mixdown volumes for drums/bass/synths

[55stevieboy2010]

Before anyone jumps in ive been looking for that really informative thread with that macc fella answering all those track volume questions to ask this but cant find it to save my life,

When it comes to mixing down and setting the volumes for each track, they say drums should be about -8, bass should be about -10 pads about -16 i think it was? My questions which volume slider do i set to these values, the up/down slider in the mixer view or the little volume box in the simpler view when i have say a drum loaded into it? (I use ableton)...or both?

cheers

[55stevieboy2010]

horrendous at explaining myself so if thats gibberish let me know

[Hakala]

Just slide any of them till you get the right level.

[ehbes]

Before anyone jumps in ive been looking for that really informative thread with that macc fella answering all those track volume questions to ask this but cant find it to save my life

kinda sad seeing as its a sticky....

[55stevieboy2010]

Before anyone jumps in ive been looking for that really informative thread with that macc fella answering all those track volume questions to ask this but cant find it to save my life

kinda sad seeing as its a sticky....

i fully apologise for pissing on your mum mate, but if you look in that 'sticky' theres 101 different threads in it, and i cant find the 1 im after. Why not spend your time being constructive n answering the question?

[55stevieboy2010]

Just slide any of them till you get the right level.

obviously ive got that mate, so ok i do that, what im saying is what do i do with the volumes in the simpler then? move them to same too? or just leave them at -12 as they are as standard

[outbound]

It was the one at the top

http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=74832

I miss macc, don't see him round here so much these days

[55stevieboy2010]

yea such a good thread, ill post it in there

[ehbes]

Before anyone jumps in ive been looking for that really informative thread with that macc fella answering all those track volume questions to ask this but cant find it to save my life

kinda sad seeing as its a sticky....

i fully apologise for pissing on your mum mate, but if you look in that 'sticky' theres 101 different threads in it, and i cant find the 1 im after. Why not spend your time being constructive n answering the question?

So your saying you didn't notice the huge text at the top of the page?
And my mom has yet to be pissed on so you might wanna get on that

[skimpi]

It doesnt really matter, like I dont really get what you are asking, if the faders have to be at -10 and the faders on the simpler? No, the faders dont need to be at -10 or whatever, its the peak level readin on the channel meter. Still though it's not set in stone, you can have the levels wherever you want as long as it sounds good, if you have them where you want, and it is clipping the master, then pull everything down equally until you have atleast -3db of headroom.

If you are askign whether you should move the channel faders, or the simple levels, as in, moving which will sound better, then either, it will both end up with the same sound. People say you should get the levels right at source leading to minimal fader movement, but I dont think it really matter or affects the sound.

[Perej]

Before anyone jumps in ive been looking for that really informative thread with that macc fella answering all those track volume questions to ask this but cant find it to save my life

kinda sad seeing as its a sticky....

i fully apologise for pissing on your mum mate, but if you look in that 'sticky' theres 101 different threads in it, and i cant find the 1 im after. Why not spend your time being constructive n answering the question?

Haha thats asking way too much around here mate, sadly.

[lloydy]

Mix downs are all about using your ears,no set procedure just simply set levels till everything sounds where you want it.

[55stevieboy2010]

Before anyone jumps in ive been looking for that really informative thread with that macc fella answering all those track volume questions to ask this but cant find it to save my life

kinda sad seeing as its a sticky....

i fully apologise for pissing on your mum mate, but if you look in that 'sticky' theres 101 different threads in it, and i cant find the 1 im after. Why not spend your time being constructive n answering the question?

Haha thats asking way too much around here mate, sadly.

dont i know mate

It doesnt really matter, like I dont really get what you are asking, if the faders have to be at -10 and the faders on the simpler? No, the faders dont need to be at -10 or whatever, its the peak level readin on the channel meter. Still though it's not set in stone, you can have the levels wherever you want as long as it sounds good, if you have them where you want, and it is clipping the master, then pull everything down equally until you have atleast -3db of headroom.

If you are askign whether you should move the channel faders, or the simple levels, as in, moving which will sound better, then either, it will both end up with the same sound. People say you should get the levels right at source leading to minimal fader movement, but I dont think it really matter or affects the sound.

Cheers for the reply, basically what im saying is, you have 2 volume sliders, 1 on the channel meter, the other in the simpler that you may have loaded a drum sample into for instance, what i was asking is which 1 out of the 2 vol sliders do i move to the (roughly correct volume)

I know this is a embarrassingly dickhead question to be asking, but if ya dont know ya dont know

safety

[MKRUGGER]

Before anyone jumps in ive been looking for that really informative thread with that macc fella answering all those track volume questions to ask this but cant find it to save my life

kinda sad seeing as its a sticky....

i fully apologise for pissing on your mum mate, but if you look in that 'sticky' theres 101 different threads in it, and i cant find the 1 im after. Why not spend your time being constructive n answering the question?

