Mixdown not loud enough

[seansigep]

Im having trouble with volume in CEP. The more tracks I add into cooledit, the louder the whole mix gets. I have 4 tracks (drums, octaves, rhythm, bass) and at 0, it is overdriving like a bastard. When i normalized all the tracks, it says there is nothing that is clipping. I then mixed down and tried to normalize the mix, but it said there was no clipping either. The mix is overdriven like a bastard and sounds like ass.

So, I take everything down to -10, remix it down, and it sounds fine. Nothing is overdriven. BUT, it is not nearly as loud as regular commercial tunes. What gives? Anybody run into this type of thing before? Is there a fix?\

I am definitely a novice user, been using it probably a month, still havent even tried any plugins or anything besides the record and eq functions. Also, is there a function on cooledit that will automatically add "Talent"?

I appreciate your help!

Scogs

 

[Farview]

Ok, first things first: Don't normalize individual tracks. As you have found, it can lead to clipping the mix bus.


Number two: Your mix is not supposed to be as loud as a commercial CD. The raw mixes of the commercial CD weren't that loud until mastering. If you really need to listen to it louder, take the mix (the stereo file of the mixdown) and strap a compressor and a limiter on it to control the peaks and bring up some of the quieter stuff. Then normalize.

Number three: There is nothing in CEP that will inject talent into your tracks. You will have to go to the liqueur store and get it like everyone else.

 

[dobro]

When you've got all your tracks playing in Multitrack, check the meter. Is it clipping?

No? Good.

Yes? Turn down the main volume. In fact, you can run your main multitrack level way lower than 0 dB if you want, cuz you can turn it up later. If you want to hear it louder in Multitracker, turn up your monitors.

Then before you mixdown the whole thing and it takes the mixdown to Edit View, *then* you can turn up the volume so that it's hitting about - 1 dB or something. Then do the mixdown, which takes the whole thing into Edit View. *Then* hard limit as much as you feel you can get away with. *Then* normalize to 99.9%. It should be as loud as you can reasonably get it at this stage.

If it still isn't loud enough, then you're going to have to go back to Multitrack View, and learn how to compress individual tracks more before you do the mixdown.

 

[laptoppop]

One good source of basic information on levels for your overall mix can be found at http://www.izotope.com. They have a free mastering guide file there that explains a lot of things.

-lee-

 

[Idgeit]

Hey, Im still pretty new to the terms of things, what exactly is normalizeing?, bringing the volume up to a normal level?

- Idgeit

 

[Farview]

Hey, Im still pretty new to the terms of things, what exactly is normalizeing?, bringing the volume up to a normal level?

- Idgeit

It is a function that finds the highest peak in a file - figures out how many db it is from 0dbfs - then turns up the volume of the file by that amount.

 

[Idgeit]

Thanks for that =)

I use Cakewalk Sonar 3, And my mixes are low, so is their plugins I can get, or would it be a Rack unit?

thanks

- Idgeit

 

[Farview]

Thanks for that =)

I use Cakewalk Sonar 3, And my mixes are low, so is their plugins I can get, or would it be a Rack unit?

thanks

- Idgeit

I would assume that sonar has this function built in. It isn't a plugin.

 

[Idgeit]

I've been using the compressor, but im wondering is their any better ones out their?.

- Idgeit

 

[Farview]

In your other post I suggested the Sonic Timeworks stuff. Normalizing doesn't compress, it just turns the volume of the file up. If you found the highest peak in you file (for example -5dbfs) and just turned the volume of the file up by difference between the peak and 0 (5db) you would have accomplished the same thing as normalizing.

What you seem to be looking for is a limiter, I am suprised that Sonar doesn't come with one.