Getting my tune ready for the big soundsystem... Help !

prettyherb

prettyherb

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Hope a couple of you guys can help me out with this one..

I'm working with fl studio. In the master channel i took off the limiter.

Now someone told me, that if the volume still comes in red, it will sound bad on a big soundsystem.

Is it true? Are there any do's and dont's about the volume/settings in mono, stereo ect before saving the tune??


Tnx already


Ruben
 
Great questions.

When it comes to Massive, there are two school's of thought. The first is that redlining the output a bit will add a bit of emulated overdrive that mimics the effect of pushing an analog synth...the other is that it will clip your synth output and make your sound shit. Having said that, it's best to trust your ears. If the sound seems to lose its energy or punch when it's not redlining, let that fucker run hot! Otherwise, turn it down.

No real do's or don'ts about volume settings with regarding mono/stereo. Moreso, you want to make sure to keep the lowend of your bass sounds monoized and keep the highs crispy and spread a bit in the stereo field. There's tons of tutorials on the forum about how to achieve this. Google search this site for "Band Splitting."

Cheers.
 
While I agree with what Lost is saying mostly, you do not want your master channel redlining! or any other channel for that matter. Sure, if it's redlining within the synth thats not necessarily a problem, but make sure you adjust the channel volume, or limit accordingly to prevent the red zone. In my opinion, once you start redlining sounds, it can play havoc with the mixdown, creating unwanted frequencies that can be easily missed.
 
I think Lost is confused, prettyherb is asking about a project master channel, and Lost is talking about the master out on NI Massive...
 
clipping over limiting will push out certain freq's. its totally random so unless you got an analyzer its kinda like woo lets fart on this person and see what happens. random weirdness in most cases but sometimes it can come out sounding fine. Ive heard people clip the master and it sounds great. More often than not tho it sounds weird, squashed missing something imo. ive found if your gonna clip the master you may as well start that way mix it that way and then hope for the best. Sometimes drums sound awesome clipped but the bass sounds like ass. soo a bounce of the drums turn it down bam. Its naughty in industry standards, an engineer would smack you for doing that at a studio.
 
If a track is clipping in red, it means all the other tracks are too loud and therefore you push the track to achieve the presence you want on the mix.
Adjust all the other levels a bit lower and your track will not clip.

If it's the master that clip before to enter thru the mastering processors (comp,eq,limiter), that's extremely bad!!
It is mandatory to have at least 3db below the 0 of the V-meter, to ensure you give enough dynamic headroom to your compressor for working effectively.

If you don't follow this important procedure care, the result will be an over squashed tune that a Dj will find it prolly a good tune, but impossible to blend with the tunes out there, as the flattened dynamics will create confusion and loss on clarity of freqs and sound details.


Stereo mono?
I did personally started a thread a while ago asking suggestions for the same matter, as I'm currently programming my liveset.
Check for the thread named "Mono or stereo mix for liveset?"
 
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fuck loundness.
Make your tune balanced and it will sound ridiculous on a big system.

There's two way's to learn that and one of them is an incredibly traumatic emotional experience that will make you question your entire existence.
 
Rajstah Vibe said:
If a track is clipping in red, it means all the other tracks are too loud and therefore you push the track to achieve the presence you want on the mix.
Adjust all the other levels a bit lower and your track will not clip.

If it's the master that clip before to enter thru the mastering processors (comp,eq,limiter), that's extremely bad!!
It is mandatory to have at least 3db below the 0 of the V-meter, to ensure you give enough dynamic headroom to your compressor for working effectively.

If you don't follow this important procedure care, the result will be an over squashed tune that a Dj will find it prolly a good tune, but impossible to blend with the tunes out there, as the flattened dynamics will create confusion and loss on clarity of freqs and sound details.


Stereo mono?
I did personally started a thread a while ago asking suggestions for the same matter, as I'm currently programming my liveset.
Check for the thread named "Mono or stereo mix for liveset?"
Click to expand...


The thing you said about mandatory -3db under 0. That's what my friends also mentionned. But, if i save the tune then, it will be so quiet? Is there than any solution so save the track at a normal sound level without being in red in the master channel?

Cheers
 
The solution is called "MASTERING".

That is the last stage if production. It's the stage where you push up the loudness out of your track.
You can google it or check on this forum the multitude of threads about it.

My tracks I usually keep them between -6 and -3db during the mixdown stage.

Than, start to apply in order: virtual analog warmers (PSP vintage w., or any other tube, tape, desk, saturation emulators), stereo compressor, equaliser (linear phase better) and, last in chain, the limiter.
Every single devices and processors you apply on this mastering processing it's gonna influence and give the final impression on your track.

If you don't do a good mixdown and a decent master, your tune's not gonna sounds good on any sound system. No matter how good can be your production skill.

That's why, it's a good experience to go with some of your best tunes to a mastering studio, specialised on your style of music, and pay a professional and experienced mastering engineer to do this delicates stage for you.
Yes, you will pay some cash, but trust me, they will not only give life to your tune, you will learn 1.000 technical tricks only by watching him tweaking on your tune. And most of time you can have a great chat and get advices from professional side.

I've done it many times and I can tell you, what you learn in a professional studio, with a face to face with a sound engeneer, you won't learn it in a forum or online.
Nothing against the web, it's just about an experience, a must do! If you really want to understand how to push your boundaries. ;)

To make it short (I know, sometimes I get excessively long and boring),
Understand what is "Mastering" and "mixdown".

Have fun! ;)
 
Of course, if you just want to do a quick preview, just put your level to get that -3db and than, add a limiter to your master channel and adjust the threshold down untill you don't hear that the tune get too messy or distorted.
Set the ceiling of the limit at 0db if fast attack lim. Or -0.5db if slow attack.

This can work for a quick squeeze of your tune, without going red from mixer, but ripping some loudness from it!

Don't use this kind of procedure for official releases! As the quality of the master will be most of time low end.
 
when you are doing mix down avoid getting out of 0 on master. Better have some Db of headroom. in mastering stage you will bring laudness up :) so dont worry :) laudness isnt most important thing.
 
Mr Fletch said:
While I agree with what Lost is saying mostly, you do not want your master channel redlining! or any other channel for that matter. Sure, if it's redlining within the synth thats not necessarily a problem, but make sure you adjust the channel volume, or limit accordingly to prevent the red zone. In my opinion, once you start redlining sounds, it can play havoc with the mixdown, creating unwanted frequencies that can be easily missed.
Click to expand...

Yeah, definitely no redlining on the master. I misread and thought he was discussing redlining within the synth itself.
 
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