What is standard db level for Volume?

R

Rich b

New member
Hi there, recently been mixing a track but cant seem to get the overall volume right..
When I play it in my mp3 player, it quieter than other (professional) mixes. I've re-adjusted the eq levels and frequencies to stop distortion but that brings the whole volme down.
Just wondered if there was a standard level?

Cheers and hope this makes sense!

Rich
 
Well...for that kind of level...there really is no standard other than these days everyone wants LOUD! :D

To compete with current commercial stuff, no amount of EQ will get you there, you have to compress real hard to get the overall level up there, but you will kill your dynamics and the overall EQ will be changed by that heavy compression, making your mixes sound very tubby/pushed/hyped.

Some people like that...most actually don't. It’s hard on the ears.

Try light to moderate compression...which will raise the level somewhat but without mangling your music. It will still not be as LOUD as some commercial stuff...but so what, the listener will just turn up their volume as they like it anyway. ;)
At least when they do turn up the volume for your lightly compressed mixes, they will still hear some decent audio...whereas the over-compressed mixes will just sound like shit.

Before you compress everything...see how much you can fix/adjust small, individual peaks that may be preventing you from raising the overall level… without using compression. It's extra work going track by track and adjusting random nasty peaks...but you can save the music by doing that first instead of just hitting it hard with compression. Then check your EQ…and finally try the light/moderate compression and listen to the tonal change in the music…not just the level change.
Hitting hard with compression can be addictive ast first...but if you pay attention, you will hear how it alters the tone and not just the level.
 
I found a few mixes that stood out to me as being better than usual, and I put them on 2 tracks on Cubase. They are always there, muted, while I'm working on a song so I can compare mine to them.

What helped me the most in all of this was getting a T. C. Electronics Finalizer. It does multi band compression, and I think more than anything that that is the answer to what you're looking for. Nowadays there must be many ways to do that as part of a program.

To my ears, what you want is not to compress/limit the whole track. You want to compress/limit the low end and not the mids and highs, that way the vox or whatever is lead pops out. If you compress the whole track you end up squashing the lead instrument too much.

Also super important is to make sure the bass doesn't waste too much space on "fog" - the first couple of harmonics above the fundamental. If there's too much "boom" in the bass it will hog the track and you won't be able to get the overall volume to seem loud enough.
 
This will be totally unhelpful to the original question, but why does anybody even need to know how to get that volume?

Raise your hand if when you heard Siamese Dream in 1993 your first thought was "I could really enjoy this if it was louder!"

Raise your hand if when you heard Siamese Dream in 1993 the guitars took your head off and you're probably still looking for it.



Yeah, that's what I thought.



The damn thing is that today's loud records end up being much quieter than the "good stuff" from the 70's and 90's. When I'm rocking out, I turn shit up until the air is physically pummling me. "Loud" songs crap out way before they make it up there. The mid range pushes me away. The clipping eats my brain. Personal survival instincts keep the knob down. Meanwhile "Back in Black" is punching me in the chest with the volume knob burried.


I say screw it.

If it sounds offensively bad when Bob Ludwig and Ted Jensen try it, I'm not even gonna' touch it.
 
dintymoore said:
What helped me the most in all of this was getting a T. C. Electronics Finalizer. It does multi band compression, and I think more than anything that that is the answer to what you're looking for. Nowadays there must be many ways to do that as part of a program.

To my ears, what you want is not to compress/limit the whole track. You want to compress/limit the low end and not the mids and highs, that way the vox or whatever is lead pops out. If you compress the whole track you end up squashing the lead instrument too much.

.
Click to expand...
I hope your kidding. You have very little chance of being right telling him what he needs when you haven't heard the song he's working on and you don't know what sound he is looking for. There is no one size fits all and a muiltiband compressor is probably the last thing someone needs to use to make a mix.

to the OP: The best deal is to keep experimenting until you figure out for yourself what happens when you twiddle all the knobs. miroslav has some good ideas on lvls and tone but you won't really learn until you get your hands dirty and do it yourself.
 
Rich b said:
Hi there, recently been mixing a track but cant seem to get the overall volume right..
When I play it in my mp3 player, it quieter than other (professional) mixes. I've re-adjusted the eq levels and frequencies to stop distortion but that brings the whole volme down.
Just wondered if there was a standard level?

Cheers and hope this makes sense!

Rich
Click to expand...

I had the same problems with my mix, i would get a good mix but when rendered as mp3 it would sound muddy!

you shouldn't tamper with the eq or compression push your levels in the vocal mix to -1 db and cut all peaks above that. i found this to be helpfull for me. u can hear a sample on my page

http://www.soundclick.com/y-kause CALLED SAMPLE MIX
 
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