Garry Stubbs
Max Output Level: -49 dBFS
- Total Posts : 2619
- Joined: 2008/02/18 17:34:48
- Location: Castlethorpe, UK
- Status: offline
How to master track recorded at low levels. Advantage or disadvantage?
Hi All, its been a while...
So I have this track I am really happy with (shock horror !) In keeping with good practice (and getting a little better possibly) I am recording at 24/48 and have a simple 4 track project which sounds like I want it to sound to my ears. I have just checked the peaks on the final mix and I am shocked at how low the levels are, and yet how clear and noise free it all sounds. Respectively, the peaks are -10.9 (Acoustic Guitar), -29.0 (synth pad), -16.5 (vocal) and -12.1 (Superior Drummer 2 stereo output hand percussion track).
My question, before I attempt to master this weekend using Ozone 4, is, how should I approach mastering this track, keeping most of the dynamics, yet still getting up to 'commercial' levels, or at least not so far away that the track appears half the volume of other material. Other material I have recorded in the past tended to be recorded hot, and left me little room for manoeuvre. Now I have finally learned to use restraint, I am not sure if the levels I have recorded at are too low, or if I have actually given myself a golden advantage. Yes of course I can just dive in there and use my ears, but I want to give myself a rest from the material for a few days and this is an ideal opportunity to gather some thoughts from the greater collective experience here on the forum.
Over to you guys...
Garry Kiosk
https://soundcloud.com/garry-kiosk Sonar Platinum 64-bit: Q6600 8Gb Win7 64-bit: KRK Monitors: ART MPA PRO VLA ii preamp: 3 x 500Gb internal SATA disks: Superior Drummer2: GPO4: Realstrat: Saxlab: Rapture: Dimension Pro: Ozone 4: Edirol SPS-660: PCR-500 MIDI controller: Korg PadKontrol: Fender / Gibson / Yamaha / Ibanez guitars:Guitar Rig 5: Dual 22" Monitors: Mapex Drums, Sabian AAX cymbals: Alesis DM5 Pro Kit: SE Electronics and Shure Mics: Mathmos Lava Lamp (40W)
|
brundlefly
Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
- Total Posts : 14250
- Joined: 2007/09/14 14:57:59
- Location: Manitou Spgs, Colorado
- Status: offline
Re: How to master track recorded at low levels. Advantage or disadvantage?
2014/03/24 19:59:21
(permalink)
I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than I am about mixing/mastering will chime in, but...
Assuming there's nothing else you want to do at the track/stem level in the way of EQ, compression, volume automation, reverb or other FX, you might just want to start by bringing the Master bus level up to peaking around -6dB, using the Input Gain, and then master as you normally would using EQ, compression, limiting, etc to get the spectrum balanced and bring the level up the rest of the way. But there's nothing wrong with using input gains on the final stages of compression and limiting to get all the additional gain, either.
SONAR Platinum x64, 2x MOTU 2408/PCIe-424 (24-bit, 48kHz) Win10, I7-6700K @ 4.0GHz, 24GB DDR4, 2TB HDD, 32GB SSD Cache, GeForce GTX 750Ti, 2x 24" 16:10 IPS Monitors
|
Garry Stubbs
Max Output Level: -49 dBFS
- Total Posts : 2619
- Joined: 2008/02/18 17:34:48
- Location: Castlethorpe, UK
- Status: offline
Re: How to master track recorded at low levels. Advantage or disadvantage?
2014/03/24 20:27:59
(permalink)
Already a great suggestion to try, bringing up the input gain on the master bus never occurred to me as an option to bring all levels up relatively and safely. Thanks...
https://soundcloud.com/garry-kiosk Sonar Platinum 64-bit: Q6600 8Gb Win7 64-bit: KRK Monitors: ART MPA PRO VLA ii preamp: 3 x 500Gb internal SATA disks: Superior Drummer2: GPO4: Realstrat: Saxlab: Rapture: Dimension Pro: Ozone 4: Edirol SPS-660: PCR-500 MIDI controller: Korg PadKontrol: Fender / Gibson / Yamaha / Ibanez guitars:Guitar Rig 5: Dual 22" Monitors: Mapex Drums, Sabian AAX cymbals: Alesis DM5 Pro Kit: SE Electronics and Shure Mics: Mathmos Lava Lamp (40W)
|
mettelus
Max Output Level: -22 dBFS
- Total Posts : 5321
- Joined: 2005/08/05 03:19:25
- Location: Maryland, USA
- Status: offline
Re: How to master track recorded at low levels. Advantage or disadvantage?
