Hi!
I'm pretty new to electronic music production. I try making dark electro / industrial music. What I want to know is what volume ratios I should use when I'm at the begining of making my own song. I mean when I have the song's structure in my head and I made it in Ableton Live 9 it sounds horrible, mainly the drums for example the kick which would be in another songs, it doesn't blends to the song at all :/ So could you suggest me any ideas or articles where I can learn this kind of pre-mastering?
What is the starter master volume and basic volume ratio for kick/snare/cymbals/lead/bass/choir/vocal/fx?
Volume ratio between channels
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- KVRAF
- 15135 posts since 7 Sep, 2008
How much milk should I put in my Coco Pops?Morgal wrote:What is the starter master volume and basic volume ratio for kick/snare/cymbals/lead/bass/choir/vocal/fx?
"I was wondering if you'd like to try Magic Mushrooms"
"Oooh I dont know. Sounds a bit scary"
"It's not scary. You just lose a sense of who you are and all that sh!t"
"Oooh I dont know. Sounds a bit scary"
"It's not scary. You just lose a sense of who you are and all that sh!t"
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- KVRist
- 48 posts since 24 Oct, 2011 from USA
As you can imagine, this is a pretty complex question, but I would suggest looking for tutorials on Mixing. There are many, many techniques that can be used to get a mix to sound good (dynamics processing, equalization, etc). Some starting points I use when mixing (this is an extremely abbreviated set of steps, but you need to start someplace so hopefully this will help you get started):
When you're designing the elements in your track, try to be mindful of what frequency ranges they need to occupy. Use EQ to cut frequency ranges out of each element that aren't important to the sound of that element. Many people will put a low cut EQ on just about everything except for the bass elements. Also be mindful of panning (left/right). You should have an idea in your mind about where in the sound field you want all of your elements to sit. If you have everything panned dead center, it will be tougher to get them sounding good together.
As far as getting a rough mix going:
Bring all volume sliders to 0, and start bringing them up beginning with the kick:
I usually try to get my kick peaking at -8 to -10 db or so (it's easy to make everything loud later), and then start bringing up the other drum elements until the levels sound good (at this point I am probably mixing into a bus compressor on my drum bus). Then start bringing up the levels on your other instruments until you're happy with how they sound. Use your ears when doing this; listen for problems like elements competing for space too heavily in a particular frequency range (and then use EQ to fix it - remembering that it is generally better to cut than boost at this stage).
You can spend a lifetime learning how to mix better, and I am by no means great at it, but I can say that the stuff I make now sounds an awful lot better than it did a year ago. Practice and study!
When you're designing the elements in your track, try to be mindful of what frequency ranges they need to occupy. Use EQ to cut frequency ranges out of each element that aren't important to the sound of that element. Many people will put a low cut EQ on just about everything except for the bass elements. Also be mindful of panning (left/right). You should have an idea in your mind about where in the sound field you want all of your elements to sit. If you have everything panned dead center, it will be tougher to get them sounding good together.
As far as getting a rough mix going:
Bring all volume sliders to 0, and start bringing them up beginning with the kick:
I usually try to get my kick peaking at -8 to -10 db or so (it's easy to make everything loud later), and then start bringing up the other drum elements until the levels sound good (at this point I am probably mixing into a bus compressor on my drum bus). Then start bringing up the levels on your other instruments until you're happy with how they sound. Use your ears when doing this; listen for problems like elements competing for space too heavily in a particular frequency range (and then use EQ to fix it - remembering that it is generally better to cut than boost at this stage).
You can spend a lifetime learning how to mix better, and I am by no means great at it, but I can say that the stuff I make now sounds an awful lot better than it did a year ago. Practice and study!
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- KVRist
- 48 posts since 24 Oct, 2011 from USA
If you're still not happy, try posting a sample and asking for feedback. There are a lot of helpful folks here.Morgal wrote:Thanks a lot, I'll try these.
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thecontrolcentre thecontrolcentre https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=76240 - KVRAF
- 37262 posts since 27 Jul, 2005 from Scottish Borders
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- KVRian
- 1256 posts since 15 Mar, 2007 from Yorkshire, England
Check out the recording revolution videos they are really useful and they have just put up a beginners guide:
http://therecordingrevolution.com/2013/ ... ng-part-1/
http://therecordingrevolution.com/2013/ ... ng-part-1/
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- KVRist
- 48 posts since 24 Oct, 2011 from USA
So how's it going? Do you feel like you've made any progress?
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 14 posts since 1 Nov, 2012
Fine! I've started a new project and made the different drum beats again. I've read articles of basic mixing methods and now I've got a basic idea all of it. But now each time I add a new synth track I have to redo the balancing between instruments to sound good and stay between -3 and -6dB - some synth presets boost the master volume like hell 
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- KVRAF
- 16874 posts since 8 Mar, 2005 from Utrecht, Holland
Next time that happens, just lower the master fader to compensate. That leaves the balance in place and makes more room for the added instrument. Total volume you should not worry about yet in this phase, as long as it doesn't clip after the master fader. Don't aim for the final volume yet as long as more tracks get added. Start with the volume at -12dB or so if you have only a beat. It will get much louder later.Morgal wrote:each time I add a new synth track I have to redo the balancing between instruments to sound good and stay between -3 and -6dB
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