rookie question??????????

M

Mitchmusicman

New member
Guys - I mixed up some awesome tracks for a 'rap' and the two track cassette playback (finished product the client takes with him) was superb, here in my studio. However, when played on any boombox, the levels were low. Everything was nicely, just into the red, on my gear when recorded. What did I do wrong :-(
Thanks in advance for your comments!
Peace, Mitch
 
What kind of monitors did you use when recording and playback?
If your monitors are not flat responce, then the're not giving you the true sound; there adding there on bass boost and stuff. so when you play it on any boom box or stereo, it will sound different. Here's what i do. On my stereo, i hardy every turn the volume past 10 because when i listen to pro cds, there really loud at that volume setting. so i think "If i can't here my cds at that volume then i'm doing something wrong." So what i did was, i turned the volume on my studio monitors up to where they was as loud as the stereo volume. Then i would try my best to get the loudest volume possible, without distorting, at that level. then, when i play the cd at home, it's sounds good. you can also use a limiter to keep the volume under control. and if you've got to volume wide-open and it's still not loud enough, use a compresser to pump it up.

good luck.

zeke
 
Zeke, thanks for the quick reply. I am using KRK V8's near field monitors, (very flat and real) being fed by a Mackie mixer. My EQ's were set on flat. I have always thought (obviously in error) that running the levels into the red (like +3) was full moduation and would do the trick. From now on, I guess I will test drive a cassette or cd on a boom box before I think I'm done. I still think something is wrong though, as I bring up the levels, probably by increasing the gain, I am afraid I will over modulate and create distortion. Sorry about the rambling, and thanks again Zeke!
Peace - Mitch
 
Don't forget - pro release CDs are mastered... and mastering tools are used to bring levels up (at the expense of the music's dynamic range)....

If your mix sounds good, then I'd suggest leaving it... if it's bugging you, then have it mastered. But don't forget volume controls on stereo systems are variable so that people can adjust levels themselves!!! ;)
 
You should always A/B your mixes on different playback devices ( boombox, your car, home stereo... ) as you go.
 
Bear - my mixes are great (in my ears) and I wouldn't change a thing that way. The balances are just the way I want them, and in the playback through my studio gear everything is excellent and 'big'. It's only when I playback through a boombox or car casette player that the over all volume is low. The mix is still great, just the volume is about 1/2 to 3/4 of what it should be. This kid had to crank his giant boom box up full blast to use the project/tape I made for him. Ironically enough, at that level on his machine, it wasn't distorted at all. But it wasn't as 'loud' or 'big' as it was at a lower volume on my studio gear. Hope this rambling makes sense. Thank you Bear for your input.

Rockr - I guess I learned that one the hard way. However, if I had discovered this low level, what could I have done to fix it??
Thanks...
Peace - Mitch
 
Man, this is a tough question to answer because it could be a ton of different variables. I would suggest doing a search on "commercial" or "loud". You will probably have quite a bit of reading, but I don't think there's going to be one simple answer. Dynamics is part of it, but there is also the quality of the source recorded, noise, etc. Good luck
 
COOL edit

I always do a poor man's Mastering by opening up the final mixed wav file in Cool Edit and using the hard limiter. set it at max -.5db and boost it by 3 or 4db (assuming your peaks are about 1/2 to 3/4 tall.) You should always make sure your mix isn't too loud BEFORE you do this to get the full effect. When you are done, the sound print should look like a semi-solid bar across the screen, not SOLID SOLID, that is way too much. It needs a few peaks and valleys to give it dynamics.
 
You should always reference your mixes to a commercial CD. When you burn your mixes to a CD and pop them into a CD player, if they are only half as loud as a commercial CD then you may want to use a good quality limiter (hardware or software) to get the levels comparable.

This is assuming that you are not going to have your song professionally mastered because either you can't afford it or it's only for "home consumption".
 
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