audio mixdown in cubase le5
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Posted on May 02, 2011 07:26 pm
whale shark
Member Since: Mar 30, 2011
i have successfully recorded and mixed a song in cubase le5.
i have added compressors to the necessary tracks and have the mixer to optimum volume without any clipping.
and the mix is at an acceptable volume inside the program.
yet when i try to export it as a .wav file or .mp3 and run it in itunes, it plays ridiculously quiet.
is there anything i can do to avoid this, did i miss a step?
any help would be appreciated.
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cruxTypo SzarMember
Since: Jul 04, 2002
May 02, 2011 10:54 pm If it is at an acceptable volume far from clipping in ur program it will definitely be much quieter than commercial tracks which have been mastered and have had their volumes optimized, that is the most likely culprit, basically u r missing a step
if that is actually not the case, it may be ur export settings, there is a little volume fader when u r prompted to save the mix down, it coincides with ur Audition Fader on the Cubase Mixer, make sure that is at 0dB before mixing down. This is not likely however, most ppl never ever do anything with their audition fader.
May 02, 2011 11:08 pm What steps should I take in order to master my song? Do I master it before or after I export it?
Any helpful tips or suggestions?
The track consists of acoustic guitar and mandolin with some organ and drums if that helps at all.
cruxTypo SzarMember
Since: Jul 04, 2002
May 03, 2011 03:23 am The popular answer is to not master it urself, export it as a high quality file and hire a professional mastering engineer to do it. This is ofcourse only if ur looking for that final professional sheen.
If you just want ur tracks louder for ur own listening and u dont need it to be absolutely perfect, there should be no horrible problem with exporting it as high quality, re-entering it into Cubase and then compressing or limiting it to get more volume out of it. There are as many will say tons of little details about mastering taht stretch beyond the final volume of ur song, but if its only volume u want at this point, no problem with slapping on a nice limiter and just getting it as close as u can to the volume u want it.
May 05, 2011 07:19 pm just tried putting a compressor and limiter on it as an entire track. kind of just made it start clipping. kind of disheartening.
should i get a mastering program?
are there any good cheap programs?
do you know the extent of cubase's mastering abilities, if they have any at all?
sorry for the barrage of questions, just starting to get frustrated.
BeerHunterwww.TheLondonProject.caMember
Since: Feb 07, 2005
May 05, 2011 07:33 pm Can't go wrong with getting Har-bal. Great one for the tool kit
cruxTypo SzarMember
Since: Jul 04, 2002
May 06, 2011 03:46 am I think at the level the OP is at (sorry if im presuming) Har-Bal would just make everything way more confusing. I know it did for me, i only realized how much of a great tool it was after I abused the crap out of it.
Addressing the other questions, Cubase is a mastering program, or can be atleast, not so much LE i suppose, but the full version does it fine, atleast for ur goals as of now. I dont know y putting a limiter on ur out bus made it clip (as in u get the red indicator right?) coz a limiter, no matter how hard u pushed it, would not allow it to clip if the ceiling was set to 0, its a brickwall against clipping.
I guess u mean it sounds clipped then, as in its sounding distorted? There is only so far u can go before it sounds like mush, but did u notice before that point it was getting louder?
Thast y i said there is alot to mastering, there is alot to getting the volume up without the sound distorting and sounding mushy, mix elements and such, but dont be disheartened, i was really hoping it would just give u enough volume to satisfy u for now.
I dont know wat ur mix soundsilke, so i dont know the potential loudness it has when it comes to just slapping on a limiter. Maybe give us a listen?
There is probably no point in investing in a mastering program at this point, if u have the capability to put vsts on ur outbus, or even on an exported two track, u should be able to get the levels up somewhat. Will it sound like a commercial cd u bought? likely not, but i guess it has to be established if that is wat ur aiming for
cooloFrisco's Most UnderratedMember
Since: Jan 28, 2003
May 06, 2011 02:57 pm yeah, so crux has it right. first thing is to share your expectations... are you just looking for an increase in loudness. second thing is if you can, try uploading it and folks here can give you some more concrete suggestions of what to do to get what you want out of the track.
May 16, 2011 09:25 pm you're correct.
i'm quite the noob.
still discovering new things.
here's a link to some things i've recorded.
this one was done live using only one mxl 990
www.reverbnation.com/lazysuzan
and another band i'm in
this was multitracked with several different condensor mics
then i added compression and reverb in cubase and garageband to raise the levels and even it out.
tried to give it a nice glossy finish.
www.reverbnation.com/carriagehouse
as always, any tips, tricks, or comments are welcome.
