"it's too quiet!"

  • Thread starter Thread starter GuitardedMark
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GuitardedMark

GuitardedMark

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I recently made a demo cd and gave it out to a bunch of people. The only criticism I've got (and EVERYBODY said the same thing) is that the music is too quiet. A couple friends said that on their car systems they couldn't get it loud enough even at top volume. I've heard a lot about the "loudness wars" and I really don't want to start a flame war but could someone refer me to some good information on how to compress a track to raise volume? Much appreciated!
 
Have your tracks been mastered? You might want to look into mastering. Mastering is where the volume gets maximized, the dynamics get perfected, and the track gets polished and ready for CD release.
 
Get Voxengo Elephant and crank it up with that. It'll be good and loud and you may also pick up on some faults that you can then rectify :cool:
 
Putting a limiter on the master bus is how mastering brings music up to commercial listening levels. You can do it yourself, too, and it you should work well for casual sharing of your demos. Putting compression on individual tracks during the mixing process gives a track a bit more energy and volume as well. If you're unfamiliar with limiters and what they do, go find out!
 
Honestly, if they can't get it loud enough cranked, then they must have shitty amplifiers.

Unless you peak at like -10, which is possible. Did you normalize to -0.2 dB before burning a CD? I'd try that before trying any maximizers or brick wall limiters are anything that can kill your music.
 
Seafroggys said:
Honestly, if they can't get it loud enough cranked, then they must have shitty amplifiers.

Unless you peak at like -10, which is possible. Did you normalize to -0.2 dB before burning a CD? I'd try that before trying any maximizers or brick wall limiters are anything that can kill your music.
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I think I should have been more specific. It is clearly audible on any system. There is a very impressionable 6-10 db difference between commercial recordings and mine. My buddy just got a stock dodge charge and the sound system in that car is weak. Whenever we're listening to heavy shit we have it maxed and it's really not that loud. I'll have to look into mastering. I thought it would be something simple like a compressor or limiter on the master because the mix sounds decent. I made sure all the incoming levels were good so maybe it's just a lot of little things rather than a couple big ones. In case you wanted to reference, here is a the track:

MP3 Player SoundClick
 
I can't hear anything abnormal there. Before mastering, mixes are fairly quiet, usually right around that level. If this is a casual demo, professional mastering would just be overkill. You can get your mixes up to commercial volume with a simple limiter. The EQ part of mastering should be left to a professional, though.
 
I agree. That track's volume is just fine for an unmastered mix.
 
Call me crazy but I would love to be able to do it all by myself :)
 
There are a few poeple around here who do excellent quality self mastering. It's as much art as skill though & requires SUPERB ears to do it properly.
Glaceverb's final master preset and the Classic limiter set at CD master are what I throw across a mix for listening to my demos on a variety of machines & formats. That's dead basic & doesn't always do the best for the mix BUT I'm not doing it for anyone but me really. I've recently paid for some mastering of a couple of properly finished tracks and the diff is amazing interms of clarity, fullness, lack of mid mud etc. The volume is also greater but not to ear splitting grindcoremetal levels - to the appropriate level for such material & the genre etc.
 
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If it's a demo CD, give it a bit of limiting, i.e waves Ultramaximizer, If its set to 16bit CD master setting and you don't slam it too hard you will get the level up without hurting the sound. The 16 bit setting also has the rendering function for 24 bit to 16 bit. I know the mastering guys may not like the suggestion, but remember it's to get the volume up a bit on a demo.

If you can't afford to buy it, have a look for some of the free plugins on line that do a similar job.

Cheers
Alan.
 
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Don't be scared away or bullied by the anti-compression, anti-loudness crowd. Loudness is a necessary evil - as demonstrated by your buddies. Sure, sometimes loudness kills dynamics, and too much loudness definitely kills dynamics, but if the people want loudness, give it to them. There's a ton of free compression/limiting plugs out there to help you on your way to getting some loudness in your finished mixes. Play with it and trust your ears - if they're any good. Keep in mind that you'll probably never ever compete with the polish and loudness of professional mastering jobs, but you can get decent results with adequate loudness that won't totally get it's ass kicked by the pros if you practice and don't get too heavy-handed with the controls.
 
"...if you practice and don't get too heavy-handed with the controls."
Greg's is the best advice so far - & he has the ears to prove it!
 
Trying to get a good master. First have a great mix have more than one ear listen (preferably a professional). Mastering studios hate having to create gold out of rubies. Trust me a great master starts with a great mix. Gain, Levels, Balance ect. If your DIY master keep it simple Greg L. Gave some great points. Create a simple chain and EQ-Multiband-Comp-Limiter. (MB & Comp can be switched).

1.) Q10 - hp & lp 20hz-20khz, less or more depending on the song, boost & cut
2.) Waves Lin MB - Love this thing its really simple, here is where you balance. check bass,mid,highs,boost, cut, comp.
3.) SSL Comp - one you have the balance sound and levels, then send to a master comp
4.) L2 - Then limit. Every song is diff I say again EVERY SONG is diff so use EARS! Set ceiling @ 0 or desired level, bring down Thresh. Till the level is kissing 0 (NOT SMACKING) kiss! For a more louder master allow 1-2 dB of attenuation
Simple and easy 4 plugins.
Dont use presets unless your using for reference ALWAYS TWEAK! presets for your desired situation its called MASTERING not COPYING!
 
I'd go even simpler to start (and I haven't gotten much past starting). Compress a little to get some of the worst peaks down. Limit a little to get the overall dynamics right. Boost the volume so the loudest part is just below peaking. Keep it simple at first. Once you can do this without crushing it and over doing the Limiting, then work on the EQ part. Keep it simple!
 
Seafroggys said:
Unless you peak at like -10, which is possible. Did you normalize to -0.2 dB before burning a CD? I'd try that before trying any maximizers or brick wall limiters are anything that can kill your music.
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I'm a little confused myself on this one. I was always taught final mixes should be around -10db before mastering and normalizing is a big no no. Was I taught wrong?
 
Several things:
1) As several people pointed out, nothing is a substitute for professional mastering.
2) If there was a plug-in that would do this automatically, every one would use it (and I'd have no clients left!)
3) Limiters can do just as much harm as good - giving a limiter to someone if they don't have the skill, experience and monitoring setup is like giving someone a strat and saying "now you can sound just like Hendrix"
4) As also pointed out, your mixes have to be good in order to have the mastering work properly.
5) All normalizing does is take the highest peak and make that -0.1 db or so. It doesn't raise the general level very much unless your mixes start out REALLY quiet. It is not a substitute for mastering, and can in some cases degrade the sound quality.

Places like Sterling, Masterdisk, and Gateway get $300-$400 an hour, but do amazing work. If you're interested in professional mastering and/or mixing, without the traditional high price associated with that level of studio, and just want to get things to sound significantly better at a reasonable cost, get in touch with me, and I'll be glad to help.
 
Rubies are from 1k to 3k US$ a carat depending on some variables. THat may mean they are more valuable than gold being that they are rarer etc etc.
 
Whatever has become of GuitardedMark ? He sort of disappeared. Like Shergar and Lord Lucan.
 
rfahey86 said:
I'm a little confused myself on this one. I was always taught final mixes should be around -10db before mastering and normalizing is a big no no. Was I taught wrong?
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I've always heard -6dB.
 
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