Help me bring the volume up!

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Paw

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My problem: I have a hard time bringing the tracks i record up to a decent volume when compared to the volumes of an ordinary CD-track. I don't want to go as loud as Death Magnetic or Californication, but I'd like to not hear a significant drop in volume when going from a random track to my track. I really don't know why my tracks turn out this silent, because the volume on the master fader is mostly high (often almost clipping). I use compressor on some of the tracks to bring up the volume and keep it consistent. I use ProTools LE 7.3 for reference.

Do you guys have some kind of method to mixing and bringing up the volume? I want to learn as much as possible as I'm quite new to recording and mixing.

Thanks!:)
 
You'll need a limiter on the master channel, or a multi-band compressor. This is a poor man's "mastering". :)
I use a combination of the PSP Vintage Warmer and the Waves L2. Sometimes together, sometimes not. Don't limit too deep or things start sounding weird. Personally, I rarely go deeper than 2db my master channel peak.

For the record, I'm not a professional, nor am I looking for professional results, but master channel comp can do wonders for the home user.

Hope this helps.
 
Yeah I tried a Compressor/limiter on the master track, but it fucked things up as a sound would suddenly go louder when another one stopped. Maybe I just didn't set it right. I'm not 100% sure what you mean with "2 db deep", would you mind explaining it to me?

Thanks!
 
What style are you doing?

Assuming you have Pro-Tools, then for Metal do the following:

Compressor/Limiter on the Master Track
Compress the Guitars Limted at -6db
Compress the drums (snare, kick, toms, and put a limiter on the cymbals, ride, hihat)
Compress the bass
Compress the vocals, but not too much or you'll suck the soul out of 'em.

Experiment with this and let me know how it works for you.
 
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