Using a Limiter to Increase a Song's Volume

[Deaconblue]

I have been mixing my band's demos using Guitar Tracks Pro 3 and then I export them as a wave file. However, when I export the song as a wave file, the song's volume is greatly decreased and I wanted to know if there are any common techniques to use a limiter to increase the volume of a song. Also, is there any free software or plug-ins which include a limiter?

Thanks,
Deaconblue

 

[scrubs]

George Yohng's W1: http://www.yohng.com/w1limit.html
Classic Master Limiter: http://www.kjaerhusaudio.com/classic-master-limiter.php

There really aren't many tips to using them, other than, "when it starts to sound really shitty, you've overdone it." Some people claim superior results by strapping several of them in series, with only 2-3 dB of gain reduction by each plugin.

 

[noisedude]

Those are the two I'd look at ... but if you keep a closer eye on your levels you shouldn't be experiencing a big problem with them when you mix down. Try and keep them a little higher on the master buss in your software perhaps?

 

[Reggie]

Endorphin: http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.php?item=2&subItem=3