| universal volume levels on recordings |
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23 message(s)
started Saturday August 31, 2002
last updated 19 years ago
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2321 post(s).
Member since 21 years ago.
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| Posted Saturday August 31, 2002 - 20 years ago (#2775) |
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Hey everyone;
I am wondering if anyone has some ideas to share about finding universal volume levels with songs when mixing them down to place on a CD and how to set .wav files, etc to these levels before burning a disc. I can usually find a good medium, but sometimes it's really hard, because every song is recorded differently, with different frequencies, etc. If you hav any ideas, please do let me know, I'm reading up on a lot of this right now (yes, I am totally self-taught), but I am open to ideas. If it makes a difference, I am using a crystalware 32 bit soundcard running into cooledit pro v.2... all instruments/etc. are sent thru a 10 channel mixer, then into an alesis nanocompressor, then into an aphex aural exciter and finally back into the soundcard... everything recorded at 96khz. No MIDI, all analog in/out. Thanks.
-botz |
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1724 post(s).
Member since 21 years ago.
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| Posted Saturday August 31, 2002 - 20 years ago (#2779) |
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yeah i can give you some industry pointers.
first, find yourself the absolute best compressor/limiter in existance. when you are compressing/limiting, make sure you normalize the song first. then compress it such that the peak level is -1.2dbV (this is to prevent clipping of the compressed part of the song).
to prevent distortion in the compression, make sure you have mixed the levels of all the signals properly. do not overcompress, especially not on bass, unless you are going for harmonic distortion (which is especially prevalent in the low bands).
second, get a program that can analyze a section of the signal and give you raw numbers such as average RMS power, total RMS power and min/max RMS power. cool edit pro does this. for the loudest passage of your song, you want to keep the average RMS power between -9dbV and -12dbV. for the softest passage, don't let it fall below -18dbV, unless you have special needs in the song (such as an ambient passage or a period of silence).
those are good places to start, let me know if they help. |
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 "underwater, darkness is as bright as daylights comes." |
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2321 post(s).
Member since 21 years ago.
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| Posted Saturday August 31, 2002 - 20 years ago (#2793) |
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K, that makes sense. I am using the Nanocompressor, it's really the best that I can afford right now, and it does the job pretty well. Those levels that you list are the usual industry standard levels? Because all I really wanna do is make sure that when the listener is listening to my stuff on a cd, they don't have to adjust their volume drastically in order to be able to listen to the song correctly. Have you thought about writing a tutorial of some sort on some of this? Thanks for your input.
-botz |
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1724 post(s).
Member since 21 years ago.
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| Posted Saturday August 31, 2002 - 20 years ago (#2798) |
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| i meant a software compressor ... like as in a plugin or an effect in CoolEdit Pro, or SoundForge ... (all my advice is for the post-production/mastering/digital realm) ... |
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| "underwater, darkness is as bright as daylights comes." |
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1724 post(s).
Member since 21 years ago.
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| Posted Saturday August 31, 2002 - 20 years ago (#2799) |
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| ps i have a nanocompressor, and it's great for live vocal compression, but it's not a production tool. it has a really high signal-to-noise ratio so don't run your digital recording through it and then re-record them (DACAD) because in addition to signal noise on the mixer and nanocompressor, you'll also have signal noise converting to analog and back to digital so you're clarity will be reduced to nothing. again to solution is to use a pure-signal processor (directx plugin, software plugin, software effect). |
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| "underwater, darkness is as bright as daylights comes." |
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1724 post(s).
Member since 21 years ago.
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| Posted Saturday August 31, 2002 - 20 years ago (#2800) |
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yeah i have thought about writing tutorials -- hence the article section! there is already one tutorial in there under tech references. i will be writing more in the future, and i encourage you (and anyone else) to feel free to contribute articles and tutorials.
sorry about three messages, i just woke up ... |
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| "underwater, darkness is as bright as daylights comes." |
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2321 post(s).
Member since 21 years ago.
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| Posted Tuesday September 3, 2002 - 20 years ago (#2835) |
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well, I don't know about not using it at all for recording. You would be surprised at what I have done with that thing in the realm of running everything into it and then into the box to record. I don't very much like software compressors, as sometimes I think they are a bit too ... dry. But that's my opinion. I know what you're talking about with the signal/noise ratio, but have you tooled with the nanocompressor sidechained into an aural exciter? It creates a very good effect. I guess I could write something on that.. but I don't know as much of the technical stuff as you do, I just know how to say "shit.. it sounds good, print it..."...
thanks.
-botz |
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1724 post(s).
Member since 21 years ago.
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| Posted Wednesday September 4, 2002 - 20 years ago (#2839) |
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yeah tech references are good but that's just me ... i like a well written article from a creative point of view. i'm not gonna twist your arm, but i'd definitely be happy to publish it (just make sure to remember grammar and syntax and spelling and all that)
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| "underwater, darkness is as bright as daylights comes." |
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2321 post(s).
Member since 21 years ago.
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| Posted Friday September 6, 2002 - 20 years ago (#2866) |
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Oh, believe me, when it comes to writing stuff that is correct in syntax, grammar and spelling, you won't meet someone as obsessed as me! What software compressors would you suggest I use to plugin to CEP2k? I have some sonic foundry ones, but they're pretty lame. Lemme know what you think.
-botz |
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2321 post(s).
Member since 21 years ago.
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| Posted Tuesday September 10, 2002 - 20 years ago (#2936) |
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Ok, so here's another question for you, and it might sound pretty stupid, and I guess it is, but it's all learning, right?
Let's say I've recorded a song in CEP. I have my waveform, and everything is mastered right. However, when I try to delete the silence that I have before the waveform begins (the song itself, the silence being that before I pressed play on my machine... I have noone to help me record here), I get an annoying pop when I press play to listen to the waveform. How would ya'll go about correctly (technically) getting rid of this kind of noise? I have messed with de-popppers and had no luck. Then again, maybe my recording is not that great, or maybe I'm going about it in the wrong way. Please let me know if you have any thoughts.
-botz |
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