More volume on a mixed song for CD?

[guitarhunny]

I am using HomeStudioXL. Does anyone know if there is a way to bring the final mixed sound up to a more CD standard level?

[dachay2tnr]

Originally Posted by guitarhunny

I am using HomeStudioXL. Does anyone know if there is a way to bring the final mixed sound up to a more CD standard level?

Generally you would use a compressor and/or limiter to achieve this.

I am assuming that the tracks were recorded at decent levels to begin with.

[guitarhunny]

I record digitally with an MR8 then, I transfer via USB to PC for mixing on cakewalk. I am recording at the highest level possible without clipping. I probably am not using the compressor right. Is the cakewalk compressor ok, or will it muddy up my music? I want to keep the emotion in my music and I've heard that compressing loses some of it.

Am I fighting a losing battle? Should I just take what I can do and get over it? Please check out my website for a sound clip. Any input would be amazing. I can't tell if I really suck at this mixing stuff or if I am being overly picky and nieve about sound quality. How much does CD level matter?
www.ruthsharpmusic.com

The clips on this site are a little older, some of my new stuff sounds a little better due to some jimmying of the effects on the vocals.

[guitarhunny]

Ok, I know that I am very stupid when it comes to this stuff. Could someone explain the function of "Trim". I have been playing with it to bring the level of recording up. Is that what it is for? I have to play with it some more to find an appropriate level where clipping does not take place. Does this make any sense?

[James Argo]

Alert!!! Lady on the board.... behave, boys...

Let me tell you something... for "homy recordist", you realy did one heluva great job on your songs!!!

Anyway, IMHO you need to pay attention on your acoustic guitar sound. Tought it's wide, it rather goes thin on the mix. Was it mic'd, or pick'd up? The mixing level is fairly acceptable, it's about the time to bring it to mastering stage. Do you have any wave editor (CoolEdit, Soundforge, Wavelab, etc?) ? If so, then you can use it to do your own "mastering" job. Like dachay mentioned, you can use compressor/limiter to make up the gain. Can you tell us what plugins do you have? Your recording gears maybe?


Jaymz

[guitarhunny]

Thanks for the response! Any feedback is good feedback especially when it is good.

My knowledge on the recording end ends about where I am. I know nothing about plugins and nothing about mastering. My guitar is plugged into my Fostex MR-8 not miced so I lose some of the realness in my playing. I am very low on cash flow so I can only go very slow (which is annoying) with the purchase of new and better ways of doing things.

What would be some recommendations for mastering stuff? I don't even know where to start.

[mixsit]

Originally Posted by guitarhunny

Ok, I know that I am very stupid when it comes to this stuff. Could someone explain the function of "Trim". I have been playing with it to bring the level of recording up. Is that what it is for? I have to play with it some more to find an appropriate level where clipping does not take place. Does this make any sense?

Trim is generally the first volume control, on a preamp, or placed before the rest of a mixer channel's controls, used to get the incoming signal into the correct general level up front. Sometimes it's just called 'gain'.
For your master levels in Cake, it won't be much different than bringing up you mixes with the track volume control, assuming everything is in the ballpark to begin with.
On the mix, how about a bit of mild compression on the vocal and guitar tracks, and bring the guitar up some. (Sounds like it's just DI?) You can also try some compression and limiting on the mix too if you want to get the level up, but you might want to go easy on it. Most of the pop stuff we're comparing to is smashed to sh*t for the sake of volume -and sound like it.
Might be good to not try to go there for nice acoustic songs like these.

Wayne

[James Argo]

Originally Posted by guitarhunny

My knowledge on the recording end ends about where I am. I know nothing about plugins and nothing about mastering.

Well, plugins is processor/effects in software shape. It's an add on. You can use plugin as an effect in your audio track. Just insert them on the given field on track view.

Originally Posted by guitarhunny

My guitar is plugged into my Fostex MR-8 not miced so I lose some of the realness in my playing.

