Hey friends,

Any ideas on how to increase the master volume on a song once its complete?

I use REASON, and the song sounds fantastic (level wise) in Reason.

But after I export the finished song, and play it in winamp, or burn it to a disc, it is MUCH quieter than my standard mp3s and such.

So I tried raising the master volume in Reason, but it clips, and the exported song is distorted.

I want my tune to be as loud as "real" songs!!!

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks.

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I gots some of them there songs I wrote, mmm hmmm that's right ---> www.TrevorKay.tk

We are the ones we've been waiting for

use a mastering program with a compressor...

i would recommend T-Racks....

Save your track as a .wav file

then open it in T-Racks and then you can compress it and do all kinds of other mastering to it...

compressing basically lets your track sound "louder" because you can raise the volume of the song but if you look at the .wav file in a sound editing program you will see that there are a lot of uneven distributions of sound... sometimes it's loud and sometimes it's soft... compression can basically work like a limiter... it compresses the sound when it reaches a certain set threshold of volume...

hope that helped

yeah, but compression can also totally wreck ur song if u dont' know what ur doing.

go to a some good sites and learn about compression.
here's a start: http://www.studiocovers.com/

it'll take alot of reading, but don't expect a magic results without hard work. knowledge is power.

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jimtran.net

Get the plug-in Izotope Ozone and the pdf-manual that can be found around here somewhere on the forum

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--Born to synthesize--

normalize the track. then put it through a limiter. pull down the limiter threshold until it starts to have an audible effect, the gently adjust it back up again till you can see it working but not hearing it do anything.....apply this to the file, then normalize it again. you should be able to dramatically raise the volume of your tune without making it sound fucked up

hope this helps....

___________________
http://www.djiancashman.co.uk
My Next DJ Dates
March 12th 2005 - Becomeone @ (Sub) Logic, London (w/ Oliver Leighs, Simon Rutherford)
April 7th 2005 - Existence @ The Met Lounge,Peterborough (w/ JFK and Liam Bamford)
April 9th Wildchild @ The Empire, Milton Keynes (late minute replacement for Brisky)
April 16th 2005 - Serious @ The Cross (w/ Jonnie Pickering, Simon Patterson and Judge Jules)
May 5th 2005 - Existence @ The Met Lounge,Peterborough (w/ Riley and Durrant, Liam Bamford)
October 15th 2005 - Serious @ The Cross (w/ Simon Patterson, John O'Callahan, and Judge Jules)

Thanks guys!! I'll look into all the suggested options.

quote:

Originally posted by modular normalize the track. then put it through a limiter. pull down the limiter threshold until it starts to have an audible effect, the gently adjust it back up again till you can see it working but not hearing it do anything.....apply this to the file, then normalize it again. you should be able to dramatically raise the volume of your tune without making it sound fucked up hope this helps....

What prog would I use to normalize?

thanks!

___________________
I gots some of them there songs I wrote, mmm hmmm that's right ---> www.TrevorKay.tk

We are the ones we've been waiting for

quote:

Originally posted by sooper Thanks guys!! I'll look into all the suggested options. What prog would I use to normalize? thanks!

any wave editor......u mean u havent even normalized it??????

thats why it'll sound quiet!!!! DOH!!!!! hehe
forget the advanced shit for now and just normalize it in cool edit or some freeware prog.

___________________
http://www.djiancashman.co.uk
My Next DJ Dates
March 12th 2005 - Becomeone @ (Sub) Logic, London (w/ Oliver Leighs, Simon Rutherford)
April 7th 2005 - Existence @ The Met Lounge,Peterborough (w/ JFK and Liam Bamford)
April 9th Wildchild @ The Empire, Milton Keynes (late minute replacement for Brisky)
April 16th 2005 - Serious @ The Cross (w/ Jonnie Pickering, Simon Patterson and Judge Jules)
May 5th 2005 - Existence @ The Met Lounge,Peterborough (w/ Riley and Durrant, Liam Bamford)
October 15th 2005 - Serious @ The Cross (w/ Simon Patterson, John O'Callahan, and Judge Jules)

quote:

Originally posted by modular any wave editor......u mean u havent even normalized it?????? thats why it'll sound quiet!!!! DOH!!!!! hehe forget the advanced shit for now and just normalize it in cool edit or some freeware prog.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

phew!!!

Too be honest, all the other stuff seemed a lil overwhelming, although, I'm prepared to learn and give anything a shot.

Any recommendations on a good wave editor to normalize (preferrably a freeware )

thanks!

___________________
I gots some of them there songs I wrote, mmm hmmm that's right ---> www.TrevorKay.tk

We are the ones we've been waiting for

U dont need eny other program... Just add a compressor effect, play around with the settings and add the effect 2 the channel u want.

U can alsow try adding a EQ...

quote:

Originally posted by coby U dont need eny other program... Just add a compressor effect, play around with the settings and add the effect 2 the channel u want. U can alsow try adding a EQ...

I haven't had too much luck with the compressors in REASON. I think the reason why, is because the levels sound PERFECT within REASON. Its only when I listen to the song using other players that the levels suck...

thanks though for the advice - i need as much as i can get!

___________________
I gots some of them there songs I wrote, mmm hmmm that's right ---> www.TrevorKay.tk

We are the ones we've been waiting for

Normalising just means adjusting every bit of the file by some multiplier so that the very loudest peaks reach the level you want to normalise to (normally 0dB).

From the description, it sounds like you've already adjusted the Reason volume to make your tune as loud as possible without distorting, in which case the peaks in your track will already be at 0dB and you won't need to normalise.

As mentioned already, to get more volume now you need compression or limiting. The quick and easier solution in your situation is definitely limiting, I wouldn't recommend compression until you've at least tried limiting. If you can find it, try the Waves L2 Limiter. It's a DirectX plug-in (can you use them in Reason?) available as part of the Waves Masters Bundle.