Ideas on how to make a track louder?

[Fichtezc]

Alright, I mixed a little bit of what all you guys said. The first thing I did was add a little delay to fix the phase. I don't think it's perfect but it's certainly better. I also used volume envelopes pretty much just like Doug's image and added a bit of reverb from Logic's Space Designer.

http://www.zachfichterstudios.com/me.../Hal%20AGF.mp3

[rick-slo]

Sounds much better. You learn fast. The notes are more solid sounding to my ears as well as the soft passages more audible. Another tip
is to evaluate different changes you make all at the same volume level and that volume level at a comfortable long term listening level.

[Fichtezc]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Sounds much better. You learn fast. The notes are more solid sounding to my ears as well as the soft passages more audible. Another tip
is to evaluate different changes you make all at the same volume level and that volume level at a comfortable long term listening level.

Thanks for all the help!

You know, I've been doing that much to my chagrin but I guess I'll have to keep it now My interface is a good distance away, enough that I have to get up to change the volume so my monitors/headphones/whatever are at a constant level.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Fichtezc

That hand editing doesn't come across as kind of weird sounding? Any chance I can hear what I see there?

Here it is after adding a bit of limiting afterwards, just enough to trim peaks by a few db. I didn't listen to Rick's but it sounds like he did the same thing (plus more - I didn't add any reverb or anything). You just have to play with the placement of the envelopes. Sometimes you can change abruptly, other times you might have to move gradually. This was very quick, so if you hear any jumps in volume, it could probably be minimized by spending more time with it.

http://www.dougyoungguitar.com/mp3/Zach.mp3

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Fichtezc

Alright, I mixed a little bit of what all you guys said. The first thing I did was add a little delay to fix the phase. I don't think it's perfect but it's certainly better. I also used volume envelopes pretty much just like Doug's image and added a bit of reverb from Logic's Space Designer.

http://www.zachfichterstudios.com/me.../Hal%20AGF.mp3

Levels sound much better. I'm hearing it pull to the left now, tho. Did you add a fixed delay to one side? That tends to act like panning (look up Hass Effect). Phase issues are hard to fix in the mix.

[Fichtezc]

Yours sounds great too! Ah, man I wish I could make my tracks sound this good so quickly haha. The dips in like, single that I was talking about were apparent in yours but like you said I spent a lot of time making it sound more natural on mine.

I did indeed add a fixed delay to the left side. I'll look that up though, thank you very much! What's a better way to check for phase when I'm recording than flipping it?


EDIT: Very interesting on the Haas effect. The right channel is arriving slightly more quickly than the left and the brain is localizing it?

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Fichtezc

I did indeed add a fixed delay to the left side. I'll look that up though, thank you very much! What's a better way to check for phase when I'm recording than flipping it?

It's tough in general. The best thing is to back up and look at your mic placement. There is a device and a plugin called IBP (In Between Phase) that can alter the phase at a finer grain, and Adobe Audition has a phase correction feature that sometimes works. But usually, this is something I look at when setting up mics. I use various phase meters and watch them as I place mics, and/or do test recordings and check it. Logic has a correlation meter under the monitoring section of the effects menu.

By the way, you're also recording pretty hot, especially with those percussive peaks. You may even be clipping a tiny bit. You're at 0db on peaks at least. Better to back off and give yourself some room when recording, say peaks at -6db. That makes it less likely that you'll clip on a more aggressive hit, and also gives you room to add EQ and so on.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Fichtezc

EDIT: Very interesting on the Haas effect. The right channel is arriving slightly more quickly than the left and the brain is localizing it?

Yep. You can actually use that when mixing, it's an alternative to panning to place a sound in space. Not as useful for solo guitar, tho.

[Fichtezc]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

It's tough in general. The best thing is to back up and look at your mic placement. There is a device and a plugin called IBP (In Between Phase) that can alter the phase at a finer grain, and Adobe Audition has a phase correction feature that sometimes works. But usually, this is something I look at when setting up mics. I use various phase meters and watch them as I place mics, and/or do test recordings and check it. Logic has a correlation meter under the monitoring section of the effects menu.

By the way, you're also recording pretty hot, especially with those percussive peaks. You may even be clipping a tiny bit. You're at 0db on peaks at least. Better to back off and give yourself some room when recording, say peaks at -6db. That makes it less likely that you'll clip on a more aggressive hit, and also gives you room to add EQ and so on.

Excellent, thank you.

I was told once to get my pres as hot as I could before clipping and I've always done that without really questioning why. Is there any disadvantage to recording at lower levels? Signal to noise perhaps?

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Fichtezc

Excellent, thank you.

I was told once to get my pres as hot as I could before clipping and I've always done that without really questioning why. Is there any disadvantage to recording at lower levels? Signal to noise perhaps?

With 24 bits and digital, there's little reason to worry about maximizing the signal. That idea of recording as hot as possible kind of came from older gear and tape. Here's a pretty decent article about the issue:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep1...s/qa0910-1.htm

[rick-slo]

For a little more natural reverb sound this is the same tweaks as before but with a different reverb. This is a convolution reverb (impulse response from a Bricasti unit medium room setting)


http://dcoombsguitar.com/Guitar%20Mu...HallieMod2.mp3

compared it to the other warmer reverb I posted earlier

http://dcoombsguitar.com/Guitar%20Mu.../HallieMod.mp3

Reverbs do make a lot of difference

[Fichtezc]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

With 24 bits and digital, there's little reason to worry about maximizing the signal. That idea of recording as hot as possible kind of came from older gear and tape. Here's a pretty decent article about the issue:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep1...s/qa0910-1.htm

Thank you! You two and a few others have taught me so much over the years.

Originally Posted by rick-slo

For a little more natural reverb sound this is the same tweaks as before but with a different reverb. This is a convolution reverb (impulse response from a Bricasti unit medium room setting)


http://dcoombsguitar.com/Guitar%20Mu...HallieMod2.mp3

compared it to the other warmer reverb I posted earlier

http://dcoombsguitar.com/Guitar%20Mu.../HallieMod.mp3

Reverbs do make a lot of difference

That sounds INCREDIBLE to me. I forgot I was listening to myself play for a little bit.

[Fichtezc]

The bass in both of yours is clearer than mine.... I can hear that now that I'm sitting in a very quiet, dark room with no distractions. Did you EQ as well?? It amazes me how much more you can do with the same tracks....

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Fichtezc

The bass in both of yours is clearer than mine.... I can hear that now that I'm sitting in a very quiet, dark room with no distractions. Did you EQ as well?? It amazes me how much more you can do with the same tracks....

Nope, no equalization.
Just
1. Volume envelope
2. Delayed left channel 0.5 milliseconds
3. Added reverb


You are probably hearing on my track fuller but cleaner sounding reverb.
On convolution reverbs Voxengo's Pristine Space works well. http://www.voxengo.com/product/pspace/

It depends heavily on the impulse responses also. The Bricasti are very nice and free
here http://www.samplicity.com/bricasti-m...lse-responses/

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

On convolution reverbs Voxengo's Pristine Space works well. http://www.voxengo.com/product/pspace/

I think that's PC only, right? Zach, if you have Logic (I thought you said that's what you used, but maybe I imagined that?), Space Designer will open the Bricasti impulses. Very nice. Also, the Lexicon reverbs Rick and I both use are now available in "lite" versions, which probably have all the features you need. Not dirt cheap, but a lot less than the original full version was.