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Advice Needed...I have no idea what I'm doing

sonicxyouth

sonicxyouth

Guest
Dec 9, 2014
27
25
#1
A month ago, I recorded a couple songs with my band. I used a PreSonus Audiobox, Studio One Producer DAW, Auidotechnica compression mics, and various dynamic mics we had lying around. Mixing, I mostly played with the EQ until it sounded better then when I started. I've been messing around with recording since last summer and have mainly used trial and error as guidelines but really haven't a clue on what I am doing.
So my question is, what am I doing wrong and how could I improve it? When recording, I noticed I was clipping out of almost every track but then threw a limiter on the main mix and it seemed to be okay. I read somewhere this isn't good, why? Also, people have told me radio stations won't play homemade recordings, why also is this? Thank you very much for helping me learn, sorry if some of these questions are stupid.
 
#2
When a recording is made for commercial use, they often have different "mixes' that they use for the same recording.

There is "radio mix"........that is used for recordings played on radio.

There are different mixes depending on what they are doing with the final product.

A radio station does not really have an idea of what went on in a "home-made" recording.......and it could be counter-productive to their sound profile.
 
#3
This is hugely over-compressed/limited, which is why it's all noisy with artifacts and has no dynamics. This is pretty much what 100% of home recording beginners do (me included. My earliest mixes sound just like this).

Basic bitch pro tip: Slap a 'gain' control first on every bus, then a 'level meter' on the last slot after all your EQ, compressors, effects. etc. Use these two tools to make sure nothing is peaking above -3.0db at the absolute maximum. -6.0db is preferable, but the loudness wars are on, so.

When you play back your finished mix, watch the faders. Nothing should jump above -10db. Nothing. Then in the mastering phase, you'll have adequate headroom to bring up the track level with your mulitband compressor/adaptive limiter/etc.
 
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#5
learning to record is a long term project, I'm only 30 years into mine hehe

learn to adjust the gain for each track, this is the single most important thing as you start on this journey. The trick is to do one channel at a time, with the volume off, start increasing the gain until it peaks, then reduce it a tad,thus ensuring the input signal is at it's optimum level without distorting. Then you increase the volume slider keeping an eye on the meter, as others have described.
 
#7
sonicxyouth said:
When recording, I noticed I was clipping out of almost every track but then threw a limiter on the main mix and it seemed to be okay. I read somewhere this isn't good, why?
Click to expand...

Rather than using a limiter you should lower the input gain level on your mixer/DAW. Using a limiter in this fashion isn't good because it kills the dynamics of the recording. Think of it as a brick wall that you're hitting with the signal. There's plenty of things you can find online to help get better at recording, and for being very DIY(from what you explained) you're not doing bad. There's room for improvement, but everyone has that. With time you'll see(and hear) a big difference.
 
#8
*ToNeS* said:
This is hugely over-compressed/limited, which is why it's all noisy with artifacts and has no dynamics. This is pretty much what 100% of home recording beginners do (me included. My earliest mixes sound just like this).

Basic bitch pro tip: Slap a 'gain' control first on every bus, then a 'level meter' on the last slot after all your EQ, compressors, effects. etc. Use these two tools to make sure nothing is peaking above -3.0db at the absolute maximum. -6.0db is preferable, but the loudness wars are on, so.

When you play back your finished mix, watch the faders. Nothing should jump above -10db. Nothing. Then in the mastering phase, you'll have adequate headroom to bring up the track level with your mulitband compressor/adaptive limiter/etc.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much! So to recap, I am making the tracks way too loud and to fix this, I mess with the gain control? I was wondering how to create dynamics...Also, I visted your Soundcloud page to contrast our records to give a better idea of what your talking about! I really like your stuff, the vocal effects you used for Hey Man Nice Shot cover was awesome! If it is not a secret, may I ask how you did that? Once again, thanks for all the help!
 
#9
ThatOneEngineer said:
Rather than using a limiter you should lower the input gain level on your mixer/DAW. Using a limiter in this fashion isn't good because it kills the dynamics of the recording. Think of it as a brick wall that you're hitting with the signal. There's plenty of things you can find online to help get better at recording, and for being very DIY(from what you explained) you're not doing bad. There's room for improvement, but everyone has that. With time you'll see(and hear) a big difference.
Click to expand...
Oh, so before I record someone I should take a lot of the gain off the input? I have noticed when I mic up someone, the level already goes over red. Thank you very much for helping me!
 
#13
sonicxyouth said:
Thank you very much! So to recap, I am making the tracks way too loud and to fix this, I mess with the gain control? I was wondering how to create dynamics...Also, I visted your Soundcloud page to contrast our records to give a better idea of what your talking about! I really like your stuff, the vocal effects you used for Hey Man Nice Shot cover was awesome! If it is not a secret, may I ask how you did that? Once again, thanks for all the help!
Click to expand...
Hey thank you :) Richard Patrick actually listened to that and was all like, "badass". I was very embarrassed but also swollen with egomania. Some of the vocal processing I used on it comes from Invalid Link Removed Great stuff, really easy to use.

OK, so: Gain-staging.

1) When you first plug your instrument/mic into your audio interface, pull up a level meter on your instrument/mic's channel strip on your DAW. Play/sing your loudest note. The level meter should not, at absolute maximum, jump above -3.0db at your loudest note. Again, some studio folk will disagree and say -6.0db, or even lower. It really depends what space you're working in. Massively loud modern rock sound? Lot of peeps will go -3.0db. Just don't expect the most dynamic music of all time, is all.

2) If your signal peaks above this, manually adjust the input gain on your audio interface until it doesn't. You'll eventually find a sweet-spot and get used to it. This is ideally where you want to begin your recording.

3) In the mixing phase, any compression, EQ, effects or whatever you apply will tend to change the gain structure (usually raising it - bad). This is where you'll want to use a software gain control on the channel strip itself to keep things under control.

Think of it as forward-planning: Once you get to the end of the mixing phase and it's time to master (ie. where the track's master volume is going to come from), you'll have the room to do that. Don't be afraid of mixing low! I know it feels weird, but it's necessary (which means you have to turn everything up to mix, which also means your email notification sound will be shockingly loud, and I often get startled by that a lot).
 

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