How do I get things louder without peaking?

[macc]

This. Using compression on your drums to reduce their dynamic range greatly but give them a lot more prominence in the mix isn't the same as mixing them to 0db.

And this, ladies and gentleman, is the hidden point of the gain structure thread.

'Maximum impact, minimum voltage', as someone once said.



@ the OP - turning things down doesn't mean you have a small willy

[staticcast]

turning things down doesn't mean you have a small willy

it's only you that ever says this macc, what you trying to hide?


(reminds me of a pretty funny interview i read once with guy from tv on the radio.... they asked him "does your music ever get you laid?" and he replied "no, my big black dick gets me laid")

[bigfootspartan]

maybe you need to ammend the mix so that there arent any frequencies crossing over, cos if they are, you could say have some sub pressure from the kick adding to the sub which causes it to peak, or a higher frequency from the snare is adding the frequencies already coming from a pad, which everytime the snare his causes it to peak. or is it more punch that you need from the drums rather than volume? which you might get from compressing, or even losing some compression

This is what's helped me the most in clearing up my mixes. Usually as i go along I'll EQ out everything i can without effecting the sound of a channel, so theres no weird crossover. If you're still getting peaking put a visual EQ on the master channel to see what frequencies are the highest. Then you'll know where to start as far as turning things down/side chaining/different EQing/compression.