DP4 help???

[onesidered]

Hello,

I have been recording with DP4 via MOTU 828mkII on an Apple IPOD for a few months. The recordings have been wonderful. So my question does not have to do with recording. My question has to do with the mixdown/mastering.

Example: I have just recorded a song with 8 drum tracks, 2 guitar tracks, 2 bass tracks and a vocal track. I have done the EQing and have set all the levels where I want them. On the Master Fader in DP4, my levels barely tickle the red. But when I export it, and play it on other systems, the volume level is so much lower than it was on the DAW.

How can I make the mixdown volume level louder w/out clipping? So it equals the volume level of a commercially recorded song?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Tustin

 

[Jeyan]

Do you have a master effect inserted in that master fader? That could be a reason. When you bounce to track, how does the wave amplitude look like? Hot?

 

[masteringhouse]

Hello,

I have been recording with DP4 via MOTU 828mkII on an Apple IPOD for a few months. The recordings have been wonderful. So my question does not have to do with recording. My question has to do with the mixdown/mastering.

Example: I have just recorded a song with 8 drum tracks, 2 guitar tracks, 2 bass tracks and a vocal track. I have done the EQing and have set all the levels where I want them. On the Master Fader in DP4, my levels barely tickle the red. But when I export it, and play it on other systems, the volume level is so much lower than it was on the DAW.

How can I make the mixdown volume level louder w/out clipping? So it equals the volume level of a commercially recorded song?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Tustin

Tustin -

The percieved level of music is based on a many different factors, they include at minimum the RMS level, the Peak level, and the frequency balance of the material. The treatment(s) needed will depend largely on the song at hand and is a good reason to get someone with a lot of experience in mastering to help after mixing.

Things that are done to the material in the mastering process include filtering to remove sub-harmonic frequencies that are inappropriate and rob the material of level, along with filtering high frequencies that may cause aliasing artifacts or sibilance. General EQ for overall frequency balance and to make the CD consistent from song to song, compression and peak limiting to increase the overal volume. Potentially multi-band compression to tame stray frequencies or bring out a certain element of the mix. Effects to help widen the stereo field, or create tube or tape harmonic enhancement, as well as other processing like dither.

All of these things have to be taken into account to produce a commercial quality CD, not just level.

That said, if you want to just make things louder, try a peak limiter like the Waves L2.

 

[onesidered]

Jeyan: The wav file has alot of "hills and valleys" It sounds great. Very clear, very clean. I will try the master effect in the master fader. I never knew about that. Thanks

Mhouse: Thanks for all of the info. It is great to know that so much info is available if you just ask for it. I appreciate you breaking it down for me. I am not sure what Waves is, but if it might work, I will try it Is it a plug-in?

Thanks,

 

[masteringhouse]

Jeyan: The wav file has alot of "hills and valleys" It sounds great. Very clear, very clean. I will try the master effect in the master fader. I never knew about that. Thanks

Mhouse: Thanks for all of the info. It is great to know that so much info is available if you just ask for it. I appreciate you breaking it down for me. I am not sure what Waves is, but if it might work, I will try it Is it a plug-in?

Thanks,

The Waves L2 is available both as hardware and as a plug-in.

See:

http://www.waves.com/htmls/prods/hardware/l2_ultramaximizer.htm

and

http://www.waves.com/htmls/prods/indi/l2.html

Also check out the masters bundle, well worth the expense for 2 types of EQ, multiband compressor, and the L2.