Raising mp3 levels to match commercial recordings

C

complexprocess

New member
Hey guys,
Just so we all understand eachother, I'm sort of asking about mastering, but not really. I know that mastering is an incredibly deep subject and should be left to the pros and all that stuff that is general first response material for these threads. I'm not looking for professional results, I just want to take a mix that I'm pretty happy with and get it to sound as loud as a commercial CD, without totally butchering it. I'm using audacity to edit the stereo mix, but more general tips will work too.

What I'm basically asking for is some tips to get me started in the right direction. What sort of compression/limiting settings do you use (approximately) for different styles. I know it should be different for each project, but I just want a good starting point. I've noticed that cranking audacity's built in compression effect up to 10:1 and leaving the other settings at default gets the trick done volumewise, at least for a hardcore song that wasn't meant to have dynamics, but it doesn't sound great and on more dynamic music it makes the soft parts way to loud. Please point me in the right direction. :)

Also, I'm mostly going the plugin route. I have a hardware compressor (alesis nanocomp) that I usually use for bass, which I could also try, but I'd rather keep it all on the computer. Audacity (again, my current editor of choice) has a VST enabler which is a little funky but allows me to use VST plugins. any suggestions. Should I mess with multiband compression, or will that just complicate things for me while i'm in the infant stages of learning this stuff?

Thanks a whole lot for any tips.
 
Why does the thread title refer to MP3's? That's a compressed format, if you're mastering your stuff surely you're working with Wavs or some similar uncompressed audio format?

If you need MP3s down the line for whatever reason then that's something you'd do after the mastering stage.

I'm not going to sugest settings for no other reason than I'm not that experienced myself.

You could do a lot better for comps/limiters than the audacity one though even if you stay with freeware:

Blockfish (compressor)- this comes with useable de-esser and gate too.

Master limiter -all of the Kjaerhus classic series plugs are free and most of them are pretty decent for freebies.

All the best
 
Kevin DeSchwazi said:
Why does the thread title refer to MP3's? That's a compressed format, if you're mastering your stuff surely you're working with Wavs or some similar uncompressed audio format?

If you need MP3s down the line for whatever reason then that's something you'd do after the mastering stage.

I'm not going to sugest settings for no other reason than I'm not that experienced myself.

You could do a lot better for comps/limiters than the audacity one though even if you stay with freeware:

Blockfish (compressor)- this comes with useable de-esser and gate too.

Master limiter -all of the Kjaerhus classic series plugs are free and most of them are pretty decent for freebies.

All the best
Click to expand...


I totally agree with Kevin.

Here is what I would suggest:
1) Mix your tracks to make them sound good. Use only enough compression to make everything sit well. Do not go for volume during mixing (there should still be plenty of dynamics in your mix, and leave some headroom).

2) Mix down to .wav files or another lossless format.

3) Reimport your mix for "mastering." I've used the Classic Master Limiter that Kevin suggests and like it pretty well. It may not give you a "pro" sound, but it should work well for what you want to do. Be careful not to over-limit, which will remove all dynamics and make your songs hard to listen to.

4) As for multiband compressors, I've used one called TripleComp that was free and have downloaded a couple of others, but, in my opinion, they all sounded pretty lousy. They may be useful on individual tracks but I would not use them on your final mix.

5) Export your "mastered" track down to .wav again

6) Then, convert files to mp3, if needed.
 
And keep in mind that some recordings will not have the *potential volume level* that others do - This is normally (at least over the past several years) a very calculated and planned thing from the arrangment of the song and on.

In other words, the arrangement, core sound, mic selection and positioning, recording technique, mix technique - All of these have MUCH more to do with the "potential volume" of a song than the processing during mastering. You can "fudge" that threshold (with experience and certain gear) but you can't squeeze blood out of a basketball.

So when you're shooting for *loud* make sure you dont' cross the line into *Oh my God, that sounds like a$$* :) It's usually a very fine line.
 
I find it's natural to start looking at compressors when you want to master a track, but many of your answers are in proper use of EQ. Try analyzing the frequency spectrum of your track to see if there's a big hole somewhere. Sometimes filling that hole by changing the tone of an instrument or just by bringing it up a bit in the stereo mix can make a huge difference in the perceived volume of the track.
 
Kevin DeSchwazi said:
Why does the thread title refer to MP3's? That's a compressed format, if you're mastering your stuff surely you're working with Wavs or some similar uncompressed audio format?
Click to expand...

Hey Kevin,
I mentioned mp3s because I wanted to indicate that the final output was not intended to be released as a production cd in the thread title, and to make sure i didn't mention "mastering". Doing so inevitably gets a thread loaded with "Mastering is a difficult subject, read x,y, and z books or go to a pro. case closed" types of responses. It was poor word choice on my part, thanks for catching me.

To everyone (including kevin) thanks for the advice so far. Ryanlikestorock, could you give me a little more info on frequency analysis. What software should I use? Sorry, this is one area where I'm most diffinately a newby.
 
complexprocess said:
Ryanlikestorock, could you give me a little more info on frequency analysis. What software should I use? Sorry, this is one area where I'm most diffinately a newby.
Click to expand...

There are topics on this subject on the boards. I remember reading them. Some programs have them built in, or you can use an external plug-in. Try to find the topics on this subject.
 
What I have found is that if something is going to have "commercial volume", it pretty much already has that volume when the mix is done. Everything I have ever seen sent off for mastering comes back a little louder, or not much louder at all. For example, one of my first home recordings ever was sent off for mastering. Years later (when I actually knew how to mix) I dug the tracks back up and remixed them for kicks. My unmastered remixes were much louder than the old mastered version just because the mix was that much better. Now imagine if I went back and re-recorded the tracks instead of just remixing them. My point is the "commercial volume" doesn't magically appear at the mastering stage. I've sat in on pro mixing sessions and taken home "rough" pro mixes. The volume is already there.

My advice is to go back and learn as much as you can about recording and mixing. Then you'll get your volume.
 
Its the old problem with the kik and snare really for me. Every time i do a rock song the kik and snare are considerably larger than the meat of the wave. (guitar, bass, vox)
Would i be right in saying that to get round this problem that i could use a frequency analyzer on the kik and snare tracks seperately (once effects have been applied) and find the frequency (for each) that they occupy mostly, and then from the other tracks scoop out little parts of those frequencies so as the kik and snare are heard clearly. Thus making the peaks of the kik and snare smaller thus making it easier to get #that volume# that people like so much.
Am i totally wrong? I cant think of any other way to get the kik and snare to cut through the mix without creating stupidly big peaks.
 
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