Compression & Hard Limiting, etc. (Audition)

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mentionpk

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Been reading for a while, mostly about mic techniques and getting the best "source". I just recently made the horrible decision to record a few of my band's songs at my home setup. Something I haven't done in about 5+ years. (Totally forgot what a pain this is ha) Now I just have some questions about a few things, since I really want to make this sound as good as possible. I am using Adobe Audition simply because I started using CEP years ago and am just comfortable with it. Ok here goes..

1. Compression or Hard-Limiting first?
- A lot of tracks I've recorded aren't taking up my full waveform if that makes since. (My wording may be off) So I've always used hard-limiting to bring everything up, but I also know compression makes a difference as well, so which should come first?

2. Should I just start with the mix?
- Something else I wasn't sure about, likely a dumb question. I always figured get each individual track to their maximum levels before setting levels in the mix. That makes more sense right?

Ok that's about all I have, everything else I'm gonna deal with a lot of trial and error. That's always worked best for me. Any input would be much appreciated. Thanks.
 
1. Don't use either unless your sure you need it. Just because the waveform is not hitting its peaks doesn't mean its not recorded.
2. Don't track so hot. When tracking try to track around -18db and peak around -15db. On digital equipment -18 is about 0db on analogue equipment. Finished mix should sit around -10 or so.
 
I will go further in saying the waveform should NEVER peak. There is no need to use any limiter on a single track unless there is a problem to fix in the first place. At the mixing stage loudness is not the goal. Save that for the Mastering Engineer.
 
thank you very much. this should save me A LOT of time. glad I asked.

So rfahey86, I was mainly going to use compression on the distorted guitar tracks just to kinda brighten them up. Do you think some simple EQ would be fine?
 
EQ to brighten.
Compress to control dynamics (for the most part, it does get more complicated).
Distorted guitars are typically pretty compressed to begin with. I only compress them when it is a pretty dynamic guitar part that needs some extra volume on the quiet parts. The other time I'll compress them is to create a little more sustain and/or attack.
 
mentionpk said:
1. Compression or Hard-Limiting first?
- A lot of tracks I've recorded aren't taking up my full waveform if that makes since. (My wording may be off) So I've always used hard-limiting to bring everything up, but I also know compression makes a difference as well, so which should come first?
Click to expand...

That would be like running you car against the guardrail as a means of steering.
 
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