Commercial sound levels?
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Posted on Feb 26, 2005 12:51 am
colonel_sanders
edit0r
Member Since: Aug 17, 2004
Just made this REALLY aweseome mix for a band that came in, this thing is going on the radio! yay!
Wondering how to get my mixes up to commercial levels so the radio will actually take a looksy. When i try it just clips.
Cheers
C_S
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Feb 26, 2005 01:21 am Hi Colonel,
What you want to do is use dynamic compression. This will raise the AVERAGE level of the track, which is where the power of the audio lies, which in turn will make the track sound a lot louder. Just raising the volume only serves to make the transients clip, as you've discovered. I recommend looking at the tutorial on the Har-Bal website... even if you don't own Har-Bal the mastering tutorial there is still very useful for helping you get the radio-ready sound you're after. Incidently, I understand that radio stations apply their own compression before broadcasting anyway, so you might not want to overdo it. Oh, and I'd love to hear it when you're done :-)
Feb 26, 2005 01:11 pm yeah and multi-band compressors work really well for this couppled with a peak limiter....i think sonar has a multiband compressor, i donno what it's called, i use Ozone but run that then a limiter on your master out. take extreme caution when making these settings though, if you over do it, it'll suck the life right outta it. set your attack and release first you want the first transients to get by....use heaphones and you'll hear what you're dooin' a bit easier.
peace
wyd
Feb 26, 2005 03:33 pm Cheers guys, i already do compress, and use multiband compression, but havent experimented with limiters yet.
I'll ask the band if i can post it up for a while diamond joe.
Any other suggestions?
PS. Is ozone that good?
Feb 26, 2005 04:04 pm ummm i like it, but it's definately not necessary, it's just a good all in one mastering plug, i'm no mastering engineer, but i feel if a client dosn't wanna pay for "real" mastering, i can half-*** it with Ozone and Har-Bal.
Feb 26, 2005 04:43 pm I think HarBal is more than half assin it for sure and no mistake.
In fact, there are pro's out there using that app. I am doing a little mastering these days and using it a lot, but dB uses it on any job he has that needs any harmonic balancing and Im pretty sure he would class it in a league of its own too.
I guess what I am saying is, dB Masters does mastering for a living thus making him a "professional" and therefore "real" mastering. I dont know of any easier way to harmonically balance. I know he runs Waves plugs which as we all know, are pro level, so, if its good enuff for him...yep...its good enuff for me.
Colonel, in terms of my own mastering process. The key, the ABSOLOUTE key to make it as painless as poss is to get a decent mix to master. Then all you really need is some harbalising, any maximisation and (IF NEEDED) compression...NOTE: DONT master everything using compression unless it needs it. It doesnt always...nor does it always NEED harbalised. You will normally normalize/maximise to bring audible levels to commercial levels but there are NO RULES...just experiment dude..ye'll know when its good enough cause ye'll hear it...post it up here and we can all help ye oot too.
Cheers
Coco.
