Louder songs

[eviljoker7075]

Hey everyone. I am quite new to using my new Fostex MR8 mkII but one thing I have nticed which uis the same for most other home recordings I have done is the finished product always sound really quiet. Everything is recorded perfectly and the levels are good, I just have to bump y stereo up 4 or 5 notches on the volume.

I was wondering how I cold increase the volume of my tracks so this doesn't happen? I do have a pc on which I can export songs from the MR8 on to, if that helps.

 

[turtlishous]

when you master your song down from the mix make sure you master levels are where you wnat them.

 

[eviljoker7075]

mm, as I said everything sounds fine together (all the levels etc) but it's just too quiet. I can't tun it up more or it will peak... Can I not do something post-mixdown?

 

[turtlishous]

thats what i'm saying.........WHEN you MASTER you need to bring up your MASTER level to the desired level

 

[turtlishous]

look.....i had the same prob when i started using tascamdp-01.....you should have a master opperation in there somewhere and when your in that mode you will use the master fader to adjust the whole mix, thats what you want to bring up untill its loud enough but don't over do it cuz you'll peak and distort and will sound like shit.

 

[bennychico11]

loud compared to what? professional CD mixes? Professional mixes that were recorded by amazing engineers, on amazing gear, played by amazing musicians, and mastered by amazing mastering engineers?!!!!?....and you're asking why your mix doesn't sound like theirs??

why does everyone want their mix loud? turn your speakers up if it's not loud enough, jeez.
Do a search around here about brick wall limiters (one's that make your mix as loud as you want it but ruin the dynamic quality of your mix)...and a search about correct leveling.

 

[turtlishous]

amen!!!

 

[Jamz0r]

You don't need to brickwall the mix to get it loud enough.

There is such a thing as a happy medium where you get it loud, and still retain enough dynamics to keep it sounding good.

 

[ez_willis]

Can I not do something post-mixdown?

Sure you can. Turn the volume on your player up.

 

[eviljoker7075]

The problem is on things like mp3 players those tracks are always too quiet meaning people skip em, or they turn the volume up for that song then the other blast out really loud afterwards...

 

[Jamz0r]

If you can import the wav onto your computer, you can easily make the mix CD loud.
If you don't have the software, you can find some FREE recording apps to work on it with.
There is one plugin in particular that would probably make you happy.

The W1 Limiter. <--also free.

 

[Massive Master]

Just reiterating - This is *NORMAL* - A non-mastered (especially by today's "standards") mix is going to be considerably lower in perceived volume.

How the mix handles the volume you're hoping for is another story completely - A monkey with a L2 (or a W1) can make a mix loud. Whether it's going to "like" being that loud is up to what happened before (referring to benychico11's post):

loud compared to what? professional CD mixes? Professional mixes that were recorded by amazing engineers, on amazing gear, played by amazing musicians, and mastered by amazing mastering engineers?!!!!?....and you're asking why your mix doesn't sound like theirs??

why does everyone want their mix loud? turn your speakers up if it's not loud enough, jeez.
Do a search around here about brick wall limiters (one's that make your mix as loud as you want it but ruin the dynamic quality of your mix)...and a search about correct leveling.

and a search about correct leveling.

and a search about correct leveling.

and a search about correct leveling.

I can't copy that enough... Most people I run across looking for a high "sheer volume factor" aren't even setting their tracking levels properly ("as high as you can without clipping" is NOT "proper").

 

[zacanger]

The MR-8 will not master loudly without clipping. You can take the files into Audacity or Kristal or Reaper and squeeze just a bit more volume, maybe, but without compressing the hell out of your music, you're not going to get the levels you'll hear on the radio or CDs or whatever. And you don't really want to do that, I wouldn't think.

 

[GreenDank]

...

with my MR-8, I found a happy medium in recording the 8 tracks onto 2 tracks in cool edit, applying a little EQ, then using their "audio compander" dynamic processor effect (which uses a compressor and expander), then limiting it. it's not "as loud" as some new CD off the shelves, but it's as close as I can get.

if you master inside the unit, you probably won't achieve a similar feel - you'll need to be able to play around with it in a computer program.

 

[danny.guitar]

I think getting your mix loud is left for the mastering stage for a reason. You want all the songs on your CD to be about the same level, more or less anyway, depending on the music.

Making one song really loud means you need to make the other songs really loud too. And some songs just can't get that loud without sounding bad.

So, personally I would wait until you have all your songs finished then try and get a good, consistent level between all of them.

That's what I do anyway.

 

[Robert D]

Making one song really loud means you need to make the other songs really loud too. And some songs just can't get that loud without sounding bad.

So, personally I would wait until you have all your songs finished then try and get a good, consistent level between all of them.

That's what I do anyway.

It's been my experience that the some songs that "just can't get that loud without sounding bad" are actually songs that really shouldn't be that loud. It simply isn't natural for an acoustic song or a ballad to blare out at the same level and energy as a full tilt boogy rock song or hot dance track. Instead of trying to get a consistant level between them, maybe try going for more of an appropriate and natural level between them. When you do that, you find that the songs that are supposed to be loud actually benefit from the "make it louder" process (when done intelligently), and the songs that aren't meant to be loud benefit from not being pushed.

 

[Treeline]

Tracks before Making Real Loud with a brick wall limiter...

 

[Treeline]

Tracks after Making Real Loud with a brick wall limiter... Such elegant dynamics!

 

[eviljoker7075]

Thank you guys, I am now using the w1 limiter and my tunes are just as loud as any professional mixes!! It's brilliiant!

 

[Massive Master]

As mentioned, getting a mix as loud as "professional" mixes is easy.

Getting them to actually sound decent at those ridiculous levels is another story completely.