How to make backing tracks same volume

I use DAWs to make backing tracks for live use with a number of vst's and sometimes recorded audio. They each start out as a custom written midi or a midi downloaded from the web. One of the biggest problems is getting them to the same consistent apparent volume level - not talking about peaks here I want the track to have a wide dynamic range but a consistent volume level. So a kick drum should be consistent in volume from song to song (except where there is a deliberate dynamic difference) At the moment I use a freeware tool called mp3gain to make tracks the same volume but I'd love to be able to do it all inside the DAW and remove an extra process step. Can X1 do this ? How are other people doing it ?

Ok so how would you do it ? Can you please elaborate

one of many threads on this site on how to setup a compressor
http://forum.cakewalk.com/fb.ashx?m=2116921

He isn't talking about "backing tracks" but entire songs that are used in live performance.

1. Get Voxengo SPAN (it's free)

2. Set it up for K-12 metering

3. Adjust your limiter gain until the meter is bouncing around 0db (plus or minus 4db, but 0db on average)

4. Repeat for all your projects

This will get them all pretty durn close to one another, assuming you haven't done anything wacky like cranking your bass drum to 11 on just one song.

Having the same RMS level doesnt mean the song will play at the same loudness. A song with an RMS of -8dB can sound lower
than a track with an RMS of -10dB.

Use your ears to have them sound the same level. Thats all you need to do. RMS alone will not do it

Cj

CJaysMusic


Having the same RMS level doesnt mean the song will play at the same loudness. A song with an RMS of -8dB can sound lower
than a track with an RMS of -10dB.

Use your ears to have them sound the same level. Thats all you need to do. RMS alone will not do it

Cj

I think this needs some explanation. I'm not to sure how a song at a higher volume level will sound lower in level than a song of a lower volume level. I suppose it is possible depending on a very wide difference on song type but even so RMS is a very good indication of loudness.

You could use this (30 day trial) http://hindenburgsystems.com/products/hindenburg-journalist 30 day trial should be enough time to get all your tracks done.

It levels any audio automatically to a set "Loudness" using EBU compliant loudness. Then you could just use gain to push the volume up a bit more if needed. Great for mastering to get all tracks at a similar perceived loudness ;-)
 
Of course you could do it in Sonar with something like toneboosters EBULoudness Meter, just takes longer as you have play every song all the way through.

I suppose it is possible depending on a very wide difference on song type but even so RMS is a very good indication of loudness.

Loudness is a physiological/psychological concept, only roughly related to the sound pressure level (spl=power) of the sound. It is most obviously related to the sensitivity of the human ear, where the frequency of the sound is a predominant factor:
+



Even after adjusting for frequency characteristics (which the rms of the waveform does not), there remains a large area of subjectivity. A sound presented by itself arising out of silence, will be perceived as much louder than a sound buried in a piece of music. This can partly be explained by the physiologic tension on the tensor tympani that occurs reflexively to dampen the movement of the ossicles and protect the hair cells from damage. But it is also a psychological effect, in that the sound is noticed more and hence becomes louder in the mind. And another strong pschophysiologic effect, auditory masking, is even more important. 



The same spl voiced by different instruments or sources is likely to have quite different loudness to a human mind, even when it reads the same on a meter. And the same sound when heard in the company of other sound will have even more pronounced variance from that predicted by spl.

Algorithms that produce a standard loudness so you will not have to adjust the gain on your MP3 player, mainly act as limiting compressors, and can do some considerable damage to what was intended to be a piece with a wide dynamic range. Human beings playing ensemble, adjust their  volumes to match a compatible subjective loudness. If you want to use robots in your performance, I agree with CJ, that for the best effect, you need to rehearse with them as though they were members of the band. Just running them though a computer program, or watching your meters will not provide optimum results. 

Maybe we are talking about very different things but the OP simply wants to have his MIDI based background songs playing at similar loudness so he can play live without having to adjust his volume knob all the time. 

We don't need a dissertation on audio loudness for him to achieve that.