How to raise the level in my recordings..

  • Thread starter Thread starter ericlingus
  • Start date Start date
yeah my bad. I was wrong for saying that. I was in a bad mood and frustrated with recording. Shouldn't have taken it out on you guys.
 
Another thing you should check out is gain staging. Do a search.
 
yeah i've read about that. But every book/article I read about it, has different opinions and im not sure which ones to follow. One book says guitars should be around -12db another says get it as high as you can without clipping. What level would you suggest I have each track at?
 
metalhead28 said:
If you have individual tracks with out of control peaks, and a buildup of unwanted frequencies.....what better time to address these issues than during the mixing stage. I think that is what we are all talking about here.
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For a complete newbie, how do I know what "unwanted frequencies" are? What ones are good and what are bad?

Like if I can hear my ride cymbal fine with the drum only track playing and then I intoduce the guitar tracks the ride cymbal disapears...how would I fix that? How do I know what to EQ on the guitar tracks to be able to hear the ride cymbal again? If I EQ the guitar tracks to hear the ride wont that take away from the guitar sound? HELP?!?!?!?
 
Bloodsoaked said:
For a complete newbie, how do I know what "unwanted frequencies" are? What ones are good and what are bad?

Like if I can hear my ride cymbal fine with the drum only track playing and then I intoduce the guitar tracks the ride cymbal disapears...how would I fix that? How do I know what to EQ on the guitar tracks to be able to hear the ride cymbal again? If I EQ the guitar tracks to hear the ride wont that take away from the guitar sound? HELP?!?!?!?
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The unwanted frequency is 3kHz. :p ;)

OK, seriously, that might be a place to look, but also consider creating space for both with panning.

ericlingus, what was not clear about "post a clip"? We can give you much more useful advice if we are not taking shots in the dark.
 
oops. Well I was going to forget about the post but I changed my mind so here is the clip. This is the clip before I raise the volume. I can't seem to do it without fucking it up. Even if I can a little bit, the limiting makes it sound crappy. I want dynamics still but not have the track be this low. BTW how low is this track? Would yous say it's lower than most of your tracks before you master them?

 
ericlingus said:
Would yous say it's lower than most of your tracks before you master them?
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Well, um, the left, yes, the right, no. I'm ignoring the intro as I assume you want that quiet. Anyway, it's really imbalanced, the left channel is 4dB quieter or so. Also, it's very tinny. Beef up the midrange, cut some highs on the guitar and get the kick so I can feel it a little. There are a few drum peaks here and there that need taming.

Fix all that, then compress & limit to taste, it shouldn't be hard to get it loud.
 
so both sides should be the same volume? I'll have to fix that then. For some reason I didn't even think of that lol. As far as the guitars I dunno. I'm kinda going for that sound. Maybe a bass would help that? Also the synth hasn't been added yet. The drums I definately agree on. I need to fix that for sure.

WOuld you say all the guitars are too tinny? What about the right side ones? What I was trying to do with the guitars is have one side more trebly and the other more beefy. Should I have put one of each on the left and right instead of having one guitar tone on the left and another on the right?
 
oh sorry you said the whole recording not just the guitars although they play the biggest rule in that im sure.
 
ericlingus said:
WOuld you say all the guitars are too tinny? What about the right side ones? What I was trying to do with the guitars is have one side more trebly and the other more beefy. Should I have put one of each on the left and right instead of having one guitar tone on the left and another on the right?
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No, you can leave the guitars where they are. You can have guitars to one side or the other, and you can have an unbalanced mix for part of the song, but a whole song off to one side is pretty distracting.
 
yeah I agree. How can I make sure they are well balanced? Just by looking at the master in?
 
ericlingus said:
yeah I agree. How can I make sure they are well balanced? Just by looking at the master in?
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You should have a stereo master meter; it's nice to have a peak and RMS meter with peak hold. I also keep a phase meter up.

Or sometimes I listen to the track :D
 
yeah you mean in the master channel in the mixer? It shows the left and right levels. That's what i'm looking at. Well what I will look at now. What's a peak and RMS meter with hold? I know in the master channel or any channel, I can set the level meter to hold at the highest peak. Also it tells where the highest peaks are at on each side. Should they be like exact? When I tried balancing the left and right levels, I could get it to like say 16.0 and 16.8. I mean is that good enough? I don't see how I could get it EXACT. Also, what's a phase meter?
 
yeah now I really hear the difference with headphones on. What if I add the synth and pan it to the left. That could balance it out couldn't it? Then have the vocals in the center.
 
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