So I have a song I'm mixing and......

[Tele The Truth]

I'm obviously peaking certain frequencies. I like the mix and separation I have, but the final EQ is all wrong. I also bumped up the overall volume to bring it closer to a regular production volume. This seems to have compounded the problem. My question is, should I leave the overall levels bumped up and redo the final EQ, or should I lower the levels as well? My tracks are recorded on casette and I'm going to CD, so there should be more headroom to work with.

 

[Audiohead27]

Hi

Well assuming that you did everything digitally.. you will have to keep in mind that 0 db is clipping in digital audio when compared to analog where 0 db is unity gain...if you have done youre mix in analog and you had youre levels going just over 0 db then you would have a lot of headroom..but having said that.. if you had certain distored frequencies before youre mastering process that is not gonna help you much .. since a little compression on the track would bring up those levels too.. so try to do a mix with no distortion whatsover before you start to master it.. what you record is what you get..

 

[Tele The Truth]

Well assuming that you did everything digitally.. you will have to keep in mind that 0 db is clipping in digital audio when compared to analog where 0 db is unity gain...if you have done youre mix in analog and you had youre levels going just over 0 db then you would have a lot of headroom..but having said that.. if you had certain distored frequencies before youre mastering process that is not gonna help you much .. since a little compression on the track would bring up those levels too.. so try to do a mix with no distortion whatsover before you start to master it.. what you record is what you get..

Thanks, I never thought about digital clipping. The mix I have off of the 4 track is distortion free, however with only having 3 band parametric eq's to work with, I've been sending it out to a graphic eq to "fine tune' the sound. I initially recorded the tracks fairly hot, so I'm wondering if when I tried to bump up the overall volume, I may be hitting some digital clipping.

 

[FALKEN]

IMO,

you should find out which instrument is peaking and remove any eq boost that might be there. replace that with an eq cut in the opposite frequency. this is one of the reasons to use subtractive rather than additive eq. I'm not sure what you did to "bump up" the volume but you probably want to normalize rather than limit. I hope this helps.

 

[FALKEN]

Thanks, I never thought about digital clipping. The mix I have off of the 4 track is distortion free, however with only having 3 band parametric eq's to work with, I've been sending it out to a graphic eq to "fine tune' the sound. I initially recorded the tracks fairly hot, so I'm wondering if when I tried to bump up the overall volume, I may be hitting some digital clipping.

ok just saw this.

it is likely that you are running out of headroom at the graphic eq. you have to be really careful there. you need to find the optimal input volume for that eq, where there is no distortion and the sound is most clear. also I would avoid doing any boosting with the graphic. if you are boosting highs, for example, try cutting lows instead. also, don't use any makeup gain on the graphic. bring up the input volume on your cd burner instead, or if you are going to pc, normalize.

 

[Tele The Truth]

IMO,

you should find out which instrument is peaking and remove any eq boost that might be there. replace that with an eq cut in the opposite frequency. this is one of the reasons to use subtractive rather than additive eq. I'm not sure what you did to "bump up" the volume but you probably want to normalize rather than limit. I hope this helps.

Usually my mixing chain is 4track (with reverb in effects loop)-> graphic EQ-> tapedeck. The tape deck has a knob for adjusting the volume of the recorded level, so I turned it up from 3.5 (the level I usually use for tape) to 5. From there I used windows sound recorder to capture it in a digital format.

 

[Tele The Truth]

ok just saw this.

it is likely that you are running out of headroom at the graphic eq. you have to be really careful there. you need to find the optimal input volume for that eq, where there is no distortion and the sound is most clear.

That's another thing I never considered, Thanks.

 

[Tele The Truth]

I remixed the song and backed the levels down a bit. That cleared everything up. I did as suggested and just cut frequencies instead of boosting any of them. I ended up with a little "air" in my recording, but the overall results were much better. I posted it over in the MP3 section and am looking for constructive feedback if anyone has the time.

Thanks!