gain structure and mixing aka THE MONEYSHOT THREAD

[elyhess]

Ok, I upated my song, drums are at -8.9 db, should I make them a tad bit quieter? Or do they sound ok as they are

The song is my signature

[skimpi]

i havent read all your recent posts cos im rushing to go out, but i dont know how your master is reading 8, 9, the readings on the faders will only go up to +6 so how would you know if it is reaching +8 or +9? but aswell just bring everything down low, if one of your channels is in the red, then your master will be in the red if the master fader is set to zero, you want to have NO red readings on your track, you want each channel to be well below red readings.

[laurend]

Ok, I upated my song, drums are at -8.9 db, should I make them a tad bit quieter? Or do they sound ok as they are

The song is my signature

That sounds like a good mix basis. If peaks reach values higher than -3 dB on your master section when adding the other elements, just lower the gain.

[elyhess]

Ok, I upated my song, drums are at -8.9 db, should I make them a tad bit quieter? Or do they sound ok as they are

The song is my signature

That sounds like a good mix basis. If peaks reach values higher than -3 dB on your master section when adding the other elements, just lower the gain.

cool thanks now i just have to start coming up with sounding tunes, the one i have as my sig is a bit basic, thanks for your helps people. i know i must have sounded pretty retarted! we all need help sometimes xD

[tpc_uk]

Nice one to everybody in this thread. esp Macc obviously - some seriously decent information...

Read it from the beginning last night. Alot to get through but I think iv picked up some points.

[elyhess]

yeah this thread is gold!!!

[BaseBass]

Just a quick question. When I build a snare sound from multiple other snares, and you add your typical filters, EQ, compression, saturation etc etc. And then export that snare sound to .WAV format and load it into a new project (with no new effects or filters applied whatsoever, so a clean channel). Does it still sound the same? Are the frequenties I cut off before exporting still gone? Does the snare still hit as hard etc? Or does it lose it´s punch and cleanness?

(for the sake of argument, let's say that both the old and the new project file have the same settings on the master channel, so the snare does not get affected by different settings on the master)

I'm still trying to understand, what kind of effect bouncing back to audio and re-importing it again has. Does the audio lose anything, or gain unwanted stuff? Do I have to EQ it all over again? And does this work the same with Kicks, Basses etc?

[laurend]

let's say that both the old and the new project file have the same settings on the master channel, so the snare does not get affected by different settings on the master

If your sound is processed twice, it's different than if processed once. If you want to keep the same snare from a project to another, just forgot all processing on the snare track AND your master section.

[BaseBass]

What are the major differences to the sound when processed a second time? I mean... I exported the snare to a .wav. So it is exported with the compression and all other stuff. I don't really see how it could sound different in a new project, when you don't add any new filters or effects.

Don't people do the same when they resample basses? They export it to wave, and then reload it into the project so they can chop it up etc? That would mean, that the basses sound diffrent after reloading into the project as well right?

I'm having a hard time understanding what the consequences are. When I have built a kick-ass snare, and I might want to re-use it in a new project... how does this affect the snare when I load it in as a wav?

[laurend]

.wav export is transparent. If you use it as it is, your snare sound won't change.

[BaseBass]

Thanks Laurend, That's what I wanted to know =).

[Warwolt]

So basically bouncing things is to boil down everything in the chain into something that is more solid, so you know that you can keep working on it without a lot of devices to worry about.

[macc]

^ That's right

In fact it's exactly what it means - the term 'bouncing' comes from the old days when you had used all of your available tracks on tape. You'd 'bounce' 8 channels into one, to free up the other 7. Why the word bounce, I dunno though.

One thing that should be made clear to BaseBass though;

I'm having a hard time understanding what the consequences are. When I have built a kick-ass snare, and I might want to re-use it in a new project... how does this affect the snare when I load it in as a wav?

The main thing to be careful with is any processing in your master channel.

If you have all sorts of stuff in your master channel and bounce the snare, it will have those effects on it. Now if you re-import that snare, it's going to be running through all those effects for a second time. Another reason (IMO!) to keep your master channel clear.

Laurend sort of touched on that but I just wanted to make it more explicit

[elyhess]

This thread is extremely helpful

[BaseBass]

Thanks macc =). I Appreciate the tips!

[elyhess]

I got a question! So i edited my song a little more, decided to put in a riser in the intro to build up suspense, my intro peaks abouut -6 to -4 db, what db should i put my riser at?

this might be a silly question, should i just turn it up to where it is present and sounds nice in the mix? or should i set it specifically?

[laurend]

Peak levels are meaningless for loudness.
So you should just turn it up to where it is present and sounds nice. That's mixing.

[elyhess]

Peak levels are meaningless for loudness.
So you should just turn it up to where it is present and sounds nice. That's mixing.

ok thank you for clearing that up! Sorry for the lack of knowledge, gotta start somewhere i guess

[Redderious]

big ups to macc!

[charliefoy]

Peak levels are meaningless for loudness.
So you should just turn it up to where it is present and sounds nice. That's mixing.

ok thank you for clearing that up! Sorry for the lack of knowledge, gotta start somewhere i guess

Yeah don't rely on numbers. Just use your ears to judge weather it is too loud/quiet.