gain structure and mixing aka THE MONEYSHOT THREAD

[elyhess]

what is monitoring volume? and no, no other sounds come in, what im saying is, im trying to adjust the fuckin fader so that im peaking -3 on the master track.. i turn it all the way down and slowly go up, -50, -40, -30, -20, -10, and then it goes to 9 8 7 6..

why is it not going to -9, -8, -7 ect.


oh any yeah the master fader is already at like -20 and its peaking like -13. and you guys said it needs to be in the negatives for it not to clip, so thats basically where it has to be? considering its impossible for me to go to -3?

[eldoogle]

Maybe check the inserts in your chain on your track? I dunno.

[elyhess]

im debating if i should just throw this track away.. idk what ive done to fuck it up, but i guess its broken beyond fix.

in the future what can i do to avoid this whole shitstorm of problems?

[symmetricalsounds]

if you've read through all this thread, bought down invididual channels so they're balancing right, not got any random automations screwing things up then i have no clue how you could still have issues.

[eldoogle]

Check which effects are making the problem. Check automations drawn in.

[elyhess]

no automations whatsoever except for the beginning intro.

perhaps i should try this. taking down all the faders on all channels to 0, and slowly going up and see what happens to the master channel? and then adjusting each channel accordingly, ive already tried this, but we'll see i guess

[elyhess]

i feel like theres so much shit going on in this song, the master fader is jumping around so much, -13, +5, +6, -12, -11, 7, 8. is basically what it is showing.

so basically to get everything evened out, its going to take me a long long time and ill just have to keep working with it until all the levels are completely evened out? if im understanding correctly

[symmetricalsounds]

take every channel fader down, now start bringing things in one by one, keep individual channels low in the mix and turn up the volume on your interface/speakers.

[elyhess]

OK, basically what ive done is singled out one channel so that i only have one sound playing, i put it on a loop and slowly adjusted the master fader, but it still does the same thing even tho its only one track playing, stops at -10 and goes to +9.. shouldnt it be going to -9 then -8 or whatever?

now im just confused as to how i can get the peak to even go to -3 db even if its just one single sound?

im just kind of baffled that i cant get a stand alone sound to go below -10 db..
does this mean that even if im going from -10 to 9, to 8, all the way up to 3 (not -3) that im not clipping?

[symmetricalsounds]

i have no idea why you're even touching the master fader?

leave master fader at default 0 position, now turn every channel fader down to minimum and slowly start to bring things in.

[elyhess]

i have no idea why you're even touching the master fader?

leave master fader at default 0 position, now turn every channel fader down to minimum and slowly start to bring things in.

someone earlier had mentioned it, so leave master fader at 0, but reguardless if i start all the other channels to lets say -20, and slowly start bringing them in, im going to want my master channel to peak -3 db correct?

well see im using logic, and i can never get my peak to go any less than -10. always goes to 9,8,7,6, etc...

[symmetricalsounds]

well first off think you're obssessing over numbers a bit too much, aim for about -6 to -3 on master channel, ignore all other numbers and just make sure things aren't going into the red.

if your master channel is peaking at +9 then every channel is way too loud. i suspect you've got all tracks way too loud because you think things are too quiet if they're not up there, but you should be adjusting the monitoring volume on your interface/speakers not in your DAW.

[laurend]

If you want to start making music instead of worrying about numbers, you must have a reference level for your monitor.
Bob Katz has described a good method to do so. Google it and choose the K14 norm.

All previous recommandations about avoiding to overload the master section will remain valid. But you will be amazed to discover that when making music, ears are much more important than eyes. when your monitoring is calibrated, your ears warn you about clipping before your eyes.

[Ldizzy]

im debating if i should just throw this track away.. idk what ive done to fuck it up, but i guess its broken beyond fix.

in the future what can i do to avoid this whole shitstorm of problems?

if i were u id bounce every single instrument to audio and remix from ground zero

[elyhess]

im debating if i should just throw this track away.. idk what ive done to fuck it up, but i guess its broken beyond fix.

in the future what can i do to avoid this whole shitstorm of problems?

if i were u id bounce every single instrument to audio and remix from ground zero

ha yeah i have like 60 instances of massive

[laurend]

if i were u id bounce every single instrument to audio and remix from ground zero

That's a very good advice especially if you use 60 virtual instruments...

[elyhess]

yeah i knew of it but i never really figured out how to do it, ive only been messing around with this stuff for a very short time.

would that require me to bounce each individual sound on the track and open it up into a new instance of logic and re-build the song there? or is there a wway to do it without having to take all the time to do that. and wouldnt the only benefits really be that it wouldnt rape my CPU usage?

[symmetricalsounds]

pretty sure you can bounce it all down to audio without having to open a new project

[laurend]

Freeze ?

[safeandsound]

My article here will be of great interest and value in this topic...

http://audiogeekzine.com/2011/07/the-24-bit-advantage/

It is less about the 24 bit advantage and more about why 0dBFS is way too hot for mixing
and completely unnecessary.

SafeandSound Mastering
mastering dance music
stem mastering