on your monitors, it will sound good on other devices?

Yes, assuming your monitors are decent, setup tight and you're in an environment that lets them do what they are meant to.

Translation in the sense of engineering/mixing is simply how the signal represents on another system - if it's translates well, it means your monitors let you hear (and mix) so that when you play it on another system it sounds balanced and well mixed.

"good translation" - means it reproduces well on other systems.

However, I don't know why everyone on here is entertaining the OP regarding translation to shitty hone speakers - I can't even begin to go in to why this is absurdly bad idea.

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