Mixs too quiet

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discostu

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Ok, i am fairly clear of what mastering is, and i understant all the basics about compressors and limiters and normaization and such, and have done some home recordings with software, but the end result is very quiet compared to a pro-cd mix, or song, what am i doing wrong?
 
Compression isnt the answer to getting alouder mix....properly.....
 
I'm new to mixixing and recording,but I have read somewhere that it is good to have those same cd's that are so much louder,by your side while you are mixing.I have done this by ripping the professional cd track or tracks into cubase and while I'm mixing I refer to the professional song.Once again I'm a beginner to mixing,the pro's here will have better advice,but it is a good starting point!
 
Its always good to reference CD's that you know well on the system you will be mixing on, before you mix....I wouldnt expect to get your home recorded CD as loud as commercial CD's as you are talking about thosands and thousands of $$$ worth of gear and years and years of experience....they've probably spent more $$$ on cables than youve spent on your whole studio....first and foremost, you should be concentrating on getting a good, well balance mix of well recorded tracks before you worry if its loud enuff.....
 
Gidge said:
first and foremost, you should be concentrating on getting a good, well balance mix of well recorded tracks before you worry if its loud enuff.....
Click to expand...
Excellent advice Gidge... you said it all right there!

Bruce
 
True dat Gidge !

I'm in the process of mixing tracks to be put on Mp3 ,so everything is in house.I know it is always better to send your songs to a professional mastering house but for right now that is out of my budget.
 
well, is there any way?

Ok, im on a fixed budget, and right now its like not very much, the mixer isnt even mine, im just renting as an experiment with my band......they are bitching at me that they will back out of paying fro it unless i can get the song volumes up, and all the tracks are recorded fairly loud, i am using digital performer.....if that helps....is there ANY way? without clipping
 
Do you have a clip? For example, take a snippet of your stuff, and a snippet of the stuff you're comparing your levels to and throw it on an MP3 so that we can hear the level difference you're comparing against....

If your tracks are well-recorded, with good levels and your mix is well-balanced and full-sounding, you should have no trouble getting a solid level - not as high as commercial CDs, true... but if the mix is sounding good, it shouldn't matter!

Failing that, you can contact me at Blue Bear Sound and I'll see what I can do for you on a budget.

Bruce
 
Hey discostu - Bruce and Gidge can point you to WAY more tech info than I can (as well as being a whole lot smarter than me) but here is/was my situation, which may be similar to yours.

I used to record on a Fostex 8 channel ree-to-reel analog deck. I didn't have a compressor and didn't see much of a need to get one. I got used to setting my input levels (with my loud rock band) so the average would float arround 0, and the peaks occasionally higher. If I was not playing at the same time I could just "ride the fader" to keep things in line. And generally the recording came out OK, at least in terms of volume.

Then I switched to digital and found that you have to play by a whole new set of rules. Any peaks up over 0 are apt to introduce nasty digital distortion. So the result is you turn input levels down, down, and down until the peaks no longer kill you. And then you have your exact problem, levels too low.

While a compressor on the input can help reduce this I think the better answer for this situation is a limter (set at 0db) which cuts off signal peaks abruptly rather than at a selectable ratio as a compressor does. I believe Bruce (the Bear) has mentioned he likes a Behringer Compressor/limter unit which should be affordable. I was going to check one out myself but wound up borrowing a couple of compressors from a friend. I'm still playing around with them, but an inexpensive stereo limter would probably be the answer to both of our problems.

Any comments from you other folks?
 
RW, that sounds pretty damn smart to me....and thats the answer....get each track as close to 0db as possible (though some will dispute this).....if it needs some compression/limiting, do it, but dont overdo it....before mixing, go track by track and find those spikes that keep you from getting that track loud....compress just the peaks instead of the whole track....concentrate more on getting that balanced mix.....as most will tell ya, todays music is too damn loud and squashed so trying to compete with it can kill a mix......

Read, read, re-read, and re-re-read all of Sonusmans posts in that link....there is oodles of information in there.....
 
Thanks everyone!

Hey, thanks to all who have posted so far, u have helped me alot. Well, i will try and post an MP3 or something soon, but dont have time right nwo.....i am still really new at this, but i would say my mix's are comming along (slowly). Ya, we are on a budget of basically nothing....i mean zilch, i need to buy a new hd for my computer soon, and we are teenagers, so realistically i cant afford to spend much else right now. But ya, basically my setup as of right now is as follows
Mostly recording with 58's and other mics that we could scrape together, rented a beta 52, and amackie 1402 VLZ pro, going into my G3, running digital performer....ya, thats about the extent of what i have to work with...
Ill get an mp3 up soon
 
Loud track in = loud track out

are you using preamps? while tracking get them as high as you can without clipping. That will also cut down on hiss during mixdown beacue you will have more then enough signal
 
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