![]() Here is a waveform taken from a digital audio workstation, showing three different styles of music recording. "In the music and broadcast industries, chaos currently prevails. in Post!īob Katz has some good thoughts on levels and mastering. The bad news is we are stuck with some form of S.C.T. when we prep our music tracks to go to the mastering engineer. ![]() Of course, the good news is we can eliminate the S.C.T. We all know THAT is what most producers are going to compare our ref CD mixes to. Needless to say, THAT is what we find ourselves forced to compete with when we create reference mix CD's. It was a nice full sounding mix that I was pleased with UNTIL I opened the Sheryl Crow mix! The original music was mixed adhering to the 0 dbVU average throughout concept. I loaded it from the AES digital output of my Sony CD player through my Z Systems digital router into the 888/24's AES inputs to a 44.1 KHz 16 bit original music session I had mixed in Pro Tools. I did a little test (VERY UNscientific, so PLEASE don't bag on me) using the tune "A Change Will Do You Good" as a mastered reference. The amount of compression, coupled with the full scale mastering level, on one of her discs represents the epitome of LOUD!!! (IMHO) I call that final stage processor my "Sheryl Crow Tweak" (S.C.T.). I use the L1 or Master X plug on the Master fader only when cutting a reference mix CD to compensate level to compare more favorably to mastered discs. Sort of digital's version of a wire with gain. It helps to simplify the digital gain stage math processing. Maintaining 0 dbVU (-20 dbFS RMS) average throughout seems to be the right answer. The point here is simply that you can observe 0dbVU throughout the recording and mixing process, and not have to worry about the mix level until after you have made all your choices. You may prefer to use a different plug in. I'm careful not to chain too many plug ins on the master fader, so since I often use the Rennaisance compressor as a 2 bus compressor, I like to do the gain change there too. There are other plug ins that are good for raising gain too. So, go ahead and observe 0dbVU, make your choices as you will without regard to beefing up the mix bus level, and then add gain at the end. In my experience, neither one of these things is usually true. You can choose to use the master fader IF you don't have any plug ins on it AND IF you only need 6db more. ![]() I have found that when using the Rennaisance compressor across the mix bus, that after I have made all my aesthetic choices, using the gain on the plug in is a good way to raise the overall level. 24 bits sounds fine peaking at -14dbVU, 16 is another story. This is also a good idea if you are going to 'dither down' to 16 bits, which is inevitable for pressing a CD. Now, I'm not talking about further compression or 'mastering', I'm just talking about raising the level of the mix so that peaks are 2/10th of a db shy of Full Scale. In these cases, I want my CDs to be as loud as possible. Often, I am doing advertising work, which will not include mastering, and which will compete against other work in a CD player at the agency. Naturally, I want my CDs to compete in level with other releases. The problem is that when I have a good finished mix, the peaks are often 10db or so shy of Full Scale. Either way, I'm sold, and the difference in sound is not subtle. ![]() I can't say whether this is a headroom issue within the mix bus(es) of Pro Tools, or simply better sound from my analog front end. I think Pro Tools (at 24bits!) sounds so much better when I track with peaks around -14dbFS (which is referenced to 0dbVU on my Apogee). It's really not much work at all, we are still relatively small-sized.I'm one of those who believes in observing 0dbVU throughout the recording process. But we do have a very comprehensive set of automoderator filters, which catches comments and posts that require manual approval. Unlike some other subreddits, this one has very few user reports (ie: maybe once a month). OK with using Discord (to communicate with the team).The sub has gotten a tiny bit big to handle by just one person, so if you spend a fair amount of time on this subreddit (or at least reddit in particular) and meet most of these requirements: Looking for professional mixing or mastering services? This is also the right place for that (check our listings first!). Also NO gear/software troubleshooting) Would like feedback on your track? You've come to the right place (NOT the place for promoting your music). Have questions about the craft of mixing? (NOT recording. This subreddit is about the stage of music production that involves mixing all the individual tracks of a song together.
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