Beginner trying to 'Normalize'

[Love & Light]

Ok, I've had a look at the tutorial for normalizing on the main site and although it has given me a flavour for what its about, it doesn't really go into any great detail.

Can anyone give me any additional tips or their own experiences of basic normalising and how to go about it and where to start.

I want to get some of my recordings from my analog 4-track onto CD-R. I have all the proper cables to hook it up onto my computer. Are there any programs etc. that I may need?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Cloneboy Studio]

There is no need to normalize anything.

Normalizing is a sure fire way to make your audio sound like crap. If you don't know WHY you are using it, and what it's for... keep your hands away from it.

In my opinion normalization is really only useful for sample editing and clean up. You don't want to use it for your recorded tracks or mixes. Guaranteed to create a travesty.

 

[Love & Light]

Ok, thanks for the advice.

But what Im also trying to get at is to make sure my songs that Im putting on CD-R are all at approximately the same noise level. Is there any other way to do this rather than the normalization route.

 

[Cloneboy Studio]

It's the final step of the audio process called mastering. In mastering you (basically) are looking to even out the frequency responses of the songs to be equivalent, same loudness and dynamics level, and make sure that the album can be produced/replicated without any errors.

There's more to it than just this, depending on the circumstances, but essentially this is it.

Trust me... normalization is *NO* substitute for mastering.

Take this for example (192kb MP3 so not 100% fidelity but close enough):

This is the instrumental sounds of what I TRACKED without any mixing whatsoever (only what I recorded without any EQ, compression or other "fancy" stuff):

This is what it sounds like after I have mixed the tracks (applied eq, reverb, compression, set levels and so on):

This is what it sounds like after I mastered the audio (raised volume with L2 peak limiter, hit it with a multiband compressor a slight bit, and some other tricks):

 

[resination808]

If you enjoy music with dynamics, than normalizing is not good for you...matter of fact, it's not good for anyone. APM kills the basic principals of wave functions and by averaging out sound, all you get is constant pounding on your hearing. Try a mastering program, and learn adaptive multi compression and general compression. Also, have a Db standard ( decible meter) for your mixing before you start to compress and normalize. Waves platinum has a few plu-ins that can become useful ( other programs can garner similar results for less)

 

[CoolCat]

intersting sound bites showing the 3 process steps.

noticed the mastered sample was 3times louder?

the second one sounded great too.

so adding to this threads question, how does a home-recordist

"master" their home grown tunes to CD-R cheaply and without

normalizing.

I used normalizing/compression off Free NERO once and it adjusted the tunes volume to match...

it didn't sound mastered...but it was nice not having to turn the volume
up and down every fhkng song.
I don't have an oscilliscope, but it didn't trash the tune totally.

so what do you recommend thats FREE and is better than Normalizing???

 

[Cloneboy Studio]

Good mastering isn't free. The software that I used to master those songs with cost about 3k. I'm not a mastering engineer (I'm a track/mix guy), but I can do an okay job if I have to.

I used this chain for the master (in order, first to last):

Waves MaxxBass--to add a little low end thump... only used a bit of this because a little goes a long way.

Waves Renaissance EQ--set it to optic, slight high-end tweak to bring out some highs and the overall effect gives a slightly more vintage vibe to the track.

Waves C4 Multiband Compressor--(note: some mastering engineers *hate* multiband compression and consider it to be degenerative to the overall sound) I used this to mostly "glue" the track together by hitting the bands very lightly. I'm not using it to compress a lot... very minimal.

Waves L2 Limiter--this is where you get the big volume boost. Up until this point my summed signal level was around -9db or so. I added just enough gain to beef up the volume a great deal, but not at the expense of punch or dynamics. This type of "smart" limiter is why music in the last 6-7 years has gotten so much louder than previously. This isn't a good thing to be honest, but if you want to be 'modern' you have to be at least comparable in volume. Personally, I prefer my peak audio to be around -3db with a wider dynamic range.

About 90% of the change you hear from mix to master is from the L2. It's actually a very good program for what it does.

 

[HangDawg]

If you enjoy music with dynamics, than normalizing is not good for you...matter of fact, it's not good for anyone.

Hmmmm, I was always under the impression that normalizing has no effect on dynamics of the material because all it does is raise the volume so the highest peak of the waveform hits 0db(or whatever you set it at). No change in peak to average ratio. Someone clarify.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Hmmmm, I was always under the impression that normalizing has no effect on dynamics of the material because all it does is raise the volume so the highest peak of the waveform hits 0db(or whatever you set it at). No change in peak to average ratio. Someone clarify.

That's true... normalizing is typically a "Peak value" algorithm... but there are plug-ins that allow normalization based on RMS level.... so for that to work, it really must be a combination of limiter (which will affect dynamics), along with peak normalization to increase overall level. In this case, RMS normalization would affect dynamics - it just saves you a step of limiting, then peak normalizing.

