How do you adjust your finished tracks for a release volumewise?

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hi guys, im gonna reply to the other topics the next few days, thanks for all the replies so far and help.

so one thing which is bothering me and here are my steps how i mostly finish tracks and if these are for an ep,album or whatever how i proceed and balance them each other:

1. i check all songs with reference tracks and/or Tonal Balance Control (are there any other good ones?) to check if a section MIGHT be too out of place, for techno and stuff it helps a lot but for ambience etc. of course not really only if bass is too loud or high frequencies but this should be already hearable long before...
2. i compare all tracks' bass with a/some reference tracks and EQ everything with high cut until around 250 hz or so to check the bass.
3. then i compare the kicks/snares of my tracks each other to check about the loudness and punchiness, of course each snare and kick is different but so that they feel overall same levelled.
4. the last 2 or so years i cared more for LUFS so tried to have them mostly e.g. at around -9 LUFS overall.
5. how do you then proceed now if you chose YOUR OWN reference track for your release got the following issues if you find that maybe some songs might be a bit quieter or louder:
a) if a track is louder and you want to keep its character -> lowering the limiter will affect the sound, maybe the punch, do you just turn down the Master Fader 1-2 dB?
b) if the track is quieter i normally raise the limiter (of course if it doesnt exceep the 2-3 db GR) the limiter 1-2 db
c) or do you adjust the dBs in the DAW or Audacity or something?

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normally what i did before that years ago i adjusted the volume afterwards in Audcity by ear and changed the gain/dB and didnt care much about True Peak etc. but when i do it now the TP might get changed and the waveform suddenly looks a bit more smaller.

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does it matter or am i thinking too much? but this way the transients might not hit the TP e.g. -0.3 db?

thanks
DAW FL Studio Audio Interface Focusrite Scarlett 1st Gen 2i2 CPU Intel i7-7700K 4.20 GHz, RAM 32 GB Dual-Channel DDR4 @2400MHz Corsair Vengeance. MB Asus Prime Z270-K, GPU Gainward 1070 GTX GS 8GB NT Be Quiet DP 550W OS Win10 64Bit

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Caine123 wrote: Thu Jul 04, 2024 4:35 pm hi guys,

... does it matter or am i thinking too much?
Yes, you're thinking too much! :D

The whole numbers - LUFS-I -14, -10, ... - are just numbers and not relevant for a song.
The only thing that matters is: How does it sound? Depending on how it sounds, I change
certain settings. Just based on how it sounds! :tu:
free mp3s + info: andy-enroe.de songs + weird stuff: enroe.de

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enroe wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2024 6:59 am
Caine123 wrote: Thu Jul 04, 2024 4:35 pm hi guys,

... does it matter or am i thinking too much?
Yes, you're thinking too much! :D

The whole numbers - LUFS-I -14, -10, ... - are just numbers and not relevant for a song.
The only thing that matters is: How does it sound? Depending on how it sounds, I change
certain settings. Just based on how it sounds! :tu:
thanks a lot enroe, yeah i think the LUFS are not that unimportant after my analysis over the last few days and weeks. so i compared some releases on their own and their range was mostly varying 2-3 LUFS themselves. so a rap album was like -8 LUFS int till -11 LUFS int. so it seems if my release is in a range of 2-3 LUFS variation it is overall good at this point?

yes exactly. how does it sound, but how do you adjust? i dont mean to change the whole mix, i mean if you got your songs ready and you are satisfied and exported them all and find that let's take this example:
you got 10 songs in total
2 songs are a bit louder by ear
2 are a bit quieter by ear
how do you proceed with these quieter and louder songs? HOW do you adjust these tracks?

many thanks :)
DAW FL Studio Audio Interface Focusrite Scarlett 1st Gen 2i2 CPU Intel i7-7700K 4.20 GHz, RAM 32 GB Dual-Channel DDR4 @2400MHz Corsair Vengeance. MB Asus Prime Z270-K, GPU Gainward 1070 GTX GS 8GB NT Be Quiet DP 550W OS Win10 64Bit

