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Basic Mixing(volume levels mainly)


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I have been working with logic for a little less than a year now,and im getting a lot better each time i touch down on the keys. I am liking the improvement iv been making,but the only thing I can not grasp is getting the levels right. The mixer starts at zero for the levels and i dont know what to put each track at.. I dont know if i raise each volume above zero,or leave some at zero and some below.. I have no idea. I dont expect to know how to make my beats sound radio quality, but I want to be able to pop a cd in my car and enjoy my beats in decent quality without things sounding to loud or to faint,or the bass making it sound like crap every time i hit an 808. I just need some tips...to anyone who responds! Thanks
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ok,so do you keep everything at zero for some headroom,or even lower..I still get confused with mixers when it comes to outputes and inputes,buses, all that. Any basic ideas of the levels i should be focusing on.. Should my tracks only reach a certain level of volume.....Keep in mind,i can make a beat,but have probably zero knowledge of mixing to get a good sound out of my hard work
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The theory behind levels, gain staging, 32 bit floating point audio engines, 3rd party 24 bit fixed point plug-ins, converters, intersample peak distortion, etc etc.... can get very complex very quickly.

 

However, to be a good mixer, you don't need to know any of that theory. For there is one rule that rules them all, and that not one good engineer will break, ever:

 

USE YOUR EARS

 

For any other rule we can give you, there is at least one amazing sounding track that broke it.

 

Remember: if it sounds good, it is good.

 

OK if you REALLY really need a rule of thumb, here's one for you: try not to clip the Out 1-2 channel strip. Now that you learned that, you should see how many platinum selling hits were produced in Logic with the Out 1-2 totally clipping!! :lol:

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ICIC...but one thing that confuses me is lets say if i want my beat to really bang out in my car. Should some of the volumes be above zero. The mixers start at zero..should i start by raising things higher or lower..I have a feeling when i bounce to cd its going to sound very faint in my car unless i turn up my speakers to max
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ICIC...but one thing that confuses me is lets say if i want my beat to really bang out in my car. Should some of the volumes be above zero. The mixers start at zero..should i start by raising things higher or lower..I have a feeling when i bounce to cd its going to sound very faint in my car unless i turn up my speakers to max
this is when dynamics processing comes into play

 

have a read on the forums, and the net, there's a lot of info out there you'll need to read

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im going to take a wild guess and say that i should be good in a few years lol..Trial and error I guess

Probably not with trial & error, but if you get some training, study, practice, then perhaps in a couple of years you'll be good, but probably not great. Add another few years on top of that and you'll be cookin!

 

This is a deep craft.

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i actually have read a lot of stuff about the 10,000 hour rule.. I also saw a special on the brain on the history channel and it explained it. It also said something about how humans speak to themselves at a rate of about,i think 300 or 3,000 words a minute. Not sure which one. Usually these words are negative like i cant,or its to hard. But if we replaced these words with words of encouragement, we would learn a lot faster.. So have faith people,believe in yourself. IT WORKS
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The basic answer to your question is --

 

Just adjust track levels by ear relative to each other, though generally pull down rather than boost.

 

Adjust your Output 1-2 level slider so the red clipping light flickers occasionally.

 

Put the Limiter plug-in (last) on Output 1-2, and push up the Limiter Gain somewhere around +6dB -- listen to what it's doing to the sound of course.

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The theory behind levels, gain staging, 32 bit floating point audio engines, 3rd party 24 bit fixed point plug-ins, converters, intersample peak distortion, etc etc.... can get very complex very quickly.

 

However, to be a good mixer, you don't need to know any of that theory. For there is one rule that rules them all, and that not one good engineer will break, ever:

 

USE YOUR EARS

 

For any other rule we can give you, there is at least one amazing sounding track that broke it.

 

Remember: if it sounds good, it is good.

 

OK if you REALLY really need a rule of thumb, here's one for you: try not to clip the Out 1-2 channel strip. Now that you learned that, you should see how many platinum selling hits were produced in Logic with the Out 1-2 totally clipping!! :lol:

 

Well, the fact that a track sells a lot of copies does not make it good, it only makes it successful.

 

So to the OP, do you want to be:

A) Good,

B) Successful.

C) Both.

D). Neither.

 

Assuming you want C, do NOT clip the output. Further, get into the habit of turning Pre-Fader metering on and keeping an eye on ALL your levels, controlling them from the source. Does this mean none of them can ever go into the red, even i.e. on a snare hot? No. But if you develop the habit of not paying attention and letting them all go wildly into the red with no concern, you are developing very bad mix habits that at some point down the line, either in Logic or more so in PT or a standalone recorder, are going to bite you on the ass.

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The basic answer to your question is --

 

Just adjust track levels by ear relative to each other, though generally pull down rather than boost.

 

Adjust your Output 1-2 level slider so the red clipping light flickers occasionally.

 

Put the Limiter plug-in (last) on Output 1-2, and push up the Limiter Gain somewhere around +6dB -- listen to what it's doing to the sound of course.

 

Adjust your Output 1-2 level slider so the red clipping NEVER flickers. Or you'll be clipping into the plug-ins you insert on the Output, and you don't want that. Especially with some 3rd party plug-ins like Waves.

 

if you want to intentionally clip then there are other ways of doing that which are much better.

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Adjust your Output 1-2 level slider so the red clipping NEVER flickers. Or you'll be clipping into the plug-ins you insert on the Output, and you don't want that. Especially with some 3rd party plug-ins like Waves.

OK that's true -- I was discussing only Logic plug-in which sounds like the level ThespirationProductions is at.

 

Given the challenge of keeping gain down between plug-ins in a chain, I'd add for him, "And don't try using any 3rd party effects plug-ins unless their documentation says they're 32-bit floating point".

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Adjust your Output 1-2 level slider so the red clipping NEVER flickers. Or you'll be clipping into the plug-ins you insert on the Output,

lagerfeldt,

I think you meant to say something different than you typed. But I know what you meant based on the context of the response. Just to clarify so there's no misunderstanding, if using 3rd party plugs on the output channel, (which you suspect are not using floating point math) then you should check with those plugs "bypassed" that there is no clipping on your channel meter.

 

The inserts on the Output channelstrip are pre-meter. Additionally, output channel meters are always post-fader, regardless of whether you have pre-fader metering selected in Settings. Just something to keep in mind.

 

Happy Holidays!

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