The downsides of normalizing are an increase in noise floor as well as using it as an excuse for poor tracking technique:

Client: "Hey you recorded that signal pretty low...."
Clueless Engineer: "Don't worry, I'll just normalize it to where I want it later..."
Bear overhearing this conversation: {Yikes........ }

 

[punkin]

Here's an excerpt out of the SONAR help. I've played with it, taking it so some extremes to see how it really behaves...I for one can't see any use for it in typical mucial applications. Maybe for some specialized audio events but not for your typical tracking stuff.


"When increasing or decreasing the volume of audio clips, you should consider the following points:

Normalize and 3dB Louder raise the noise floor; that is, while they increase the volume of the signal, they also amplify the noise it contains. (This is true when you raise the volume by other means, too.)
3dB Louder, if applied to a signal that is already fairly loud, may cause the waveform to exceed the maximum amplitude and clip.
Normalize, by raising the waveform amplitude to the maximum, puts the signal in danger of being clipped if you subsequently apply a command or effect that boosts the signal slightly. If this occurs, you may have to back up and apply 3dB Quieter to the normalized signal before the other processing.
Each application of 3dB Quieter erodes the signal structure slightly; you cannot repeatedly apply 3dB Quieter, then use 3dB Louder to return to the original waveform.
Due to the nature and limitations of digital audio, the sum of all audio signals played together cannot exceed the waveform amplitude limit. Even though no individual clip is clipped, the combination may cause distortion.
If the selection contains any loud signals, Normalize may not seem to have any effect. This is because the volume increase is determined by the loudest audio in the selection. If an audio clip contains segments that are too quiet and others that are loud, you should probably split off the quiet segments into separate clips and then normalize those."

 

[undrgrnd studio]

free poor mans mastering

I downloaded a free trial version of Goldwave that works for 3000 uses. Everytime I mix a song onto my PC I run it through Goldwave and do a volume maximization. It puts the volume of the wav file as high as it can be without clipping. SOmetimes I run it through the EQ or parametric EQ as well. When I really want to master I will use the BR1180CD mastering section, but for volume control and basic EQ I use Goldwave for quick mastering. It works pretty damn good actually.

 

[CoolCat]

Goldwave

downloaded and ran it.
not sure what I'm doing, but it's free. So what makes this better than Normalizing, seems it works kinda the same or appearance is the same??

-will listen to a couple pre/posts in the traffic jam tomorrow.

I clicked on Expander and Maximize Volume or some sht. Default no engineering work yet.

Then the tunes had to run thru Windows Player, RIP, save to library, burn list, to burn a CD...
doesn't all this transferring around chop up the signals? inexp most likely.

if it's an improvement in the car, it'll be great. I'll want ot spend more time with it....THANKS!!! UNDRGRND

really good news is i finally ordered up a RNC.....SPB1,DMP3,RNC,TC M300--
all from the gangs inputs here, best my home tunes has sounded ever...and in my $100 budget ranges!!
ohyeah!

 

[Cloneboy Studio]

Honestly, if you're not 1000% percent comfortable with tracking and mixing, and able to quote bible and verse about compression and eq you really have no business attempting to master audio.

It is a deceptively subtle, precise and difficult challenge. More often than not you do more harm than good.

 

[CoolCat]

no clue? but....i thought the computer would do it all

Honestly, if you're not 1000% percent comfortable with tracking and mixing, and able to quote bible and verse about compression and eq you really have no business attempting to master audio.

It is a deceptively subtle, precise and difficult challenge. More often than not you do more harm than good.

i don't and agree. i track the best possible and read,learn.
a homerecording yafhzuntink.
no more,no less. I'm not dillusional and expect my bedroom to sound like fhkng Pro-Studio Hall.

the other day i was blown away by some dude with a song, Everythings Perfect, really good....then he responded saying he spent $3K mastering it.
(i'm not so depressed now).

track some tunes, burn a cd-r man...i guess my mojo comes from the songwriting side, but i like the studio and gear and buildings...or least imrpoving the listenability in za car, yah. compress, mix,

garbage in/garbage out ....yav unt ien zakint spear


My GOLDWAVE first try only adding expander and Volume Maxipad didn't work. I spent no time setting it up, but thought maybe the default would help.
Seems to have added treble, kinda like a BBE Sonic Maximizer sound....

will try again.... it's most likely my tracks and sht mix (garbage in).

 

[Cloneboy Studio]

Just work the tracking/mixing thing in tandem for awhile. You'll find when you're mixing something you'll think "man, I should have recorded that better!" and your tracking will get better as you grow pickier and pickier.

I tell you, if something is tracked brilliantly it is hard to mess it up in the mix. In fact, the less you have to "do" to something mix-wise the more open, natural and good it will sound.

That's why I've been avoiding using any EQ on guitar sounds lately. I'll maybe put some compression on, but I've been trying to avoid any EQ except for the occasional subtractive cut here and there.