2014/03/24 20:46:17
(permalink)
+1 to that suggestion. If you like the dynamic range of the piece, that is the easiest route (keeps the dynamic range in tact too).
ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero (Wi-Fi AC), i7-8700k, 16GB RAM, GTX-1070Ti, Win 10 Pro, Saffire PRO 24 DSP, A-300 PRO, plus numerous gadgets and gizmos that make or manipulate sound in some way.
|
John
Forum Host
- Total Posts : 30467
- Joined: 2003/11/06 11:53:17
- Status: offline
Re: How to master track recorded at low levels. Advantage or disadvantage?
2014/03/24 20:59:36
(permalink)
Please keep the dynamics as much as you can. I wouldn't worry too much about dB levels. What I would worry about is am I cutting down on the life and breath of the music and let the levels be dammed. Although I am a strong advocate for Ozone when you mentioned it I wince hoping you don't succumb to the power Ozone offers. Please use it conservatively.
|
Garry Stubbs
Max Output Level: -49 dBFS
- Total Posts : 2619
- Joined: 2008/02/18 17:34:48
- Location: Castlethorpe, UK
- Status: offline
Re: How to master track recorded at low levels. Advantage or disadvantage?
2014/03/24 21:05:32
(permalink)
Yes John, this is a lovely track and just came together so quickly, I will share it on the song forum. Yes, Ozone is so powerful...I finally learned constraint in tracking, this is why I am determined to give myself a rest from the track for a few days...and gather some suggestions in the meantime...Its hard to be your own producer.
https://soundcloud.com/garry-kiosk Sonar Platinum 64-bit: Q6600 8Gb Win7 64-bit: KRK Monitors: ART MPA PRO VLA ii preamp: 3 x 500Gb internal SATA disks: Superior Drummer2: GPO4: Realstrat: Saxlab: Rapture: Dimension Pro: Ozone 4: Edirol SPS-660: PCR-500 MIDI controller: Korg PadKontrol: Fender / Gibson / Yamaha / Ibanez guitars:Guitar Rig 5: Dual 22" Monitors: Mapex Drums, Sabian AAX cymbals: Alesis DM5 Pro Kit: SE Electronics and Shure Mics: Mathmos Lava Lamp (40W)
|
John
Forum Host
- Total Posts : 30467
- Joined: 2003/11/06 11:53:17
- Status: offline
Re: How to master track recorded at low levels. Advantage or disadvantage?
2014/03/24 21:08:32
(permalink)
The Kiosk Project
Yes John, this is a lovely track and just came together so quickly, I will share it on the song forum. Yes, Ozone is so powerful...I finally learned constraint in tracking, this is why I am determined to give myself a rest from the track for a few days...and gather some suggestions in the meantime...Its hard to be your own producer.
Judging by your regard for the music and all you know I'll say I don't think you're going to run into any problem.
|
ULTRABRA
Max Output Level: -81 dBFS
- Total Posts : 484
- Joined: 2009/07/07 05:27:34
- Location: Helsinki, Finland
- Status: offline
Re: How to master track recorded at low levels. Advantage or disadvantage?
2014/03/25 12:14:38
(permalink)
On most projects I tend to have quite low volumne - when mixing I tend to lower faders frather than raise them, hence the final mix levels can be low.
What is the Master fader peaking at when you have those 4 tracks set as you say?
I now add a sub-mix from the beginning of each project, set at -6db, so that I can then easily raise the overall volume of my final mixed piece easily using just the sub-mix fader.
I'd be very interested to hear what your mastering settings are in Ozone (I also use it) for this piece - particularly the Limiter settings - with low overall volume of the stereo master, I find miyself lowering the Ozone limiter threshold to 8-10 db which seems a lot, and I wonder if that adds a few artifacts in? If I had a higher overall volume to start with, and then not have to have the limiter work so hard, maybe the mastered track would be cleaner ...
HP Z420, Intel Xeon E5-1620@ 3600MHz, 8GB RAM, Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, Soundcard : Focusrite Saffire 24, & Sonar : Producer X3 My Soundcloud
|
ULTRABRA
Max Output Level: -81 dBFS
- Total Posts : 484
- Joined: 2009/07/07 05:27:34
- Location: Helsinki, Finland
- Status: offline
Re: How to master track recorded at low levels. Advantage or disadvantage?
2014/03/29 04:23:41
(permalink)
@The Kiosk Project - how did it go with the song? Would be interested to hear it, and learn what you did with it.
HP Z420, Intel Xeon E5-1620@ 3600MHz, 8GB RAM, Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, Soundcard : Focusrite Saffire 24, & Sonar : Producer X3 My Soundcloud
|