MeldaProduction

Chandlerhimself · Post by **Chandlerhimself** » Sun Aug 26, 2018 12:57 pm

This week a made a video based on a suggestion from a while ago. In the video I'll show how to use MAutoVolume to keep things like vocals on top of a backing track. I tried to keep this in the range of typical use, so it's only adding 3 to 5 db during the louder backing parts, but even that is more than enough to keep it on top of the mix. If you need more volume just adjust the range or sensitivity. I hope this helps.

MeldaProduction · Post by **MeldaProduction** » Sun Aug 26, 2018 3:57 pm

mevla · Post by **mevla** » Sun Aug 26, 2018 4:20 pm

This one, as well as your previous ones on MAutoVolume, are great. The Melda video is not bad either

Chandlerhimself · Post by **Chandlerhimself** » Tue Aug 28, 2018 3:42 am

Thanks

mevla · Post by **mevla** » Tue Aug 28, 2018 3:58 am

The one on Euclidian rhythms was also inspiring

Apratim · Post by **Apratim** » Tue Aug 28, 2018 4:42 am

Pro tip
Using mautovolume in multiband (MXXX)
With aggressive settings works as ott

mibby · Post by **mibby** » Sat Sep 08, 2018 6:22 pm

I tried the "vocal riding" from the tutorial above and was happy with the result when the music was loud, but when the music got quiet, MAutoVolume attenuated my vocal by a very noticeable amount. To get it to work properly, you'd have to squish the dynamics on the vocal track a LOT so it would stay consistent whether or not the music was present. Either that, or the "No attenuation" feature" on MAutoVolume didn't work as expected. (?)

Maybe I missed something?

Anyway, I ended up going back to what I usually do, which is side-chain a compressor on the "music buss" to the lead vocal so the music is turned down like 2-3 dB when the vocal is present. This approach makes more sense to me since you want the vocal level more consistent and not jumping up and down with the level of the music.

Would love to see an MAutoVolume tutorial on "ducking" the bass to let the kick drum through.

steve2KVR · Post by **steve2KVR** » Sat Sep 08, 2018 6:37 pm

@mibby...don't despair, MAV will get the result you want. I use it all the time, on just about everything. It took a while to get the "hang of it" though, at least it did for me. If I understand you correctly, that there is attenuation when the instruments are "quite," probably means the input gain and sensitivity controls are not right. MAV is rather "fiddly," so to suggest more would require some screen shots/etc...hth.../s~

mibby · Post by **mibby** » Sat Sep 08, 2018 9:27 pm

Thanks @steve2KVR . No despair here, I love the plugin too. I was just thinking that maybe I was missing something. I'll try to put up some screen shots when I have a chance. I was just wondering if anyone may have tried the same thing and gotten similar results?

DarkStar · Post by **DarkStar** » Sun Sep 09, 2018 2:11 pm

I recall Vojtech saying that MAV has a sweet-spot for the input level - can't remember what it was, though

Ah ha!

the Main Info page wrote:In order to get the best results, you may want to experiment with the parameters that the plugin provides. First there is Input gain, which you can use to compensate if your track is too silent or too loud. Watch the peak meters at the right of the plugin (click on the Meters button if you do not see them), especially the G (Gain) meter, which shows the range of applied gain. Ideally this should vary around 0dB, if not, you should use the input gain to compensate. The reason is, that the gain the plugin applies is limited by the Range parameter, for your own safety. If your track is very low level for example, the default limit of 24dB may not be enough, hence the plugin won't work so well, and silent parts won't be compensated enough.

Sensitivity is the most important parameter, which says, how much should the plugin compensate the volume. Despite 100% makes the loudness maximally stable, the effect may be too strong, unnatural, and such loss of dynamics may not actually be desired. In other words, sometimes it's better if the loudness isn't too stable.

Look-ahead parameter may be useful to provide better dynamic response, to remove potential pumping artefacts for example. Speed parameter controls how quickly the plugin reacts to changes in loudness. You can experiment with both of these parameters to get the most natural results.

Finally Noise floor controls the input level at which the track is considered silent. When the performance ends, the plugin stops applying the positive gain, because there's no relevant signal any more, probably just noise, and it would need to apply a very high gain.

steve2KVR · Post by **steve2KVR** » Sun Sep 09, 2018 2:20 pm

...IIRC -16dbfs was mentioned once, briefly, somewhere in a vid or in the manual. I missed/overlooked it for the longest time...hth.../s~

mibby · Post by **mibby** » Sun Sep 09, 2018 2:41 pm

steve2KVR wrote:...IIRC -16dbfs was mentioned once, briefly, somewhere in a vid or in the manual. I missed/overlooked it for the longest time...hth.../s~

That's what I recall as well.

Regarding plugin "sweet spots", here's a neat technique using Blue Cat Audio's free gain plugin to gain stage for exactly that. The link will jump to exactly where it gets set up.

I'd love to see Vojtech's take on this.

BTW, I'll have to find time to do it, but I'm wondering if the "No attenuation" feature is working as it should? Because the issue I was having is the vocal getting quiet when the music does. I'm not throwing out critiques, I need to test this and haven't, but I am wondering if anyone else has encountered the same issue?

MeldaProduction

KVR Audio

Using MAutoVolume to keep your lead on top of your Rhythm section