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okay: when i finish the mixup and turn the track into a wav it is usually way too low volume, altho i raise the master level to 0db.
how can i make everything louder without losing dynamics.
don't want it superloud, just a normal volume... allways when i compare to other tracks (not talking about well mastered mala or shackleton tracks, talking bout other 'amateur'-producers on board) mine is just too low...

i use ableton.

thank you

Limit to -20db, then it will be really loud.

Little bit of multiband compression
Little bit of limiting

should work

eqing as well, just the general mastering process i think

i fear of mastering.. usually sounds bad after mastering. i believe in professional mastering, not in noob-mastering.

thanks for your ideas tho.. thought that limiting would chop off some frequencies...

vulvavibration wrote:i fear of mastering.. usually sounds bad after mastering. i believe in professional mastering, not in noob-mastering.

thanks for your ideas tho.. thought that limiting would chop off some frequencies...

limiting can make parts of your track louder that sound bad, its better to eq your tracks individually so they site next to each other in the frequency spectrum better. Personally i will mix everything down, then listen to it again a few days later trying to figure out which parts have too much of certain frequencies, like pads being to loud or something. I find once you have dithered down to a 320 you notice these clashes more.

I usually roll of everything apart from the kick and sub at 100hz as well. This can give you more headroom and you can boost the overall volume. Usually its in the mids where you need to eq more, as your taking volume out of specific frequencies you can boost overall volume basicly.

EDIT* Dont go to extreme with the eq though unless your being creative with it (i.e. messing up a sample for a certain effect) If you like the punch or feel of a sample then just eq suitbly or preferebly have a sample well suited so you dont need to do any at all. Also i find it helps to concentrate on a specific part of the song and then eq/build the song around that.

In renoise there is a post effects mixer view for mixing down and getting the mix loud....

maybe your looking for something like that in ableton?

what i would recomend is, to get your mix as, good as you can get it with a clean master. then put a limiter on the master and turn the input gain up a bit just don't go crazy with it. this is just what i would call a diy dub-master just to bring your volume up, for the 320 crew ect. i would not recomend going crazy with all this multi this and that and eq blah blah blah. their for ME's to use when fixing thing wronge in the mix and its your mix so you can sort any problems you hear in the mix.

btw all this is covered in the mixing and mastering sticky. so if i was you i would make some tea and read it all. or just the post by macc and sharmaji

Microscopic amounts of vintage warmer, a parametric eq, master 2 preset on the fl default compressor...


Its not professional, but it similar nuff to what they do that I can increase my DJ-ability of tunes a bit with it, keeps my meter from dieing playing my straight wav mixdowns, just somethin I do temp for 320s... Long as you dont full ceiling your compressor, just barely top it out, you shouldnt lose much in the way of dynamics either, the warmer adds some oompf, and the eq lets you level all your bands out real nicely before the compressor.

Just fidget with the settings for everything, it al depends on the tune really, and what your 'mastering' it for...

Basic A wrote:Microscopic amounts of vintage warmer, a parametric eq, master 2 preset on the fl default compressor...


Its not professional, but it similar nuff to what they do that I can increase my DJ-ability of tunes a bit with it, keeps my meter from dieing playing my straight wav mixdowns, just somethin I do temp for 320s... Long as you dont full ceiling your compressor, just barely top it out, you shouldnt lose much in the way of dynamics either, the warmer adds some oompf, and the eq lets you level all your bands out real nicely before the compressor.

Just fidget with the settings for everything, it al depends on the tune really, and what your 'mastering' it for...

Yeah man i love vintage warmer it sounds pure as pure, i use it on most of my softsynths to give them a "warmer" more upfront tone.

well if it sounds good with you getting as much gain as possible without using any compression/eq/limiting/insert-mastering-plugin-here, then i wouldnt do anything. a good track is good at all volume levels. so just turn up your speaker volume.

LFpHUNK wrote:well if it sounds good with you getting as much gain as possible without using any compression/eq/limiting/insert-mastering-plugin-here, then i wouldnt do anything. a good track is good at all volume levels. so just turn up your speaker volume.

Nice tune!!!

yea honestly unless you're an ME i'd leave the master channel free of fx, use gain staging fx on individual channels for impact but leave the master clean with some headroom
the most i do for my tunes if i'm gonna be spinning em out is a vintage warmer or l2 on master for slight limiting or amateurish eqing, but if a tune is done right with headroom intact you just have to adjust gain knob on mixer when spinning
why i'm so adamantly anti these so called cheap digital mastering services with no real setups

Sorry for the noob question, but in what state should a track be in before being sent off to be mastered?

Should each channel have it's own limiting etc. and the track be pushing peak levels, or mixdown the track pure so it's got a shitload of headroom and the mastering process boosts it?

marshy wrote: Should each channel have it's own limiting etc. and the track be pushing peak levels, or mixdown the track pure so it's got a shitload of headroom and the mastering process boosts it?

They're not mutually exclusive. You can have a load of processing within tracks to keep the levels in check if you need, but yes keep a lot of headroom and no limiter or anything on the end of it.

I'm sure someone else will give a more concise answer.

marshy wrote:Sorry for the noob question, but in what state should a track be in before being sent off to be mastered?

Should each channel have it's own limiting etc. and the track be pushing peak levels, or mixdown the track pure so it's got a shitload of headroom and the mastering process boosts it?

the only time i use a limiter on and individual channel or buss is when i want a real drastic effect and i wouldn't recommend it unless you know what you are doing. subtractive eqing with gain staging and properly learning compression be it standard, parallel, sidechain etc can go a long way. i'd say read up on some traditional recording books and forums like by bob katz etc for a more in depth look. also macc has posted some great stuff on this on here, his doa grid q&a and on the subvert central forums

marshy wrote:Sorry for the noob question, but in what state should a track be in before being sent off to be mastered?

Should each channel have it's own limiting etc. and the track be pushing peak levels, or mixdown the track pure so it's got a shitload of headroom and the mastering process boosts it?

if you know what you're doing, it should sound like it doesn't need anything to be done by the mastering engineer. However you do it is fine. leaving them some volume to bring it up is always good.

this thread is getting closer and closer to the mixing and mastering sticky....

Sharmaji wrote:

marshy wrote:Sorry for the noob question, but in what state should a track be in before being sent off to be mastered?

Should each channel have it's own limiting etc. and the track be pushing peak levels, or mixdown the track pure so it's got a shitload of headroom and the mastering process boosts it?

if you know what you're doing, it should sound like it doesn't need anything to be done by the mastering engineer. However you do it is fine. leaving them some volume to bring it up is always good.

this thread is getting closer and closer to the mixing and mastering sticky....

yea, but i think we've establish people seem to ignore the stickies...

Ok, to take it off track then, what is up with the phrase 'gain staging'? I get what it means, it just sounds weird.

They do ...
READ THAT THREAD - a lot

My mixes improved 10 fold after adhering to that advice - probably more (I was a bit deluded before I came here)

Now I keep the dbs down and aim for clarity not power - then I give it to Macc who imbues it with the power of Grayskull = WIN!

I feel real lucky to have found out so much on these boards - so well done to you all.