Use a maximizer?

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mate i know it's hard but you will get there. im proof, i have dramaticly improved although i have no really helpful advice!

someone might be able to give some help but its a bit hard.

Compression is your friend

quote:

Originally posted by Low Profile Compression is your friend

+1.

Heres some generic compression settings I use on every song. Before you say something, I only use it while working on the track and its mostly just to keep the song from going into distortion and blowing up my speakers :P.

Threshold: -13.1 dB
Ratio: 3.4 dB
Gain: 3.8 dB
Attack: 87.5ms
Release: 407ms
Type: soft (called soft knee in most probably)

These settings certainly arent meant for mastering . Definitely remix your song though. If you cant turn off compression without it going deep into the red, you have some serious mixing problems. Instead of just turning the volume knobs up all the time, try turning them down too . Best advice I can give you for remixing is something I lots of times do when I jsut cant get a clean mix. I turn all the instruments down to zereo, then slowly raise each one, no compression, keep raising them until you jsut start to go into the red, then you should be good for loudness through a compressor.

Cheers,
Zac

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---FL Studio 9 User---

Actually, I'm going to say that EQ is your friend, not compression or limiting.

While the latter can give you volume, they aren't necessarily gong to address frequency issues, why I highly suggest you spend at least a year using EQ's only rather than trying to use compression, or even incorporation the mastering stage into the mixing stage by compressing or limiting the mix output - you're only going to colour the output again, so how will you learn the art of good mixing?

Listen to the frequency content, especially when mixing two or more instruments together, and try to space them apart by reducing buildups and overlaps. This will often give you a few extra dB's of loudness, all while addressing frequency problems such as muddiness as well. Highpass highpass highpass.

Yes, as mzvirbulis said, it takes time, but I really recommend you focus on EQ rather than diving into the compression and limiting. Of course, not everyone is going to have the same preferences of where to start, but I really wish I had done more EQ'ing during the first years of my 'career'.

Of course, the previous posts all have their place too, mix compression controlling the levels and bringing the instruments in tighter, and limiting just giving you sheer loudness, but I really can't stress the importance of EQ enough.

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Put an end to the loudness war. Don't limit or compress your mixdown until mastering; leave the master channel alone.

Contact me for mastering.

I find that with Reason, it's very difficult to output a song at high volume without comprimising your sound.

If I want my levels perfect, EQ'd and compressed properly, I have to accept that the final product will be relatively quiet.

I then take it into a mastering program, t-racks, where i can raise the level without comprimising the sound.

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You could always use Cubase.

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One always has to remember these days where the garbage pail is, because it's so easy to make sounds, and to put sounds together into something that appears to be music, but it's just as hard as it always was to make good music.
- Robert Moog

Since when does the maximum attainable volume have anything to do with software? You're still going to be bound to the same principles of digital audio.

I can see where Reason wouldn't be very good seeing as though its EQ'ing capabilities are shite (haven't checked Reason 3.0 though, but I can imagine more of the same), but you really can't expect to get louder mixes just by using another piece of software. It's all in the mastering, and how you accomplish that, with about 80% of it coming from the mixdown.

___________________
Put an end to the loudness war. Don't limit or compress your mixdown until mastering; leave the master channel alone.

Contact me for mastering.

quote:

Originally posted by armanivespucci You could always use Cubase.

+1

JK!

___________________
DarkSword - Turn On
DarkSword - Hell Bound
DarkSword - Fresh
DarkSword - Styled
DarkSword - Shadowed Sun
DarkSword - Turning Forward
DarkSword - ALLFRUIT
Pacific Mint vs DarkSword - Climax Zone 2005
SoundClick Page

---FL Studio 9 User---

thanks for the comments guys, I really do eq everything as bestly as i can and i do use compression on every song I export, but i find that i have to turn down the mix so it doesn't lose some freq... i think i will try t-racks, and also see what the props say... thanks for your advice i will try everything because i really wanna get past this problem and focus on composition...

quote:

Originally posted by iloop [...] but i find that i have to turn down the mix so it doesn't lose some freq... [...]

I really don't understand what you mean by this. How does level have anything to do with frequency content? OK, once you get to extreme amounts of limiting or soft-clipping maybe, but what you're saying here essentially sounds like something Jp22 would say.

Of course I don't mean to offend, but I'm just not following...

___________________
Put an end to the loudness war. Don't limit or compress your mixdown until mastering; leave the master channel alone.

Contact me for mastering.