A Question about loudness perception

[Marc2109]

I have noticed a phenomena I don't quite understand in my recording. I sometimes come across a situation, where two VST synths (I am using Sonar x2a) show relatively equal output levels, but yet, I perceive that one is louder than the other. In the case I am thinking of now, the louder was a Kontakt piano, and the quieter was Mdrummer. In order to get Mdrummer up to where the two instruments sounding about the same loudness, I had to put Mdrummer in the red.

I understand the concept of lowering the fader on the piano instead of boosting the drums...that is not what I am getting at here. My question is, what might be causing this discrepancy?

Thanks for any insight...

 

[Xntryk1]

Percieved Loudness...

I'm thinking the issues lies with the metering and the way signals are measured. Your ears can't hear instant peaks in music and tho the drums hit with an instant peak volume that shows red, your ears and brain have a sort of built in "delay" and your ears respond in a more VU meter fashion. VU meters were the old analog meters found on cassette decks and older studio's consoles that responded very much as our ears do. A way to raise that drum sound a lot would be to use a compressor or maximizer on the signal. It quashes the "red" peaks and instantly turns up the rest of the drum sound to a louder volume, making a louder overall sound, esp. using EZ Drummer plugin instrument. Most recording today would use some compression on drum tracks. Research compression and practice with a compressor. They are tricky to master, especially multi band/multi-frequency compressors.

 

[Marc2109]

Thanks for responding...that sounds logical. I do remember now that you said that, when I watched one of the Mdrummer tutorial videos, the guy inserted and effect to make the overall sound louder, but I don't think it was a compressor per se...he called it something else...now of course, I can't seem to find that particular video. I'll give the compressor suggestion a go.

 

[Farview]

The standard way to set levels in a mix is to start with the drums and add thru other elements around them. You do this because the drums will have the highest peak and the lowest perceived volume, so you start with the drums at a level that is maybe at -6dbfs peak and add everything else around it. If the drums start getting buried, turn everything else down.
The drums are the anchor of the mix and will keep you from pushing it into the red.