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Compression/mastering question
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| armanivespucci |
| I've always been unable to get my mix to sound as loud as the pros. I'm using Voxengo Crunchessor as my compressor, and I think I'm doing most things right, yet I simply can't get a loud mix without clipping. Something fundamental I'm doing wrong here? |
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| Atlantis-AR |
Loudness lies in a lot of things, but the most impact comes from the master limiter. However, applying too much limiting comes with a trade off, and eventually the signal starts 'reversing in on itself' or 'folding on itself' once you hit the body of the sound rather than the peaks. So, back off and go back to your mix if things still aren't quite as loud as you had hoped...
Actually, compressing the master channel (i.e. during mastering) often results in more loudness, too, however the intention is really more so to control the dynamics and properly 'shape' the sound, even though loudness is often a byproduct.
But, back to your mix, EQ really is your best tool to give you a loud and transparent mix. Don't bunch sounds together, but try to space them out in the frequency domain by first choosing the right sound to begin with, and then cutting away on one instrument to make room for another. The concept sounds difficult or easy depending on how you look at it, but the only way to really learn to do this well is in the years of experience - and keep the volume at a low to average level.
Once you've EQ'd your instruments well to reduce any unwanted resonances and buildups, you can resort to compressing some dynamic sounds to give a more 'in your face' effect. It can make things louder, but don't overcompress everything or you just lose too many dynamics that you ear needs to distinguish between loud and soft.
The bottom line, loudness comes from a lot of things, and even though a limiter will give you a lot of it, a good mix will really go so much further... |
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| armanivespucci |
Ahh, so that's what the limiter is for... d'oh.
Thanks mate. |
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| DigiNut |
Any more than about -3 dB of limiting and you're going to get either distortion or pumping (depending on how you limit).
Everybody always thinks that they just need a fancy compressor or mastering tool, but the problem is almost invariably in the mix. Good tonal balance and overall clarity of sound is often perceived as apparent "loudness", whereas compression is more or less a transparent effect and often won't increase the apparent loudness at all beyond a certain point. |
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