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I would not adjust them after mastering at all! The tracks are what they are and how they are done, I won't be clipping them harder or compress just to get them all to the same area. Its ok for them to be where they are!
If there is a huge difference then something has gone "wrong" in mixing, mostly, or then the whole track needs adjusting in sounds, which usually is not the case..
Soft Knees - Live 12, Diva, Omnisphere, Slate Digital VSX, TDR, Kush Audio, U-He, PA, Valhalla, Fuse, Pulsar AUDIO, NI, OekSound etc. on Win11Pro R7950X & RME AiO Pro
https://www.youtube.com/@softknees/videos Music & Demoscene

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legendCNCD wrote: Sat Jul 06, 2024 10:03 am I would not adjust them after mastering at all! The tracks are what they are and how they are done, I won't be clipping them harder or compress just to get them all to the same area. Its ok for them to be where they are!
If there is a huge difference then something has gone "wrong" in mixing, mostly, or then the whole track needs adjusting in sounds, which usually is not the case..
thanks a lot!
yes, mastering i do myself so i can always go back.
i only see lowering the master fader cause if i lower the mixer channels it gets differntly processed by the master bus, if i lower the master fader the waveform gets a bit smaller.
i need to upload some examples i think soon.
DAW FL Studio Audio Interface Focusrite Scarlett 1st Gen 2i2 CPU Intel i7-7700K 4.20 GHz, RAM 32 GB Dual-Channel DDR4 @2400MHz Corsair Vengeance. MB Asus Prime Z270-K, GPU Gainward 1070 GTX GS 8GB NT Be Quiet DP 550W OS Win10 64Bit

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enroe wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2024 6:59 am
Caine123 wrote: Thu Jul 04, 2024 4:35 pm hi guys,

... does it matter or am i thinking too much?
Yes, you're thinking too much! :D

The whole numbers - LUFS-I -14, -10, ... - are just numbers and not relevant for a song.
The only thing that matters is: How does it sound? Depending on how it sounds, I change
certain settings. Just based on how it sounds! :tu:
But what if it sounds LUFS-16?!

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Nothing can sound like -16 LUFS just like nothing can sound like -6 dBFS. You can't hear any of those values.

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I use (roughly) sonible true : level (and true : balance).

These are great as you can load a selection of reference tracks and see where you sit between them.

These have level and dynamic information. Not something to worry too much about, but a good independent check.

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Caine123 wrote: Sat Jul 06, 2024 7:27 am yes exactly. how does it sound, but how do you adjust? i dont mean to change the whole mix, i mean if you got your songs ready and you are satisfied and exported them all and find that let's take this example:
you got 10 songs in total
2 songs are a bit louder by ear
2 are a bit quieter by ear
how do you proceed with these quieter and louder songs? HOW do you adjust these tracks?

many thanks :)
In the context of an album you can basically volume match the loudest parts of different tracks to get the overall level consistent. Sounds like a couple you'd need to turn down, a couple you might need to turn up.

For individual tracks, a lot of things play into how loud a mix is or can be. How much bass, how much space, how well separated different elements are.

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Studio One has an export menu for this.



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THIS MUSIC HAS BEEN MIXED TO BE PLAYED LOUD SO TURN IT UP

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_leras wrote: Tue Jul 23, 2024 7:13 am I use (roughly) sonible true : level (and true : balance).

These are great as you can load a selection of reference tracks and see where you sit between them.

These have level and dynamic information. Not something to worry too much about, but a good independent check.
I got these 2 on a sale and like em a lot. Prefer em to "fixing" things with AI mastering tools. They are simple, but it's nice to get a few bits of feedback on what might be wrong with the mix. It's definitely made me more conscious of mixing principles and whatnot, so that's cool
Ableton 12 Suite, Analog Rytm

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