Help with matching volume??

[CAJ3]

Hi, i'm new here.. new to recording too.

I have what I hope is a simple question.....

As I am recording and mixing various songs, How can I make sure that the volume or decibels of all the songs are the same? I have some that seem louder then others. Is there any kind of standard I can go by?

just incase it matters.. my toys:

Gateway PII 366 64MB
Yamaha SC2x Control Synth
Gemini Stereo Preamp DJ mixer
Korg Kaoss effects pad
2 cheapo mics
Sound Forge
Various Multi-track recording programs
Cool Edit 2000

I record to the WAV format, so I was wondering if there was something I could do in Sound Forge or Cool Edit to make sure my mixes are all the same volume??

Thanks for any help !!

oh yeah, I'm very new to this stuff, but please take a listen to a couple of my tracks.
http://www.mp3.com/caj3

THANKS !

 

[Buck62]

When you record, try to keep the db levels so they peak near zero db. Between -6 db and 0 db (without going over) is what to shoot for. Do that on all your recordings and that should keep you pretty close to the correct, consistant level.
If you get your stuff professionally mastered, a program like Sonic Solutions will "normalize" the levels of your songs, so that they are all equal in volume... the way you hear it on all professional recordings.

BTW... nice little town that you live in.
I met my wife when she lived in Midland for 18 months and had the chance to visit Bay City on a few occaisions. It's beautiful there in the summer and fall.

 

[mrclay]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>volume or decibels of all the songs are the same?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
You can get a better idea of how "loud" your songs are by calculating the average RMS volume under "Statistics" in cooledit. You'll want a bit of variety for an album (I'd think), but in Soundforge you can use RMS normalization and it'll do a great job at getting the audio at whatever target RMS level you want. Keep in mind this does do a little compression so be careful not to squash your mix by normalizing too high.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Is there any kind of standard I can go by?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Rip a few songs off your favorite CDs and run statistics on them as see what kind of average RMS levels you get.. I think a decent level is like -16 to -12dB, above that dynamics get pretty squashed.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>2 cheapo mics<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Noooo!! Get at least one halfway professional mic, an SM57 or something.

 

[CAJ3]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Buck62:

BTW... nice little town that you live in.
I met my wife when she lived in Midland for 18 months and had the chance to visit Bay City on a few occaisions. It's beautiful there in the summer and fall.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks I guess I should start logging what I do, so can keep everything more uniform.

Yeah, Bay City's not a bad place.. getting better every year...They're moving industrial businesses out away from the river, and bringing in Art Centers, planetariums, and condos...