roboctopus
Offline
Madison, Alabama

(Blah blah, loudness war, etc....)

I read the other topics and didn't see this come up. 

I'm a very sporadic chiptune musician, but I've been working on it more lately.  I recorded a demo of a song from my DMG, added some EQ, compression, etc, and boosted the volume till it was in the red on the meters in my DAW, which is an older version of Cakewalk Sonar whatever.  Compared to chiptunes I've downloaded (for instance, that recent track from Trey Frey that was tops at 8bc last week), my track is several db quieter.

What do you guys use to get the volume up to a more "commercial" level, out of curiosity?

2PLAYER
Offline
Rhode Island

1. Record volume up
2. Add a little volume in EQ
3. Add a little volume in compressor
4. Crank it with a brick wall limiter

Play a song in the background while setting your volume. If you can't hear your song it's not loud enough

Subway Sonicbeat
Offline
Brazil

I'm tempted to say magic.

Trash80
Offline
Los Angeles

Dont "redline" anything... If its not already normalized, normalize it. if it is already normalized and there are some snips preventing the entire waveform from being any louder after its normalized, use a limiter to get rid of the snips so that the rest of the waveform can be normalized.

Like cake, only fancier.

goonzy
Offline
PARIS

MMhhh the best way to make your whole track sound "louder" is not to try to punch everything at high levels.. on the contrary you should: Lower the volume of each track and boost the master to keep some dynamics. Some tracks do need a bit of compression (Kicks, Basses) and the most important, is to do a fine tunes Equalization on each track to avoid Frequencies overlapping and doing a muddy mix result. SO check all your tracks with a frequency analyzer, and remove/sculpt your tracks so that they fit together nicely.

In the end, if it still sounds a bit weak, you can go thru a limiter, but you'll loose dynamics (you'll get tracks with a square shaped waveform)

Zef
Offline

I have the same problems sometimes, I try to mix it fairly evenly low, then crank it up with a brick wall limiter. I definitely don't flatten it out though, I keep it just below zero with the limiter only catching clipping peaks. Mine seem to be coming out okay, but I've definitely still heard louder.

akira^8GB
Offline
New York City

Loudness wars.

BR1GHT PR1MATE
Offline
BOSTON
akira^8GB wrote:

Loudness wars.

Yeah, i like loudness to be dynamic, so I at least try to keep my stuff at 1991 (cold war) levels. Then you can crank it! I think that given our music is compressed and lack dynamics naturally, we should try to keep whatever is left!

nordloef
Offline
sweden

Recorded music cant be too loud!

Also talking about dynamics and game boys big_smile

Trash80
Offline
Los Angeles
nordloef wrote:

Also talking about dynamics and game boys big_smile

16 pure dynamic levels of volumes of squares wave

roboctopus
Offline
Madison, Alabama

I'm all for preserving dynamics, but when the loudest part of my track is a few decibels under the quiet intro of someone else's track, I kind of wonder if I'm missing some key step. 

So, let's assume I didn't care about dynamics at all.  Is there a reason my DAW would be telling me I'm in the red the entire time, yet my track is still quieter than a lot of other tracks I hear (and commercial music)?

[Also,

BR1GHT PR1MATE wrote:
akira^8GB wrote:

Loudness wars.

Yeah, i like loudness to be dynamic, so I at least try to keep my stuff at 1991 (cold war) levels. Then you can crank it! I think that given our music is compressed and lack dynamics naturally, we should try to keep whatever is left!

Is there some sort of reference point you use to keep dynamics at cold war levels?  I'm curious.  I'm trying to learn more about mixing/mastering.

µB
Offline
A gray world of dread

Could be several things. For one, replay volume doesn't always equal render volume. Check your DAW for render settings. Next, how does the waveform look in an editor? You could have spikes (usually high frequencies at the attack of a wave), which get reported as 'in the red' while most of your track is considerably quieter. Then there's waveform stacking (don't know the correct term for this), where waves pile up in such a way that they lift the whole y-axis action away from zero, which decreases the dynamic range.

The way I do it, I usually go source->{effect chain->limiter->mixer (3-band eq)->}limter->compression->10 band peak eq. The stuff in {} is only for multitrack recording. Limiting takes care of spikes, compression boosts the quiet stuff, 10 band eq to accentuate. Settings on limiter and compressor will determine how 'loud' your track is.

During master phase I often have a waveform/histogram plotter running, so I can see how to fix things.

Disclamer: I also often struggle with mixing/mastering, so I don't claim absolute knowledge on this.

Last edited by µB (Mar 3, 2011 7:37 pm)

danimal cannon
Offline
buffalo, NY

lol loudness wars, I'm part of the problem.

e.s.c.
Offline
IL, US
danimal cannon wrote:

lol loudness wars, I'm part of the problem.

i was, but now ive seen the light
mastering to -3dB and very mild compression now smile
most of the new album falls between the 1983-1991 ranges

godinpants
Offline
hardcore, Australia

Forget the red signals. Does it sound like it's clipping?

Mix with your ears, not with your eyes.

Last edited by godinpants (Mar 4, 2011 2:25 am)

roboctopus
Offline
Madison, Alabama
godinpants wrote:

Forget the red signals. Does it sound like it's clipping?

Mix with your ears, not with your eyes.

It doesn't sound like it's clipping, so that may mean I can pull the volume up more than what the meter says.

Are there any good articles someone can recommend on this subject?

For instance:

e.s.c. wrote:

i was, but now ive seen the light
mastering to -3dB and very mild compression now
most of the new album falls between the 1983-1991 ranges

What does mastering to -3dB mean?  I've read that dance music is often mastered to 0dB.  I'm not making dance music, but I'd like to know what these terms mean.