volume leveling?

L

lysis

New member
recordings that are made are very quiet; how to turn up the volume so a stereo doesn't have to be turned way up to hear normal listening volume?

thanks guys.
 
Ya need a bigger knob. Most people have this problem... basically, your volume won't be upto 'commercial' level...That's mastering.. and to make it that loud, you need top shelf stuff to keep it from distorting.. so forget about it. Just compare your recordings to other home recorders. ;)
 
lysis said:
recordings that are made are very quiet; how to turn up the volume so a stereo doesn't have to be turned way up to hear normal listening volume?

thanks guys.
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If you're taking about taking an existing commercial CD and normalizing the levels, well, rip it to WAV, use a program like Adobe Audition or one of the tens of other sound editors and "normalize" the volume (don't exceed 0dB, though, stay just a tad under so you don't clip) and re-burn a new CD... Beyond that, there are lots of mastering tricks to get *average* volume up, compression, limiting, that sort of thing, but that's a whole other and much deeper discussion...
 
I have a feeling there's a bit of a language barrier here. If I understand correctly, our visitor is saying HIS recordings are very quiet and wants to know how to get more volume out of his recordings. Before we start answering the wrong question, let us know if that's the question, Lysis.
Just for your info, I think this kind of question is better answered in the "Recording Techniques" forum or the "Mixing/Mastering" forum. Hope this helps.
 
RAMI said:
I have a feeling there's a bit of a language barrier here. If I understand correctly, our visitor is saying HIS recordings are very quiet and wants to know how to get more volume out of his recordings. Before we start answering the wrong question, let us know if that's the question, Lysis.
Just for your info, I think this kind of question is better answered in the "Recording Techniques" forum or the "Mixing/Mastering" forum. Hope this helps.
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Well, that's why you're a 17 and I'm a 5, I guess.. :D :D :D :D
 
yes; MY recordings are too quiet. i need to know how to make them louder. i've tried izotope ozone to make them louder and they're peaking / distorting before i get to the target volume i would like to be at. my target volume is what commercial cds sound like. is this possible with software?

just to let you know what i'm using to record:

presonus firepod
cakewalk sonar producer 4
izotope ozone 3
cakewalk plugins

thanks
 
Can you post a clip? If the whole mix is quiet, but good, don't use a plug-in. You should just have a setting that allows you to turn it up a few DB at a time, and just stop when it's loud enough. Post a clip if you can.
 
clip is at


i KNOW i suck at mixing down . . . this is just our practice session so we're not worried about making it sound awserific or anything . . . we just want to be able to turn it down and still hear it you know?

we're getting a drum mic kit this weekend and will be able to have MUCH better drum quality recording . . .

any tips for micing everything live? we HAVE to play super loud since we need to hear each other. currently bass is direct in, a samson c02 condensor on the guitar amp, a samson c02 condensor for ambient drums and a sennheiser on the kick . . .

we're getting the sennheiser 8kit 8pc drum mic kit saturday and it will i'm SURE improve our sound.

thanks guys
 
That mix is actually pretty loud compared to most home recording stuff. As mentioned above, making things louder is complex and usually requires the assistance of a good mastering engineer with very expensive equipment. Plugins like the ozone will get you close in terms of volume, but not quality. There are a few freeware mastering limiters out there to try, but they will also sound crappy if you push them too hard. Why not just focus on getting the music to sound good and worry about "loud" when you have that accomplished?
 
haha ok . . .

is there a program that i can push a button . . . maybe two . . . and it automatically makes my music sound super sweet? =)
 
lysis said:
haha ok . . .

is there a program that i can push a button . . . maybe two . . . and it automatically makes my music sound super sweet? =)
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If you find one, let me know. ;)
 
so that is pretty loud for a home recording then? ok . . . i'll take your word for it. haha

we've got one song that i worked on quite a bit but we all messed up a lot on it . . . so saturday when we play it again and do it right i'll let you guys critique it. :)
 
hey update! i just did this song with my band let me know what you think of the mixdown and the volume level.




it's just a clip but it's long enough.
 
more volume on the guitar, vocals are nice, and also maybe bring the volume on the bass up.

this is just personal preference but i think maybe drop the volume of the kickdrum down a bit, or lower the freq's less then 100hz on the kickdrum.

i just listened again, and i think it might be the bass in the chorus thats a bit boomy, not the kickdrum.
 
Actually, . . . .

the bass was line in and i forgot to hit record on that track. lol SO, basically any bass guitar you're hearing is being picked up on other mics (and you're not hearing very much to be honest)

i can raise guitars a bit and drop 100 on kick though. =)
 
Insightnsound said:
Ya need a bigger knob. ;)
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I agree, most recording gear comes with a standard knob, but you need to upgrade to the pro knob. It usually come in a fancy box with a dongle and runs $1200+.
 
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