Haha thats asking way too much around here mate, sadly.

dont i know mate

It doesnt really matter, like I dont really get what you are asking, if the faders have to be at -10 and the faders on the simpler? No, the faders dont need to be at -10 or whatever, its the peak level readin on the channel meter. Still though it's not set in stone, you can have the levels wherever you want as long as it sounds good, if you have them where you want, and it is clipping the master, then pull everything down equally until you have atleast -3db of headroom.

If you are askign whether you should move the channel faders, or the simple levels, as in, moving which will sound better, then either, it will both end up with the same sound. People say you should get the levels right at source leading to minimal fader movement, but I dont think it really matter or affects the sound.

Cheers for the reply, basically what im saying is, you have 2 volume sliders, 1 on the channel meter, the other in the simpler that you may have loaded a drum sample into for instance, what i was asking is which 1 out of the 2 vol sliders do i move to the (roughly correct volume)

I know this is a embarrassingly dickhead question to be asking, but if ya dont know ya dont know

safety

Move whichever one you want dude.. Doesn't matter.. Either way it ends up the same (As far as I know)

What matters is the PEAK level..

[skimpi]

Before anyone jumps in ive been looking for that really informative thread with that macc fella answering all those track volume questions to ask this but cant find it to save my life

kinda sad seeing as its a sticky....

i fully apologise for pissing on your mum mate, but if you look in that 'sticky' theres 101 different threads in it, and i cant find the 1 im after. Why not spend your time being constructive n answering the question?

Haha thats asking way too much around here mate, sadly.

dont i know mate

It doesnt really matter, like I dont really get what you are asking, if the faders have to be at -10 and the faders on the simpler? No, the faders dont need to be at -10 or whatever, its the peak level readin on the channel meter. Still though it's not set in stone, you can have the levels wherever you want as long as it sounds good, if you have them where you want, and it is clipping the master, then pull everything down equally until you have atleast -3db of headroom.

If you are askign whether you should move the channel faders, or the simple levels, as in, moving which will sound better, then either, it will both end up with the same sound. People say you should get the levels right at source leading to minimal fader movement, but I dont think it really matter or affects the sound.

Cheers for the reply, basically what im saying is, you have 2 volume sliders, 1 on the channel meter, the other in the simpler that you may have loaded a drum sample into for instance, what i was asking is which 1 out of the 2 vol sliders do i move to the (roughly correct volume)

I know this is a embarrassingly dickhead question to be asking, but if ya dont know ya dont know

safety

Yeah what he said ^^, it doesnt really matter, some people will say like "keep your channel faders as close to zero as you can for better sound quality, get the sound levels right at source" but it really doesnt matter. If you want to follow the guide lines of where things should sit, then just move either so that the peak level of the channel meter is hitting where it 'should' be. but really, just do it so it sounds good. and isnt clipping the master lol

[justanotherdj]

do what sounds good to you, make your own sound.

[Barka]

It does matter which actually, and you want to set the correct volume in simpler/some other instrument, basically in the first thing in your chain. That way if you put any effects after your instrument they'll be working with a lower level signal, and you will not accidentaly clip it with an EQ boost or whatever. (EDIT: and obviously compensate if any of your effects raise or lower the volume in the chain) That's why it is best practice to keep the mixer faders set to 0 and set it as early in the chain as possible, at least according to macc's (and my) method.

But as others said in the end what really matters is not where faders are set, but what your channel peak volume meter reads. So if you are in ableton, extend the mixer volume thingy upwards with the mouse so you can read peak volume numbers, and those are what you want to be roughly -8db/-10db/whatever.

Also note, that -8db applies to the whole drum bus together, not kick/snare/w/e separately!
And remember that these values are rough guidelines, you don't have to match them exactly, so don't go sweating yourself off trying to make it perfect. Do it so it sounds good!

Hope I was clear enough, good luck mate!

[drake89]

Best advice I've gotten from a pro is have your drums peaking at -5dB and then go from there watching your master and using your ears. He Also mentioned how mastering your own tunes will help your mix downs immensely as you'll quickly realize what you're doing wrong.

[ehbes]

-5 damn thats loud IMO for me kick is usually around 10 and snare 12..

[drake89]

-5 damn thats loud IMO for me kick is usually around 10 and snare 12..

Drum bus you dingus