Quick mixing inquiry

A

appleyardrules

New member
When mixing,i start off having the kick drum peak at 0 DB which is probably a bad idea but anyway. As tracks get added the mix clips when the master fader is at 0
i was wondering if turning down the masster fader to make sure the signal is not clipping is sufficient? or would turning down all the tracks volume be a better idea? im asking this because if my tracks are turned up loud but the master fader is down, does that rob me of dynamic range in mastering?
 
you don't want anything to hit 0.

I've analysied some of my favorite songs' mixes and most of them peak at -1, with the occasional foray in -.8 or so. And turning it down 1 DB won't hurt dynamic range.
 
If you're going to send it off for prof mastering you'll hve to leave quite a bit of head room.
Pull things back so that you don't have ANY chance of clipping on indiv tracks & same with stereo master faders.
Mix the levels so it sounds good & leave the mox vol to the mastering engineer if that's what you're after. IF you're planning to master for yourself remember that uber compressed, peak & through free, max vol stuff is VERY tiring to listen to it can be very appropriate if the music is meant to bludgeon the listener like early Helmet but even brain stomping music like the Stooges 1st album had headroom.
 
appleyardrules said:
When mixing,i start off having the kick drum peak at 0 DB which is probably a bad idea but anyway. As tracks get added the mix clips when the master fader is at 0
i was wondering if turning down the masster fader to make sure the signal is not clipping is sufficient? or would turning down all the tracks volume be a better idea? im asking this because if my tracks are turned up loud but the master fader is down, does that rob me of dynamic range in mastering?
Click to expand...

Start with your kick much lower like maybe -10dB.

It's fine that you're starting the mix with the kick, but you will only be adding more tracks and therefore more volume as you continue to mix. By starting with a kick at 0dB you've already maxed out your headroom. The next thing you add will take it over 0dB.
 
First off, as previously stated, I wouldn't start any one thing right at 0. Always go a bit less than that. Once everything is recorded, get all of the track levels so that the mix is good as far as one track to the next, then check where your master is peaking, and adjust it last.
 
just a sec, here...

do you mean that the channel the kick is on hits 0db, or the master fader is hitting 0db with just the kick?

either way, you're going to want to turn some shit down...shoot for an average of around -6 on the master, which will give yourself or your ME plenty of headroom to work with later on
 
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