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i compress my track's in a different way but when i do it my track's become's louder than other peoples's but to me it's still sound's ok
i've been told by a few other producer's your track's are so loud and i've also notice that...

1. if i got the track's mastered could they bring my levels back down like other tune's?

2. or do i have to go into my DAW and re edit the compression?

am not sure if this is good or bad thing that the track's are so loud?

maybe have a listen to my track in my sig tell me if its to loud?

thanks.

As long as things arn't peaking, how "loud" a song is is very subjective to the listener. In my opinion, it's better for things to be quiet and occupy their space with perfection rather than having everything loud, which is why alot of people mix very quietly.

From a mastering point of view and from what I've gathered, it's never good practise to send anything with heavy compression for mastering, It's their job to give your tune extra depth, emphasis and in turn a few DB in the right places.

you shouldn't need to compress your tracks. compression on the master channel is a big no-no, unless it's been done properly by a trained professional. your music will sound more rich and full with quiet levels turned up than it will being pushed into a square, which is what i see in the track in your sig. a/b your tracks with the pros, for sure, but don't a/b for volume. leave that to the mastering engineer, when the day comes.

ok thanks for the help!
will try not to compress the master in future tunes
but i though if i compress thenm would give it more head room or something like that.
will try to do less compressing too.

thierry_le_dj wrote:ok thanks for the help!
will try not to compress the master in future tunes
but i though if i compress thenm would give it more head room or something like that.
will try to do less compressing too.

I don't put compression on the master. But when I have finished a track and mixed it to my satisfaction, I limit it to boost the volume up bit - I can't get it anywhere near commercial volume without making it sound mushed and stuff, but the volume is boosted a bit so is not completely overshadowed. This is to send it to people who might play it. I think if your tracks are much louder than stuff that is released you must be really slamming it.

If you want to reduce the volume of the track, you mayaswell go back into the DAW and lift the threshold of the compressor a bit, so that you get some dynamics back. Otherwise you can reduce the volume on the mixer or whatever is playing the track.

completely unrelated

comprression is an art learn when to use and not to best advice i can give

When people speak of compression, I get the idea that they think of a box or software plugin that makes things louder. U should think dynamic range when you think of the term compression. With each element you bring into your track, you should think about that element's dynamic range. How does the sound come into and out of existence? If you've considered the dynamic range of all of your elements while building up your mix, you shouldn't need much master level compression, if any.

I know the lords of audio don't admit it, but they have black boxes that make audio sound better. Don't even try to understand it. I think compression may be involved in there, wtf do I know, I'll never know. Let them take care of it.

i never put a compressor on my output cos i dont know enought about mastering to do it with any success. it also kills any purposeful dynamics. for instance, alot of my bass drops come after a quiet section for impact. if theres a compressor on my output, the section that was supposed to be quite will now be just as loud as my bass drop, which kills the impact i was trying to achieve.

yea thanks all for the advice..
i will try to work on this on future track's
and will need to re edit old track's.

Rule of thumb, I just put a straight gain knob on my master (compressor, no attack, no threshold, 1 on the rate) and just gain my mix up to fill that last 5-6 db of headroom so DJs dont have too gain it themselves.

Wouldnt do anything else, feel like thats an m.e.s job.

Thierry, what your doing (though it does look a bit extrreme) isnt 100% terrible. You can self master your 320s, by all means. But. You should always be saving a clean, dynamic mixdown with plenty of headroom as 32 bit wav, in case you ever do decide to have something mastered.

deadly habit wrote:completely unrelated

comprression is an art learn when to use and not to best advice i can give

Second time you've posted it, 5th time i've watched all the way through it. DAMN YOU

ok am actually re editing all my track's now so i have taken compressor off all the master's but am not sure if i should take then off just the normal channels cause when i do they sound really soft....

do you all compress any part's at all of your track's?

starting to get a little confused about compressing...

lol i have so many track's to re edit...its kinda like a nightmare.

You can compress your individual channels, but, you really shouldnt need to, it should have a creative purpose (squaring and removing the dynamics of a kick snare, ect.)

if something sounds to quiet, you might need to bring everything else down, not turn that element up.

And none of your channel meters should ever hit to high...

-6db = half headroom gone, so anything beyond that = eating it away very fast.

