Mixdown Falling below 0db??????

  • Thread starter Thread starter Raydio
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Raydio

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Whatsup guys, I have a problem that I've noticed a lot of other novice producers/beatmakers have when it comes to making a beat and mixing it correctly. When I have a mixdown of a drum pattern containing a bass drum, a snare, hi hats, and added 8 bar guitar melody, and other cute percussion effects; I find that when I look at my mix on db Meter after applying compression on the mixdown, that it peaks at 0db but on certain parts when the kick or snare stops playing, it falls to about -6db. I want my mix to peak at 0db but not drop all the way down to -6db when one instrument stops playing.

Any help? I like my kicks to punch and I like it bassy. I do hip hop so you guys know what I mean. I just started mixing on Mackie HR 824's and I heard that applying limiting can kill your sound so I don't use it. I want everything to peak at 0db and I am using the Waves Gold Bundle for my plugins, I also have T-Racks. I have a SB Audigy soundcard and the Kx driver. HELLLLP!!!!!
 
"I want everything to peak at 0 and stay there...."

WHY????????????????????????
 
Hey Blue Bear, couldn't he set the threshold of a limiter to the level of his quietest track and just brickwall it right there? Yeh, I bet that would sound great.:D
 
Wow, an entire song at 0db. Can't wait till that one gets released.

Dynamics? We dun need no steenkin' dynamics.
 
No No No. I guess I didn't make myself clear enough with the first post. I don't my song to stay at 0db, but at the same time I really hate it when it drops a lot of decibels lower. I watch commercial mixes though a db meter and I notice that even on certain breaks in the beat, the levels stay high. Only time I want them to have a dramatic drop is when all or almost all of the instruments are out. Ya kno? Like with this unfinished beat I made today.

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=2025&alid=-1
 
I'm just an amateur, but maybe close your eyes when you listen to the mix and see what your ears tell you. I sometimes rely too much on what my visual aids are telling me instead of what my speakers are telling me. We don't watch music, we hear it.

The only other advice I can give you is to note what kind of instruments are playing in those breaks. Low frequencies will show higher on a db meter than high frequencies. In other words, if the commercial mix has a bassline playing in the break, the meters won't drop much compared to when the kick is hitting. If your mix has some high pitched bell thing that is devoid of any lows during the break, the meters will drop a lot, even if the break sounds way louder on your mix than the break on their mix.

If you take a guitar track and raise and lower the bass on it you can watch the db meter rise and fall with your adjustments and you still wont hear a very audible change in volume. Keep an eye on those frequencies. Or better yet, keep your ears on them. :D
 
I couldn't imagine listening to Led Zeppelin's "Ten Years Gone" at a constant 0db. Hell, I don't think it could even be mixed that way!

If it could, it would SUCK!
 
While everyone seems reluctant to tell you, it is certainly your right to make your mixes as loud and obnoxious as you desire. Since you have Waves, use the L1+ (or L2 if it is included). Set your ceiling (the one on the right) to maybe -0.2 just to be safe. Then start dragging the left hand parameter down (-3dB, -6dB... how low can you go???). The lower that sucker goes, the more squished your mix.
 
littledog said:
While everyone seems reluctant to tell you, it is certainly your right to make your mixes as loud and obnoxious as you desire. Since you have Waves, use the L1+ (or L2 if it is included). Set your ceiling (the one on the right) to maybe -0.2 just to be safe. Then start dragging the left hand parameter down (-3dB, -6dB... how low can you go???). The lower that sucker goes, the more squished your mix.
Click to expand...
LD - his "quiet" passages are already at -6db!! :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
dachay2tnr said:
LD - his "quiet" passages are already at -6db!! :eek: :eek: :eek:
Click to expand...

Yeah, but you don't know what the material is... could be he's working on "Nuclear War: the Sound FX CD".
 
No- it's a CD to sell to those guys with the drive-by boom-box cars with 5000 watts of amps. What's the point of all of those amps if you haven't got a decent SIGNAL strength? :)
 
I am starign at Dr. Stawl's avatar....

I am packing all my microphones...

and my preamps...

I am sending them to

Dr. Stawl

Newport B e a c h ,

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