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The track starts off with a 4 on the floor kick that is damn near red lining, which makes for great sampling...But my question is, according to proper mixing technique, the drums should technically be peaking at around -8 to -9 db, so what's going on here? How is it that the song can start off with the kick slamming in your face, yet still leave room for the rest of the track to build and layer without sounding overly compressed? Macc? Help?

EQ, volume automation, dynamics, arrangement

not to mention sidechaining...

As far as I understand....

The track is built with the kick peaking at -9db or wherever, allowing headroom for the mix.

Then once it's all completed the whole thing is mastered, bringing all the levels up. That's it

If you want to compare that mix to something you're working on, drop it into your DAW and bring the level of the track down 9db (or thereabouts) -then start matching it!

Er, just turn down your sampler? BTW, the -8 dB rule of thumb is absolutely nothing to do with compression or sound. It's just good mixing practice to keep everything out of the red. You'll mix better if you don't feel like you're fighting to fit everything in and can see the full travel of all the faders.

-8 is for pussies, use half, -6.

narcissus wrote:not to mention sidechaining...

I think your answer lies in dynamic range compression at the mastering stage, where every part of the song is pushed to peak at 0, however many parts there are. You end up with a situation where that kick will make way for other sounds in order to avoid peaking. I find it very implausable that the song uses sidechain compression, eq, etc to avoid peaking with a kick peaking at 0, unless all other sounds disappear when the kick is being played. Its totally likely that when the song was made by the artist, that opening kick was 8db quieter than the song in full swing, just some kind ME has brickwalled the tits off it. If you sample a kick from elsewhere in the song, only layered in other sounds, it will obviously peak at 0 too.

It does not really matter I dotn think. Make sure you have everything out of the red and forget about things like this and just make music! Having an amazing kick drum that is peaking and sounds really loud will not achieve much imo.

48k wrote:As far as I understand....

The track is built with the kick peaking at -9db or wherever, allowing headroom for the mix.

Then once it's all completed the whole thing is mastered, bringing all the levels up. That's it

If you want to compare that mix to something you're working on, drop it into your DAW and bring the level of the track down 9db (or thereabouts) -then start matching it!

This is it.

Sometimes on My pre-mastered track the kick will be peaking at like -7db or so in the intro, then after mastering, ie dynamics, eq all that jazz and limiting for loudness your left with a kick that does peak at say -0.2bd from the beginning.

the complicated solution:

turn it down!

Brisance wrote:-8 is for pussies, use half, -6.

6 is half of 8?

ELLFIVEDEE wrote:

Brisance wrote:-8 is for pussies, use half, -6.

6 is half of 8?

no, but -6 is half of 0

48k wrote:As far as I understand....

The track is built with the kick peaking at -9db or wherever, allowing headroom for the mix.

Then once it's all completed the whole thing is mastered, bringing all the levels up. That's it

If you want to compare that mix to something you're working on, drop it into your DAW and bring the level of the track down 9db (or thereabouts) -then start matching it!

damagedgoods wrote:Er, just turn down your sampler? BTW, the -8 dB rule of thumb is absolutely nothing to do with compression or sound. It's just good mixing practice to keep everything out of the red. You'll mix better if you don't feel like you're fighting to fit everything in and can see the full travel of all the faders.

And a big fecking to that n all.

Brisance wrote:

ELLFIVEDEE wrote:

Brisance wrote:-8 is for pussies, use half, -6.

6 is half of 8?

no, but -6 is half of 0

-6 = 1/4 of 0db...... if i'm right in thinking volume doubles every 3db