Noobish question I've been meaning to ask about levels.

[AMTA]

Yeah I record all my guitars and vocals well below peak levels, but I'm curious about VSTs like EZ Drummer. Does it really matter if EZ is peaking? I mean I don't really hear a difference in quality like you would if a real set was peaking out.

The reason I ask is I'm at a point in the song where I really want the guitars and drums to explode. I have the three guitar tracks all sitting comfortably at around -18, and they're at the perfect level for the song. The thing is, the drums aren't nearly loud enough and they're already peaking at around 1-3 decibels above inf.

Sure I can lower the volume of the first half of the song so the drums will seem loud enough, but I'd rather not since it's already pretty quiet.

So the main question is, does it matter if EZ Drummer is peaking out?

 

[eyema_believer]

So the main question is, does it matter if EZ Drummer is peaking out?

Do you hear any distortion? Digital distortion is hard on the ears, but easy to miss, because it can happen on just a split seconds worth of audio, on a transient, and be gone.

 

[AMTA]

Do you hear any distortion? Digital distortion is hard on the ears, but easy to miss, because it can happen on just a split seconds worth of audio, on a transient, and be gone.

Nope, which is why I assumed it was okay. But I was just asking since my ear isn't too well trained to pick up these sorts of things.

I did end up just taking down the volume on the first half of the song, but I still want to know for future reference if I can be losing anything by just letting it peak. I don't really have the most advanced setup, so I could've been missing something major all this time and not have known it.

 

[eyema_believer]

I'd say, if you aren't getting distortion, it isn't peaking out, no matter what the meters say. One way to be sure is to put a limiter after your drum module, and you can be sure it won't peak. Just put a compressor on the output, set with the fastest attack and release tmes your compressor has, and with a threshold just a hair under 0db. You'll be safe then.

Peace!

~Shawn

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

The reason I ask is I'm at a point in the song where I really want the guitars and drums to explode. I have the three guitar tracks all sitting comfortably at around -18, and they're at the perfect level for the song. The thing is, the drums aren't nearly loud enough and they're already peaking at around 1-3 decibels above inf.

First, I assume you mean that they are peaking at -1 to -3dBFS, not at 1-3 dB above inf.?

Sure, you could push EZ NODrummer to zero peaks, but ya gotta be careful that when you fold them into the rest of the mix. Those peaks may stay below zero on the solo track, but are are going to go well into clipping when summed with everything else.

Second, if you want your stuff to "explode", adding an extra few dBs on the peaks probably just ain't gonna do it for you (though a lot depends upon the arrangement and the tightness of the band.) What I'd try would be some NY parallel compression at that point to add some beef to the drums without losing the attack of the peaks.

G.