Mixing with pre-made beats...

[pikingrin]

This last friday I played "hip hop producer" for the first time ever. It was a unique experience to say the least, although it was a breath of fresh air to get away from my stuff for one night. My friend just got an M-Box and ProTools le, so I went to see his setup and dink around a little. He does hip hop and that sort of stuff using beats that he gets from his producer. When we loaded the beat he wanted to work with, the wave forms were literally off the charts, almost a solid track like it was either recorded WAY too hot, or mixed down that way. What would be the best way to tame that? I tried a really hard limiter and some compression, but I don't know if that was the best way to do it... Anyone have any suggestions other than the obvious (tell the guy making the beats to turn it down...)?

 

[ecktronic]

Theres no going back.
Only way to change it is to bounce the mix at a lower volume.

Eck

 

[fuzzrhythm]

anybody think re-amping would help?

pikingrin, if you've got an hour or so to kill, try recording the beat as it's playing through your monitors. this assumes your room sounds good....

use that track and mix in a little of the bricked original. worth a shot if you can't get the guy to get some more workable tracks.

 

[punkin]

limiters and compressors will only make it worse. If they were recorded way too hot, you're stuck.

 

[Mixxit12]

Agreed. Stuck.