When should you normalise?

[karambos2]

When, during the process of producing a song, should one "normalise"? Is it wise to normalise everything straight away or at some other time (like at the end of recording a certain instrument)?

The reason I ask is this. Imagine I record one guitar sequence. I chop it in the sequencer and have 2 audio sequences for guitar on one track which originally came from the same recording. If I normalise the first, the whole of the first sequence gets "lifted" in relation to the loudest peak in that file. And ditto the second file. However, the loudest peak in one or the other files might (will probably) be a different level than the other. Thus I end up with different loudnesses.

What do readers of this forum recommend?

thx

 

[enferno]

IMHO, never. every time you normaliz it changes the waveform slightly. Because in the digital domain, you get nothing for free.

Even a simple calculation like gain or normalizing (which is nothing other than applying an amount of gain) will make you lose a tiny bit of info. So if you can avoid any unnecessary steps, avoid them. If that particular sound needs to be mixed in louder, just push the fader up more (instead of normalizing it and still needing to move the fader a bit). If you can't reach the wanted level, maybe compress, and use the gain there. If it's really too low, you recorded it badly. Point.

 

[kylen]

... However, the loudest peak in one or the other files might (will probably) be a different level than the other. Thus I end up with different loudnesses.

This is the reason to use faders for the application you describe.

Normalization is not an evil tool IMO - however in this case it is not the most appropriate DSP operation to apply - the track fader is.