Your first clue everythings to loud is if you ahve to turn master down or put a compressor/limiter on the last master effect to ceiling your track.

Cant help but notice the more I look at your tunes how HARDCORE ceilinged they are two man... compare your sig, to mine (not to be a cock, just example)... note how even though Ive done what I consider to be too much compression and limiting on the one in my sig, youll note that there's still some wiggle room of white space around the top/bottom of the soundcloud player, and that you can still see the dynamic range when I add bass, take it away, you can see the drum peaks, ect.

This is a good thing. It can be bad, if your levels are all over the shit crazy and your making a live rig make god aweful pain noises from shit peaking to low then high then low then high...

But judging by the one in your sig, your gonna have them crying in pain from everything being all squared out, haha.

basically, if you cant see your dynamics, and your software doesnt see a bit of headroom in a track, everything is WAAAAAY to loud or your master compressor/limiter are set WAAAY to extremely.

Remember dude.

Tracks dont have to sound loud on your rig, they have to look right as waveforms. turn your rig up, and assume, a dj will always gain up when playing. Your shit can be so quiet it sounds muted on your rig, and the minute the dj turns the gianup its going to be in your face.

Basic A wrote:You can compress your individual channels, but, you really shouldnt need to, it should have a creative purpose (squaring and removing the dynamics of a kick snare, ect.)

if something sounds to quiet, you might need to bring everything else down, not turn that element up.

And none of your channel meters should ever hit to high...

-6db = half headroom gone, so anything beyond that = eating it away very fast.

Your first clue everythings to loud is if you ahve to turn master down or put a compressor/limiter on the last master effect to ceiling your track.

Cant help but notice the more I look at your tunes how HARDCORE ceilinged they are two man... compare your sig, to mine (not to be a cock, just example)... note how even though Ive done what I consider to be too much compression and limiting on the one in my sig, youll note that there's still some wiggle room of white space around the top/bottom of the soundcloud player, and that you can still see the dynamic range when I add bass, take it away, you can see the drum peaks, ect.

This is a good thing. It can be bad, if your levels are all over the shit crazy and your making a live rig make god aweful pain noises from shit peaking to low then high then low then high...

But judging by the one in your sig, your gonna have them crying in pain from everything being all squared out, haha.

basically, if you cant see your dynamics, and your software doesnt see a bit of headroom in a track, everything is WAAAAAY to loud or your master compressor/limiter are set WAAAY to extremely.

Remember dude.

Tracks dont have to sound loud on your rig, they have to look right as waveforms. turn your rig up, and assume, a dj will always gain up when playing. Your shit can be so quiet it sounds muted on your rig, and the minute the dj turns the gianup its going to be in your face.

Thanks heaps for this!
all track's are almost re done,
am not sure if will re upload the new one on the scloud tho..
but sounding good..

Basic A wrote:You can compress your individual channels, but, you really shouldnt need to, it should have a creative purpose (squaring and removing the dynamics of a kick snare, ect.)

Once again, compressors don't make anything louder. They can make things sound louder, but there is a difference between these two.


Use your compressor for a couple of things,

1. To control the dynamic range of your sounds. Sometimes I go off on psycho sound design trips and produce a sound that has way to much dynamic range, the quiet parts are too far away from the loud parts. So I'll use a compressor to keep the louder parts loud, but to bring up the quieter parts.

2. To shape individual sounds. You can use a compressor somewhat like an adsr envelope. You can control how much attack the sound has, or how much sustain it has. For example, maybe you want your snare to be a little more sticky, to have more of that sound of the theoretical drum stick hitting the head, well, set up a compressor to let the attack phase of the sound through, then to kick in and turn down the tail of the snare. This will give you more snappyness.

These are the types of uses for a compressor, not to make things louder.

There are some other uses, but that is some advanced stuff if you're still at that stage of slamming your tunes. Please read the mix/mastering stickied thread. I personally guarantee that if you follow the advice in there, your music will sound 120% better. No joke.

Cheers dude!
will also read the stickies..
am understanding it more now.

shizzzz i have re done all my main track's about 8 tunes all up...
i just re uploaded the new version that track in my signature re done,
i think it sound's better not as loud as it use to be.
thanks for the help all!