So correct me if I'm wrong (volume)

[Sy_Mercade]

But songs made in Logic can't reach the volumes of commercial songs alone, right? And if you try to get them that loud, they will peak and clip in the bouncing process. You need to have them professionally mastered, which costs anywhere from $300-600 a song.

 

I make no money on my songs, so I can't support that volume requirement, and the best thing I can do is to ask my listeners to turn it up, right? Or is there another way?

 

I've tried mixing a song so that it's just below 0db, and then bringing it into Audacity and using the amplify or normalize effects, but it really doesn't help.

 

How do professional mastering engineers do this anyway?

[Atlas007]

I am not a mastering expert either but I understand that one important aspect of achieving a good recording is to respect an apropriate dynamic range, depending of the project type involved and also adjusting the levels accordingly at every amplification stages. One obvious important aspect is to avoid clipping.

Sometimes judicious use of the right compression could be of some help.

In the final, the listener would definitely have to adjust the volume level to his/her own taste.

Mastering is an art by itself... But one can acquire some knowledge and experiment.

Some valid useful tutorials (some are free) could be found on the internet.

[David Nahmani]

But songs made in Logic can't reach the volumes of commercial songs alone, right?

Many, many songs made in Logic are commercial songs.

 

How do professional mastering engineers do this anyway?

If the craft and career of a mastering engineer could be explained in a few words in an online forum, professional mastering wouldn't be charging that much money per song. Mastering is a science and an art in its own right, and it goes beyond just worrying about getting the mix to be loud. Getting the mix to be loud is a science and an art in its own right, and it started way before you're at the mastering stage.

 

This is one of the best articles out there regarding loudness, but keep in mind it barely starts scratching the surface: Loudness when Producing and Mixing [Tips].

 

This will get you started if you're mastering your own stuff:

Re: Poor man's mastering question

[deckard1]

Thought I would pose this question on behalf of novices like myself who struggle to get their mixes as loud as commercial music these days:

 

What about the "simple" technique of employing 'brickwall limiting'? That is, putting a limiter at the very end on your Master Bus channel and setting a very high threshold... -0.1 dB, for example? That way one can achieve "loudness" without clipping. Seems like a viable option. I've actually succeeded this way...compromising dynamic range to a certain extent, of course.

 

-- by the way, I fully realize it's not as simple as I am making it out to be!

 

Thanks.

[Sy_Mercade]

I wanted to thank you guys, I really have to read that manual more, I wasn't aware of the impact that compressor > adaptive limiter made on the final mix. This is really really cool!

 

I'm sure there's much more to it, but for now, mixing everything so that it's below 0db, and then adding the filters actually makes it so much louder! And there's plenty other tips in those threads you linked David.

[David Nahmani]

What about the "simple" technique of employing 'brickwall limiting'? That is, putting a limiter at the very end on your Master Bus channel and setting a very high threshold... -0.1 dB, for example? That way one can achieve "loudness" without clipping. Seems like a viable option. I've actually succeeded this way...compromising dynamic range to a certain extent, of course.

 

Sure, that's the ultra fast "get things loud" method. The poor man's mastering thread I linked to is only a tiny bit more effort though, and will already yield better results.

[deckard1]

Thanks!

 

Just downloaded Lagerfeldt's SSL compressor settings!!

[Rev. Juda Sleaze]

But songs made in Logic can't reach the volumes of commercial songs alone, right?

Many, many songs made in Logic are commercial songs.

 

But how many commercial tracks were mastered in Logic using only stock plugs?

[Eriksimon]

But songs made in Logic can't reach the volumes of commercial songs alone, right?

Many, many songs made in Logic are commercial songs.

 

But how many commercial tracks were mastered in Logic using only stock plugs?

 

Where does the rainwater go...?

 

[aphexbeats]

But songs made in Logic can't reach the volumes of commercial songs alone, right? And if you try to get them that loud, they will peak and clip in the bouncing process. You need to have them professionally mastered, which costs anywhere from $300-600 a song.

 

I make no money on my songs, so I can't support that volume requirement, and the best thing I can do is to ask my listeners to turn it up, right? Or is there another way?

 

I've tried mixing a song so that it's just below 0db, and then bringing it into Audacity and using the amplify or normalize effects, but it really doesn't help.

 

How do professional mastering engineers do this anyway?

So basically in mastering, you have your song. What an engineer does is mix everything together so it sounds the way it should. In Logic, when you have your song what you do when your song is complete and sounds good to you is bounce the song. Bounce the song to 320 mp3 and re import it into Logic and make a new project. After this, put an adaptive limiter on the song and adjust your limiting to -.1 db. Then take your limit down until the track stops peaking in the red. After this, you replace the volume you limited by adding gain back into the song. This allows your song to be maximized without audio distortion. There are many tutorials on this on youtube. Type in mastering logic pro. Also engineers use the multipressor and also use the eq on the whole track to enhance or subtract sound frequencies in the mix. I hope this helps you out!

[RedBaron]

Master a bounced MP3?

 

Also, if your song is too quiet during tracking/composing/arranging/mixing, TURN UP YOUR MONITORS! Or calibrate them, for preset listening level (see K-System)...

 

: D

[David Nahmani]

Bounce the song to 320 mp3 and re import it into Logic and make a new project.

NOOOOOO!!! Bounce the song as a PCM uncompressed audio file.

 

mp3 is a lossy compression algorithm, so by definition its sound quality is inferior to that of a PCM file. You want to keep the highest possible sound quality until the last step of the mastering process.