Author Topic: Mixing For Loudness  (Read 8389 times)

Hymoki

  • Sub Bass
  • *
  • Posts: 103
  • Honor: 21
    • hymoki
    • View Profile
Mixing For Loudness
« on: May 19, 2016, 01:30:13 am »
I'm starting to learn that if you want denser songs to be loud, it needs to be mixed for it not overly compressed and limited during mastering. How do you go about making a dense mix loud? Is it compressing every signal or are the levels of everything more important?

Mussar

  • Administrator
  • Mid
  • *****
  • Posts: 631
  • Honor: 252
    • mussarmusic
    • mussarmusic
    • View Profile
    • My Site
Re: Mixing For Loudness
« Reply #1 on: May 19, 2016, 02:32:24 am »
How do you go about making a dense mix loud?

By removing sounds from your mix so it isn't as dense. The more sounds, the less headroom. The less headroom, the quieter the final mix.

Marrow Machines

  • Mid
  • ***
  • Posts: 788
  • Honor: 101
  • Electronic Music
    • marrow-machines
    • MarrowMachines
    • View Profile
Re: Mixing For Loudness
« Reply #2 on: May 19, 2016, 03:07:19 am »
How do you go about making a dense mix loud?

By removing sounds from your mix so it isn't as dense. The more sounds, the less headroom. The less headroom, the quieter the final mix.

this
Josh Huval: Honestly, the guys who are making good art are spending their time making it.

myda

  • Sub Bass
  • *
  • Posts: 100
  • Honor: 10
  • kid obsessed with music and clothes
    • its-myda
    • itsmyda
    • View Profile
Re: Mixing For Loudness
« Reply #3 on: May 19, 2016, 01:01:38 pm »
soft clipping and saturation! it makes shit louder so you can turn down the individual track volume

myda

  • Sub Bass
  • *
  • Posts: 100
  • Honor: 10
  • kid obsessed with music and clothes
    • its-myda
    • itsmyda
    • View Profile
Re: Mixing For Loudness
« Reply #4 on: May 19, 2016, 03:10:36 pm »
oh yeah, what eidolon said too. being very specific about where your sounds fall in the frequency spectrum is crucial. stereo image is also a super important aspect of perceived loudness too, but be careful about that because if everything is wide and nothing is in the middle it'll sound weak af

Mussar

  • Administrator
  • Mid
  • *****
  • Posts: 631
  • Honor: 252
    • mussarmusic
    • mussarmusic
    • View Profile
    • My Site
Re: Mixing For Loudness
« Reply #5 on: May 19, 2016, 04:03:41 pm »
This is an important time to remind everyone that composition and orchestration are also a critical part of a good mix: the more notes happening at once and the more instruments playing at once, the more sounds are present.

Good questions to ask yourself, before trying to process your way out of this:
  • Can I simplify any of the melodies or rhythms to allow more room in the track, without compromising the musical idea?
  • Can I remove any of the instruments or layers, while maintaining the feel of a "finished" song?
  • How much fluff can I trim off of this song? What are the essential elements of this track, and what can I take away from my current arrangement to get to that?

Big Room is really loud because there's three or four sounds happening at any one time - Dat Big Kick™, Dat Percussive Lead™ or Dat Supersaw™, and maybe Dat Clap™ or Dat Ride™. Hardstyle is surprisingly quiet in comparison, because holy shit what did you do to your 909 you shouldn't pu-DONK DONK DONK DONK DONK DONK

Babasmas

  • Low Mid
  • **
  • Posts: 215
  • Honor: 32
  • I'm cool !
    • babasmasmoosic
    • babasmas
    • View Profile
    • wololoooo
Re: Mixing For Loudness
« Reply #6 on: May 20, 2016, 11:19:03 am »
This is an important time to remind everyone that composition and orchestration are also a critical part of a good mix: the more notes happening at once and the more instruments playing at once, the more sounds are present.

Good questions to ask yourself, before trying to process your way out of this:
  • Can I simplify any of the melodies or rhythms to allow more room in the track, without compromising the musical idea?
  • Can I remove any of the instruments or layers, while maintaining the feel of a "finished" song?
  • How much fluff can I trim off of this song? What are the essential elements of this track, and what can I take away from my current arrangement to get to that?

Big Room is really loud because there's three or four sounds happening at any one time - Dat Big Kick™, Dat Percussive Lead™ or Dat Supersaw™, and maybe Dat Clap™ or Dat Ride™. Hardstyle is surprisingly quiet in comparison, because holy shit what did you do to your 909 you shouldn't pu-DONK DONK DONK DONK DONK DONK
This is important.

Kenny Troy

  • Sub Bass
  • *
  • Posts: 138
  • Honor: 20
    • KennyTroy
    • TheKennyTroy
    • View Profile
    • Kenny Troy
Re: Mixing For Loudness
« Reply #7 on: May 20, 2016, 04:37:45 pm »
Check out this article regarding loudness and YouTube, came out May 17th

http://productionadvice.co.uk/youtube-loudness/

myda

  • Sub Bass
  • *
  • Posts: 100
  • Honor: 10
  • kid obsessed with music and clothes
    • its-myda
    • itsmyda
    • View Profile
Re: Mixing For Loudness
« Reply #8 on: May 20, 2016, 04:44:37 pm »
that article is super interesting. it's kind of bittersweet that the loudness war is finally coming to an end bc I've just recently been able to get my stuff as loud, if not louder than a lot of big releases with minimal compression/limiting haha

manducator

  • Low Mid
  • **
  • Posts: 236
  • Honor: 46
    • manducator
    • View Profile
Re: Mixing For Loudness
« Reply #9 on: May 20, 2016, 07:48:08 pm »
May 17th
2015  8)

But still relevant.

Kenny Troy

  • Sub Bass
  • *
  • Posts: 138
  • Honor: 20
    • KennyTroy
    • TheKennyTroy
    • View Profile
    • Kenny Troy
Re: Mixing For Loudness
« Reply #10 on: May 20, 2016, 07:48:37 pm »
May 17th
2015  8)

But still relevant.

Oops lol, I read May 17th and assumed 2016