Okay, it's a bit tough, but absolutely doable with experience. Don't worry, if you realy pay attention on how you set them propherly, then you may get better sound with pickup. First is to know your guitar's character. Listening to your song, the guitar has typicaly "screeech" sound when recorded. Try struming right in front of the sound hole rather than closer to the bridge. If you have an EQ, then cut -3db ~ -6db around 10kHz. Once again, it takes experience to obtain best result. If you don't have an EQ, then make sure you record it as loud and clean as possible (w/o getting clipped). We can play with EQ on mixing stage later.

Originally Posted by guitarhunny

I am very low on cash flow so I can only go very slow (which is annoying) with the purchase of new and better ways of doing things.

Do you think we aren't ? That's why we're here...

Originally Posted by guitarhunny

What would be some recommendations for mastering stuff? I don't even know where to start.

Go:

http://www.directxfiles.com/plugins.htm

There's bunch of free plugins for you to download. Usualy you'll need compressor, gate, EQ, chorus, and reverb. Once you downloaded 'em, give 'em a try. Play with them until you know which one you need. We're here to help if you have any questions...


Jaymz

[guitarhunny]

Thanks sooooo much. It's good to know people are out there willing to help me out.

[dachay2tnr]

GH:

Check your private messages.


And, no, it's not what you think, you reprobates.

[Be Loveless]

are you sure that you you really need it to be louder? If your trying to get it to consumer CD levels I would abort your mission immediately and really think about whether it might just be "loud" enough already. Don't become a compression abuser, it's a filthy addictive habbit.

[Qwerty]

Originally Posted by dachay2tnr

And, no, it's not what you think, you reprobates.

A likely story........ I still maintain it's Moskus in a dress winding you all up....

Q.

[moskus]

HEY! Where did you see that picture?`!?!?

[dachay2tnr]

Originally Posted by Qwerty

I still maintain it's Moskus in a dress winding you all up....

Given my luck of late, I might find Moskus in a dress to be quite alluring.

But I'm really holding out for acidrock in bra and panties.

[guitarhunny]

I really just want the levels to match up. I know I can be very picky and quite a perfectionist but When I put the songs on a CD and listen to them the volume levels just seem really low and I want to be able to distribute my CD and have it be something that people will actually listen to. I'm probably just being really picky!

[James Argo]

Originally Posted by guitarhunny

I really just want the levels to match up. I know I can be very picky and quite a perfectionist but When I put the songs on a CD and listen to them the volume levels just seem really low and I want to be able to distribute my CD and have it be something that people will actually listen to. I'm probably just being really picky!

Pardon the homeboys here, mam... It's okay to be picky. We're all being one at a time, are'nt we * ?

Anyway, FYI, make up the level to match regular "CD level" is alot more simple done using audio editor, not Cakewalk. Cakewalk is not the best audio editor so far. It will do the sequencing, multitracking, mixing, etc. But to edit the result you'll need audio editor like Wavelab, Adobe Audition, Soundforge, etc. However, -although realy time consuming- you can do it in Cakewalk with experience. If you followed link I posted above, you'll find some free DirectX plugin like Richie's Compressor 1.0. It's not the best one, but it's free and you can use it to learn how to obtain what you wanted. Once you've done mixing your tracks, open new project, import the wave result, and insert this directX in the track. Tweak here and there. Learn what exactly those buttons do. If you have any questions, post here, and many probably will jump to help you...


Jaymz





*...imagine acidrock with his bra and panties

[guitarhunny]

James Argo

I did go to that sight and am going to try a few of the plugins. I am also going to check into some of those other programs. It seems like I have been working on my music forever and am getting anxious to go out and perform with something to distribute. I know that there is great help here and appreciate it tremendously. I will be around this site probably more than people will want me but as long as people are willing to help the picky and slightly insane I'll be here. Thanks

[Qwerty]

If it's really important to you, get it professionally mastered.

If not, grab something like iZotope's Ozone which will allow you to do fairly clean home-mastering without breaking the bank.

www.izotope.com

Ciao,

Q.

[moskus]

Or if you have the cash, try the WaveHammer by Sonic Foundry (or now: Sony). It does the job, and does it well.

The only sad thing is that you need to buy Sound Forge to get it...