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mixing levels
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| djms |
this has been crossed a million times already I know but i just wanted peeps opinions on mixing levels
I watched a Chris Lake tutorial DVD on Computer music (anyone seen it?)
and I too use Ableton to sequence.
At the moment when I mix the master usually pumps into the red a bit and I keep that at bay with a vintage warmer so my final mix is under 0db
Should i have my final mix way below 0db and if I'm to do that I find it really hard to hear the punchiness of drums as they get quieter
Most finished files I see are pumped to the max for eg mac and mac mix of that remo con tune. The mix is well nice but I feel over compressed
Did these guys get they;re fullness of sound by mixing the initial track wayyy under 0db then give it serious limiting to get it pumping,
any thoughts as to how peeps work it............. |
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| derail |
There are many ways to mix, whichever way you choose there are bad examples and good examples.
Some people will put a limiter across the master channel and it'll sound great, for others it'll sound horrible because of what's going into it.
Personally, my levels don't hit the red before they hit the limiter on the master channel. I use an L1 to bring the dynamic range in a bit and get a more consistent, more "finished sounding" mix as I'm working. I find it easier to work when the track sounds like a finished track, rather than having a separate mastering stage. The L1 (well, all the Waves limiters/ maximizers I've heard) is very smooth, it doesn't introduce any pumping. I've tried mixing with a compressor across the master channel (this was a while ago) and I couldn't handle that at all, every new instrument would throw the mix out of balance.
So, from my perspective - I have the final mix so it doesn't go over digital zero, then run it through the L1 to narrow the dynamic range a bit, setting the output of the L1 at -0.01, so it'll never go "over".
Also, loudness comes much more from good arrangement, finding good sounds which fit together well and good use of eq. I don't use any compression unless I'm going for a particular effect or there's a particular need for it. |
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| Zombie0729 |
| he has everything compressed before it comes to the master, then he puts a compressor/eq/limiter(like every master-er) on the master channel. so yes, stay in the green before you get to the master otherwise you'll squelch stuff that you didn't intend to |
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| SPAWNmaster |
| my final mixes are usually -4 to -6db which gives me a lot of headroom to excite and bring up levels during mastering. |
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| cybernetica |
It depends if your tracks will get mastered later on or if you do your own mastering in the sequencer.
To make a good final mastering possible it is important that your unmastered track does not exceed the 0dB mark, if your max peaks are not above -3dB it is even better. |
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| MaxC |
| quote: | Originally posted by derail
Personally, my levels don't hit the red before they hit the limiter on the master channel. I use an L1 to bring the dynamic range in a bit and get a more consistent, more "finished sounding" mix as I'm working. I find it easier to work when the track sounds like a finished track, rather than having a separate mastering stage.
So, from my perspective - I have the final mix so it doesn't go over digital zero, then run it through the L1 to narrow the dynamic range a bit, setting the output of the L1 at -0.01, so it'll never go "over".
Also, loudness comes much more from good arrangement, finding good sounds which fit together well and good use of eq. I don't use any compression unless I'm going for a particular effect or there's a particular need for it. |
Very sound advice here. Especially the last part about the arrangement and sound selection. Some sounds you can try and EQ to death and it still won't sit right; others you can throw it right in there without any EQ or compression at all and it just seems to fit. Just be patient and selective and you'll find something that works.
Also try to have a healthy amount of contrast between individual track levels. I used to try and make each element of a song similarly loud just because I thought that would make everything equally audible. The downside is that the song loses all variation in loudness and no amount of compression or limiting is going to inject that missing dynamic. Now I try to approach leveling each track with a specific intent in mind regarding how subtle or in your face I want each sound to be. Playing a lead at -10 db over a pad that's -30 db sounds a lot more dynamic than playing both parts at equal volume. That's my experience anyhow. |
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| G-Con |
| quote: | Originally posted by MaxC
Some sounds you can try and EQ to death and it still won't sit right; others you can throw it right in there without any EQ or compression at all and it just seems to fit. Just be patient and selective and you'll find something that works. |
This is so true. I'm not the best at eq'ing but I've realised that with the right sounds, they already sound good without anything. Then a bit of equ'ing and compression can give them the finishing touches. I believe that if it sounds really crap to begin with in relation to the other sounds in the mix, then its the wrong sound for the mix and no amount of eq'ing is gonna change that |
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| djms |
nice 1
thanks guys
I've taken to routing everything to a master compressor now and getting a real nice full sound going now without clipping
Got some real juicy bass/kick action going on now - loving it :) |
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