Getting tracks to a decent volume

[DaFreak]

Hi everyone,

I'm having problems getting a new track of mine to a decent volume after mixdown to .wav. If I set the mix volume to the highest possible setting that doesn't cause excessive 'going into the red' of the meters, the volume of my track is less than half the volume of a normal song (if I compare to mainstream artists). If I heighten the volume I will get strange cracking/popping sounds from time to time in the track. I'm now wondering if I could perhaps change the volume of the track with a different program after mixdown, or if I could solve this problem differently? I think the volume of my tracks has always been low, but I've just recently noticed it because I have submitted a few of my tracks at Garageband.com and had some complaints about volume by the reviewers.

If you want an idea of the volume, check out my previous track at http://www.users.skynet.be/dafreak/Bound.mp3. In the new track I'm working on I am now using compression (first time I use it) on all the instruments, and this has worked wonders for stopping wobbling/swells (I don't know the term, I know very little about production), but maybe this also stops me from getting a high volume without any side effects? Any advice is appreciated!

[pooterpatty]

I've had the same problem. What I normally do is to mix as loud as possible without clipping (which like you said is still usually much quieter than normal songs), then I'll open the file in Audacity (a free audio editor, Google it) or Cool Edit (dating myself there) and amplify by 1 or 2 dB, then just email the OGG file to riffcaster@sonomawireworks.com with the title of the song as the subject for posting on Riffcaster. Hope this helps!

[blue4u]

Check out "normalize" on Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_normalization

What you are describing is common and usually addressed in the mastering stage of production. From what I know so far (which, is not much) this is a delicate process of combining compressors, limiters and eq to boost volume without losing too much dynamic range. Audacity is a nice program for boosting volume without clipping. It automatically figures the amount of dB increase for you. Easy to use and free too! Check it out

Rich

[mickeymix]

Audacity is the way to go my man......... it's ALWAYS my last step in mastering........

[strat]

I use Audacity on every tune ive made...all editing/panning/sound efxs..theres a short learning curve but its ez..and well worth it...i have several programs costing 100s of dollars..never use um...and being free is most cool..tho i do my mastering in a diffrent program,Audacity is a great tool... peace..

[epauley]

So strat, do you mind sharing what program you use to master and why?

[randy]

I've never had to normalize my songs with a third-party application to get the overall volume of a song to match the volume of "main stream" recordings that I have on my computer. All my recordings play in a huge mix with the other music I have and the volumes of my recordings match right up.

Describing how to properly mix is hard to do, but let me try:

1. Before you record anything, set the volume of the drums. Click "Play", choose your drum part and set the volume so that the red limit lights only light up at the very loudest drum parts or so that they're set just below the point of making the light light up.

2. Leave the drum volume alone. If your recorded guitar is too loud or soft, adjust that specific layer so that it fits in with the drums. Don't adjust the drummer to match the guitar.

3. As you record additional layers, continue to leave the drummer volume alone. Work with the volumes (gain) of your recorded instrument layers so that the song/part sounds balanced with the drums.

I'm not saying that mastering is bad, but just that it shouldn't have to be used to get consistent, correct volumes out of your RiffWorks songs. You can't use mastering to correct big mistakes in the recording process anyhow, so your songs will song better if you get it right in the recording stage.

DaFreak - Do you mind posting in this thread a link to one of your RiffCaster songs that you think sounds a little quiet? That'll give us a chance to listen to the "mix". If that doesn't give us enough info, then I might have you send me the actual .rws song file so I can go through and play with the mix to see what corrections I may be able to make.

[strat]

So strat, do you mind sharing what program you use to master and why?

I mix all parts i make in riffworks to wave[drums/rex/bass/keys/gtrs] after ive tweaked everything the best i can in r.works. then i import into Audacity..tweak each part to taste..mostly pan/eq/remove noise/fix flubs/add sound efxs and the such..i amplify all the parts at one time .05 below clipping..then i save to wave and import into Magik Music Maker11 ..its has a lot of stuff for mastering, and suports any vst i throw at it ..i have cakewalk/sound forge/gtr trks pro 3...never use um..I dont realy know what im doing,,i surf the web for tips and such..but i just do what sounds o.k to my old ear holes

[epauley]

Thanks for the reply Strat. Currently, I use Audacity simply to convert to mp3 format. I need to spend more time learning that application. Interestingly, my wife uses Audacity in her profession which is speech pathology.

Also – Thanks Randy for the primer for producing louder volume. I can’t wait to test your process.

[parr]

I have the same problem, and I think it could be a bug in RW.
I mix with the red meter lighting very often and the result has a rather low volume, far from saturation along the whole song.
I've not done an extensive research on that, but I think it deserves some attention.

juan

[DaFreak]

Hey, thanks for all the replies! I normally use Audacity to tweak my songs, but didn't know that I could use it to boost volume, I've now done that and you can hear the end result here:

http://www.users.skynet.be/dafreak/Mirage.mp3

The volume is still not as high as in songs by commercial bands, but it's good enough for me.

[flexkill]

I've never had to normalize my songs with a third-party application to get the overall volume of a song to match the volume of "main stream" recordings that I have on my computer. All my recordings play in a huge mix with the other music I have and the volumes of my recordings match right up.

Describing how to properly mix is hard to do, but let me try:

1. Before you record anything, set the volume of the drums. Click "Play", choose your drum part and set the volume so that the red limit lights only light up at the very loudest drum parts or so that they're set just below the point of making the light light up.

2. Leave the drum volume alone. If your recorded guitar is too loud or soft, adjust that specific layer so that it fits in with the drums. Don't adjust the drummer to match the guitar.

3. As you record additional layers, continue to leave the drummer volume alone. Work with the volumes (gain) of your recorded instrument layers so that the song/part sounds balanced with the drums.

I'm not saying that mastering is bad, but just that it shouldn't have to be used to get consistent, correct volumes out of your RiffWorks songs. You can't use mastering to correct big mistakes in the recording process anyhow, so your songs will song better if you get it right in the recording stage.

DaFreak - Do you mind posting in this thread a link to one of your RiffCaster songs that you think sounds a little quiet? That'll give us a chance to listen to the "mix". If that doesn't give us enough info, then I might have you send me the actual .rws song file so I can go through and play with the mix to see what corrections I may be able to make.

While I agree with your process with getting your drum volume first then adjusting all other sounds and instruments accordingly.......Your volume wil still be low i'm afraid.

As far as someone thinking there is a problem with RW because of low volumes...I don't think this is the case either. If you are peaking very bad in RW it's almost as a limiter or compression kicks in ...causing your volumes to drop across the board. Lowering your peaking instrument will result in all of the other instruments rising in volume....so it is a delicate balancing act that good ears and monitors can really make for a much more pleasurable experiance.

[DaFreak]

Here is a link to my previous song on Riffcaster that has quite a low volume:

http://www.sonomawireworks.com/riffcaster/post.php?/5430