My songs are less-louder than the songs i hear

[keyman_sam]

Ok, so this is the problem :
My setup is a computer + E-mu 0404 + Fantom S + some software.

The songs i make with this setup are dull, and not as loud as the regular songs. I mean, i have to turn the volume way up to be as loud as the regular ones.

i've tried compression, and normalization. Nothing works. If i pump it up too much, it clips. Some others' songs i've heard dont clip at all (in my 0404 mixer) and they're damn as loud.

Please help a newbie. What am i doing wrong?

[Armadillo]

compression and limiting is the key and maybe some soft clipping if you want it as loud as commercial CD's. It's not easy getting it "loud, punchy and transparent", but with a good compressor and limiter it should get you in the ballpark. Besides a bit less loud than commercial CD's is actually a lot more healthy.

[c_huelsbeck]

If you talk about commercial music from CDs, they are finalized through "mastering", a process that uses highly paid engineers that squeeze the audio with numerous high-end processors until it's "radio-friendly"... which is controversial though because it has caused the loss of dynamics in music over the years since everyone always tried to be a little bit louder as the other guys.

There are many resources about how you can improve your mix on the internet, a google search might help. If you want the quick fix for volume (not for the rest of problems your production may have), try a mastering limiter like Waves L1 or Voxengo Elephant. If you don't have money for these plugs you might get some result with Kjaerhus free Limiter or try DigitalFishPhones Endorphin.

[The Chase]

Ok, so this is the problem :
My setup is a computer + E-mu 0404 + Fantom S + some software.

The songs i make with this setup are dull, and not as loud as the regular songs. I mean, i have to turn the volume way up to be as loud as the regular ones.

i've tried compression, and normalization. Nothing works. If i pump it up too much, it clips. Some others' songs i've heard dont clip at all (in my 0404 mixer) and they're damn as loud.

Please help a newbie. What am i doing wrong?

I recommend using the "simple squeeze" plug from Betabugs and the limiter and compressor from kjaerhus. And all the GVST plugs (namely Gclip, Gcomp, Gcomp2). These all help me emensely with loudness.

Don't try to maximise your entire mix all at once. Try to louden all the different elements in your track before treating the lot as a whole.

Traditional compression aside, go to your drums (or any element with percussive dynamics) and throw "Gclip" over it. Ease up the "soft" knob on it a bit and inch the "clip" knob down just before the dynamics are noticably squished. You will notice that the percieved loudness is about the same but the output level is less.

Do this for all the different elements in the mix. The recipe will be different for all of them, so it takes practice.

When I make Hip Hop, I START with "Simple Squeeze" on my master channel because this plug offers the style of compresion that is popular for the genre.

[deastman]

Compression can be a good thing, but too much will destroy your mix. For example, consider this:

http://brianstagg.co.uk/p_t_a_clipressed/

[4damind]

"See what your make" Get the Elephant Limiter or the InspectorXL. Both supporting the k-metering system by Bob Katz. A multibandcompressor is a good choice to compress without losing to much transparency. After this a Brickwall Limiter and a tool like InspectorXL to see whats going out.

[keyman_sam]

Thanks to everyone who replied.
I already have the Sonitus FX from sonar, and i've tried compressing and limiting, but to no avail.

I'm thinking this is some setting issue? Perhaps i'm working with the wrong settings? There was some guy talking about how he had the mp3 in -24dB or something so he had to boost the volume to hear it. Is it something like that?

[snooky]

I think that you simply don't understand how to use the tools you got...learn about how to use limiting on final mixes, and you'll get it almost as loud as you want!

[bmanic]

No, what you need is a good brick wall limiter. Try the demo of Voxengo Elephant. Put it into either Clip or EL-3 mode with the speed set to "maximum". With this you can achieve pretty damn loud masters.

However, there is another reason why "home/amateur" mixes don't get as loud. The reason is that the frequency balance is all over the place instead of being even. This makes the bass usually distort and upset the limiter much too early or some harsh highs turn into ear killing mush. A 'quick' fix is to run a multiband compressor before the final limiting to balance the spectrum or careful use of eq (which I always prefere as mb compression is quite nasty most of the time).

If you want I can take a shot at "mastering" whatever tune you want. I'm always up for a challenge.

Follow this thread (around page 3 or 4) for a good example of a mix that is already loud and can not be easily louder at the mastering stage.

Also, download the free SPAN analyser from voxengo. It shows you average and peak RMS levels and a nice frequency spectrum of your track. This way you can find out why it can't be made louder easily.

Last but not least, it is advisable to NOT get into the "loudness race" and try to keep it moderate. If you are comparing your songs to whatever pop stuff is released right now there is a big chance that the 'commercial' stuff is very much clipped but kind of masked behind a wall of guitars or drums.

Cheers!
bManic