Levels

[Freakwncy]

First I would like to thank everyone who has every giving me feedback, wheather good or bad...But as many of yall know...by listening to my track you can tell I have a hard time w/ getting my levels right...What do you suggest Myself and others do to get the studio perfect levels...

 

[afriquedeluxe]

i aint been in da studio many times so i dont tink i can answer ur question accurately, but wen im adjustin levels on my beat, i simply jus mess around on da mixer n c wat settins feel most suitable, n i aslo turn up parts of da beat dat i feel r important n sum1 shud hear, or turn it down really low to give sum backin, or put it low jus 4 da audience to try n figure out wat it is, or wat rythm it is at. am sure there r peeps here who can give betta advice tho..

 

[Fade]

Freakwncy, what's your setup? Let us know so we can try to pinpoint the problem. Also, I'm moving this to Troubleshooting, seems more appropriate.

 

[Freakwncy]

A_deluxe ][ Any help is better than no help, good lookin out....


Thanks again Fade... just for the record yall can call me "Freak" that's what my boys call me... and they're fam and yall are fam....! enuff about that.... I wrkin w/ Reason....only... I edit my sample in GoldWave, import them in ReCycle and then back in to Reason....I've seen in the demos how some people run ea. drum ch. to a seperate fader on the board and I was also wondering how many other people here to do to...and how do that wrk out for yall...

 

[light]

try playing it on several different types of speakers. should sound good on all of them. try using pan as well as volume to spread out the sound. and theres the good old method of listening to other music and compare.

 

[Freakwncy]

light ][ I found out playing on several different types of speakers is a good way, but it wastes MAD Cds....but thanks thou

 

[Copenhagen]

For the ReDrum and NN-XT machine I assign each channel to a channel on an extra mixer and then assign the extra mixer to the main mixer. Sometimes, e.g. with different violins samples on let's say 8 NN-19's, I may assign each of those NN-19's to an extra mixer too and then assign that to the main mixer. It works a bit like a bus then because when I have set the volume and panning for e.g. each drum on the extra mixer then I only need to move one fader on the main mixer if I want to fade the drums in or out etc.
Also, I guess you also know that you should assign reverb and delay to the mixer(s) and not to each instrument and then just add reverb and delay via the knobs above each channel.
Also, sometimes, I add a compressor and the 2 band parametric EQ between the main mixer and the midi in device/sound out. That way you can EQ and compress the beat as a whole.
Turning Reason around and seeing the instruments from behind gives you many options where you can assign stuff through another instrument etc etc and add different stuff our use different outputs/inputs.
What I did back with 1.01 and am now approx. halfway through with 2.0-2.5 is reading the whole manual from start to end whilst trying each thing out in Reason...and then just play around a little too.
When your finished with your beat, export it as wav. and try to play around with your different plug-ins in your CEP, SoundForge or was it GoldWave you used.
None of this will make you and I engineers or be able to master our beat to perfection but it it can only help.
Another thing, when adjusting volume, set the drums first and then try to lower each instrument individually until you can't hear it and then increasing it again. That way you should get a better feel on how loud it should be thna you would if you just e.g. lowered a little from volume 100 and until you thought it sounded right.
Last but not least, I always say less is more. If your sound needs lots of reverb and delay etc to sound good, then it isn't the right sound...hard to explain but I hope you know what I mean.

 

[Ash Holmz]

Theres olny so much editing that can be accomplished with reason. Its one of the illest mucis CREATION programs out there but as far as EDITING goes its not really great. You should really look into getting a program like CUBASE SX, LOGIC, OR PRO TOOLS for editing and messing with effects, levels, plugins,..etc. I personally think CUBASE is the best, it gives you good rich full sound, vst capabilities(my fav) and links well with other programs especially reason. You can open cubase then open reason and use cubase effects with the reason instruments. Shit gets sick man im tellin you.

 

[Freakwncy]

Cope][ I think I'm going to try out the ch > ch deal...or lowering the volume and raising them back up... the deal that's crazy is that...i burnt it to a cd it sound pretty good, totally different in the car....the bass is still a little heavy, but the other stuff is good, and I only have a stock Focus...not big...so I dont know... ]

Holmzini ][ If a could get a FREE copy of Cubase SX or Logic or Pro Tools I might check it out... Cubase seems like the better choice... ]

More suggestions are welcome, thanks everyone

 

[vitaminman]

Hey,

My favorite way is to turn EVERYTHING down, then slowly turn everything up until your final mix is just a little below 0dB. And if you find that something isn't loud enough, turn other stuff down instead of turning the quiet part up, otherwise you risk making a big muddy mess of things.

Also, pan a few things to the left and right so that it leaves more room in the middle, the overall mix will appear louder without killing it. Things like drums, bass and vocals sit nicely in the middle, all the other stuff can be moved off center.

Take care,

Nick

 

[Freakwncy]

How can i get that around the room effect, like i hear on my favorite CD [ie: frnt left > frnt rt > rt rear > left rear >frnt left and so on...

 

[Hypnotik]

Buy some monitors.. if ur using regular pc speakers.. or a stereo system.. its not going to be accurate..

with a set of professinal monitors.. ull get better resluts.. and be able to determine wut sounds better..to ur ears..

as you grow with this ull get better and more expirenced.. trust me.. it just takes time and patience.. if u got patience adn time.. it wil pay off.. and u wil grow..

a good thing to know.. having EVERY meldoy/sound in ur beatturned up.. on high voulme/ is not going to make ur track/beat sound good at all..

its all about CUTTING frequcny, ( yes) and thinning sounds out..

If u dont properly cut and thin out ur sounds.. they will mesh wrong with each other and not compliment each other well at all..

Learn ur mastering programs,.. and also make sure when u mix and make ur track. that ur using plug ins and Eq, compression on each track individually and not jess over teh whole mix.. jsut dont over do ne thing..

as i said.. the more u grow into this.. the easier it wil come..

peace

 

[Dj Dezerk]

well i start with bass and the kick first get those going first ,eq it take all the highs if you are useing a track board.get the really punchy with out peaking then maybe compress them.then go to the high hats st them of in the mix maybe take out some of the bass and turn up the highs.then set my snare play with the eq on this one snares are funny some times.do this with all the drum sounds first from percussion to kicks.then go to the insrtuments you used work with those and then do the effects .then from them there just start tight things up where needed.then pan things for stereo imaging.i hope you can under stand but this is the best i can do right now ok.holla