Ways of boosting loudness?

I've got some vocal tracks that are already as loud as I can get them, but I want them to be louder.

I've already increased the automation line to the maximum height.

Is there any other way to increase the loudness of an audio region?

At this point I'm doubling the track to increase the volume--which is an okay technique, but I'm wondering if there are any other techniques, that I haven't learned yet.

Thanks for your help!

And the winner is…..

* Lowering level fader of all other tracks <————

I'll skip the long winded explanations and theory.

Leave your self plenty of headroom to work with, you won't regret it later.

And the winner is…..

 

 

* Lowering level fader of all other tracks <————

 

I'll skip the long winded explanations and theory.

Leave your self plenty of headroom to work with, you won't regret it later.

My way as well!

I have a short winded explanation, and it's based upon my Guitar Player

He kept wanting to make his guitar tracks louder, and when I did that I started having to raise other tracks.

When I did that, same thing, he wanted to be louder, but I had nowhere to go, as tracks were starting to really clip.

I quickly discovered that it was better to lower all the other tracks by highlighting them and pulling them down together.

And the winner is…..

 

 

* Lowering level fader of all other tracks <————

That won't boost the loudness of the vocal track though. That's just going to lower all other tracks.

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I'M KIDDING!!!

Doubling is extremely dangerous, can introduce all sorts of phase issues. By all means avoid this if it's for "level increase" purpose, and leave this technique for special purposes (e.g. turning a solo voice into a unison choir for instance, in which case it is way better to re-record the voice several times on separate tracks rather than simply doubling the original one anyway).

 

Back to level increase on a single track. Your tools are:

* Gain setting of the audio region (see in region inspector)

* Channel strip level fader (note that automation, which you have used, affects the channel level fader, so it's essentially the same thing)

* Insert the Gain plugin as the last audio FX on the channel strip (and raise the gain parameter in that plugin).

and/or

* Lowering level fader of all other tracks

 

Note that changing level of any channel will affect the way any dynamics fx (such as compressor, limiter or gate) work on that channel, if they process the audio downstream to where level was changed in the chain. This is true both for raising the level of a single track, or lowering the level of all other tracks. So you need to make sure your whole project sounds the same after you do such a change if you use dynamics fx (and/or check out at what positions dynamics fx are inserted at, and make sure that you change level after that position, not before it).

 

Make sure you monitor the clip indicator on that channel strip, as well as on the output channel strip. Clipping on the channel strip you've raised the level of is usually no big deal (although it's still better to try and avoid this), but clipping on the output MUST be avoided by all means.

 

All the above relates to your request, which is to raise the level of one track, comparatively to the others. Note that this has nothing to do with managing the overall loudness of the whole project itself, which is part of the complex science and art called mastering (and for which you need a lot of training - books or videos - to get the grap of it, can't really be explained in short posts, except from very basic things).

Arnaud, thanks a lot for taking the time to share these tips: this is exactly the kind of stuff I needed to know!

Thanks to everyone else for chiming in as well.

Use the Gain parameter in the Region inspector.

Yes! Just what I was looking for.

And the winner is…..

 

 

* Lowering level fader of all other tracks <————

 

 

 

My way as well!

 

I have a short winded explanation, and it's based upon my Guitar Player

 

He kept wanting to make his guitar tracks louder(...)

Does anyone here know of a guitar player whose vocabulary goes any further than... Make - Me - Louder - Man!!!! (in whatever order)?

(just kidding', I'm one myself ).

 

Arnaud, thanks a lot for taking the time to share these tips: this is exactly the kind of stuff I needed to know!

 

Thanks to everyone else for chiming in as well.

My pleasure, happy to help