final mix and song volume

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JesseP

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Hey everyone,
I am fairly new to recording. I have been fooling around in logic pro 8 and over the last several months and i just finished recording and mixing my first song with my band. Everything sounds the way I like it to in logic. When i bounce the track the volume is much lower then everything else in my itunes library. Can someone explain how to adjust the volume of the whole song in Logic or how to normalize the song if thats what i should be doing? By the way is there anything else I should be doing before i bounce the final mix?
 
hehe that works. I was just never a fan of viewing my project in that mixer way and thats the only way it shows you that slider i think.

Thanks
 
That alone isn't going to do what you are wanting it to do. It will still be significantly quieter than all your other music. What you can do is put a limiter on the master buss, which will allow you to boost the volume without clipping.
 
Great forum! A newb asks a perfectly honest question and he gets four sacastic replies.
 
Rule of thumb: leave the master buss free of any effects...master the volume/mix in a separate project

bounce your mix down to a stereo wav...import it back into logic..then read up on compression and limiters...be careful...too much will ruin your mix

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=293959&highlight=compression

you can also use maximizers and inflators which will increase the volume without actually affecting the sound of the mix...just be careful not to clip..there are a few free vsts that work pretty well

http://www.wavosaur.com/vst/limiter-plugins.php

you should be mixing at around a 14db volume anyway to give your tracks plenty of headroom
 
Hey everyone,
I am fairly new to recording. I have been fooling around in logic pro 8 and over the last several months and i just finished recording and mixing my first song with my band. Everything sounds the way I like it to in logic. When i bounce the track the volume is much lower then everything else in my itunes library. Can someone explain how to adjust the volume of the whole song in Logic or how to normalize the song if thats what i should be doing? By the way is there anything else I should be doing before i bounce the final mix?
Hi JesseP,
To make your song pro, warm, transparent, dynamic and loud, it needs the final step after mixing. It is not easy to do it yourself without any experience. You should learn something about mastering, there are good books /by Bob Katz e.g./
 
Great forum! A newb asks a perfectly honest question and he gets four sacastic replies.

Just to be clear though (oops, did I count right? yes) that was counting yours? :D
Really though, my sarcasm is at loud, now 'normal, anything else > abnormal.
I shall contribute and redeem. :)

Tracks must be flattened down so as to make them very small so that they fit in nice and tight at the top of the volume scale. This is done with compression, limiters and other means partly during mixing and/or the recording process, but typically (and primarily) on the final mix in a separate 'smashtering' phase.
:):D
 
Turn the rest of the world down.
Can't put it any better than that!


Don't worry about making it loud. Songs today suffer horrible damage trying to get that loud. Even if you think they sound "clean", they could be so much better.
 
Yo Jesse, here's where home recording gets dicey. Put a limiter on your master-bus and bring it up until you see about -3db of compression. See if you like how it sounds in your car or somewhere else outside of your studio, and if it's not good enough for you, you should consider hiring a mastering engineer. Good mastering will not only get your song to reasonable levels of volume, but can also really glue a song together.
 
Hey everyone,
I thought turning the master fader up was enough but turns out no. Im sorry i couldnt really figure out how to do the limiter thing you guys were talking about. I am a logic newb. Can you guys walk me through in a more understandable way? If im viewing it like a mixer there is a master bus on the left but it wont let you insert anything onto it. There is a track to the left labeled Out 1-2. I tried the limiter on that track but couldnt really figure out how to use it. help? Sorry this didnt come easy to me.
 
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