Bus setup and procedure - assistance requested

[aaroncomp]

Excuse my ignorance, but...

Three things affect final volume of a song (in general, for my question) when mixing:

1)Individual track compression/limiting
2)Gain knob of that track(never above zero)
3)Final compression/limiting of the mixdown

I need some clarification on how to do this correctly, as I'm getting a little confused. I typically use a seperate Bus for every track (unless same instrument, doubles, etc.). My question concerns getting pre-mixdown volumes from clipping. I'm unskilled in the analog world (and obviously here too ) but I think a Stereo Bus is what I'd be looking for to solve this problem. This doesn't exist in Audition 1.5, correct? So, let's say I've applied some compression plus/minus limiting to all of my tracks, then adjusted the channels' gain knobs accordingly. Being that the limiter isn't interconnected to all of the tracks before mixdown, how do I prevent problems? Do I just keep the general mix well under 0db (like 6-10) by eyeballing it, then limit the mixdown track? I hope this question is clear. This brings me to a related question...

With my freshly recorded tracks (unmixed), do you typically first set some rough gain settings on the tracks to prevent blunt clipping, then after you've applied compression/limiting, etc. go back and readjust accordingly?

Thanks in advance.

 

[BRIEFCASEMANX]

If somethings clipping I usually just press Alt+2 and then a "master" fader shows up and I turn that down. I don't know if that's what you were looking for maybe I didn't understand the Q.

Also, why would you never put your tracks above zero?

 

[aaroncomp]

Ok, I think I may have solved my problem. But first, about the volume thing (above zero) - I've always heard that you when you get to the point where you need more gain from a track and you're already at zero, you should never push the gain above zero, but instead, relatively lower everything else. This may be incorrect?

So I think what I'm supposed to do (and haven't been) is use the FX banks for all my indiviual tracks and the Busses for the groups of tracks. Actually, I feel very stupid as I'm writing what I think I already knew...

So if I slap a final limiter onto a Bus and assign that Bus to every track, it will tame everything collectively? Right? Don't ask me why I'm not confident of myself...

 

[BRIEFCASEMANX]

the master fader does lower everything relatively. Holding Alt+2 brings this up.

I think increasing gain in the digital realm does create some distortion but (I think) it's very, very minimal.

 

[Change of POETS]

Adjusting the volume of individual tracks within the mix, above zero or not, will not distort the track. The master volume and RMS levels need to be monitored to ensure you're overall mix doesn't exceed zero, or you WILL incure distortion and a very muddy mixdown.

However, you answered your own question. I typically keep a mixdown approx at -4 db for peak volume. I then move into mastering software, EQ etc, adding gain during compression to increase overall volume of the track. Then I take the mastered version and in Adobe, I Hard Limit the entire track to -0.1 db, but first I gather the clipping stats, and never clip more than 1%.

Of course, I work strictly with hip-hop, and this genre likes everything loud, and in your face.

 

[BRIEFCASEMANX]

Adjusting the volume of individual tracks within the mix, above zero or not, will not distort the track. The master volume and RMS levels need to be monitored to ensure you're overall mix doesn't exceed zero, or you WILL incure distortion and a very muddy mixdown.
QUOTE]

Actual there has to be some distortion that occurs, although I believe it is very very minimal as to be imperceptible to the human ear. I think some people say it can add up if you have huge track counts though. I think what he is referencing has more to do with analog than digital.

 

[aaroncomp]

It's like a digital camera's image. When you capture your image, as soon as you begin to use digital zooming during the shot or in post-processing (interpolation, etc.) you degrade/distort the image. So in recording, you get the level at a decent overall level to work with before you mix. That way, you won't have to raise it unnaturally.