I need a program that will master...

[TheWicketOne]

I need an audio program that can master songs at a real CD level. Whenever I record from my 8 track into my computer to make a CD, I turn it up to just below clipping, but it's still about half as loud as a real CD. A friend said I needed to master it, but everytime I use Sound Forge to turn the overall volume up, it just clips. I thought Pro Tools would do it, but I didn't know if the version could or not. Any ideas?

[esactun]

Hey Wicket:

You asked the Loaded Question... many belligerent threads have come and gone regarding "sweetening" vs. "mastering", with lots of grave "Don't do it yourself" warnings from do-it-yourselfers.

Anyway, to answer your question...

You sound like you want a compressor (and/or a band limiter). It will help accomplish your main function of getting your mixes louder by lowering the level of the highest peaks in the sound wave while raising the overall level.

Your levels clip, but the disc is only "half as loud" as the pros? That's because there's two concepts to keep in mind-- volume and RMS. A clipping level is at top volume, but may not seem all that LOUD. RMS is sort of a measure of loudness (not technically, but reasonably close enough for now). A file that peaks at -6dB but has a RMS of -10dB will sound quite louder in general than a file peaking at -2dB but with an RMS of -18dB. Hopefully, with a compressor you will be able to increase the RMS of the file (while slightly turning down the volume so you won't have any clipping).

Actually, SOund Forge has both a compressor and a band limiter built in--Graphic Dynamics is the compressor and Multi-Band Dynamics is the band limiter (sort of a blend between a compressor and an EQ). **Check the help files** for details on using them, I'm no expert with them myself and they can be tricky. And listen closely--too much compression will sound loud, but lousy. Just a bit too much compression will sound GREAT-- until a few weeks after your demo release....

Now whether other board denizens will grant you license to call it "mastering" is another story.

[esactun]

There is another option for loud mixes in Sound Forge, but it's harder to achieve good results. If your mixes are not professional sounding, you can also use the Normalize feature. Just check the "RMS Level" box rather than the "Peak Level" box. Then you set the RMS that you want your files to be at (anything above -6dB is super-loud and will sound terrible. Your best setting may be quite lower than this.) The Scan Levels button will tell you the peak and RMS of the file. By default, Normalize to RMS will apply limiting compression to any peaks that would clip if you had tried to simply raise the volume a similar amount.

Normalize to Peak will simply apply a constant gain to the file to bring the highest peak up to the level you specify. Normalize to RMS applies a variable gain; up on quiet parts and down on the loud parts.

Listen closely to the mix when done with this processing, preferably on a nice system with good speakers and good high-end response. When compressors compress too much, the ugly artifacts that result are often most apparent in the high frquency range. On systems or headphones that don't have as good of a response to the high end, you may not notice the artifacts at all until it's too late.

Hope this helps!

[Chris Shaeffer]

Hey there, TheWicketOne-

The compressor is probably the place to start. Nutcase nailed it. Normalize, then compress. Watch the meters in your program to make sure that you aren't squeezing too much dynamic range out of your mix while taming those peaks.

You might also see if using the compressor in Pro Tools helps keep some elements of your mix from peaking when you turn the mix up. I've found that compressing problem areas within the mix is much more effective at making the mix louder than compressing the whole mix.

Either way you slice it, compression is a tricky effect to get the hang of. Play with it a lot and see what it does- it will be time WELL spent.

Enjoy,
Chris