Normalizing??
- Thread starter J-malice
- Start date
-
WarzoneThe next Warzone Beat Battle is set for May 24-25th!
Muzik
SouthBound
ill o.g.
All depends on tha mix J... If you chop samples and some are at a different level that others Normalizing them b4 you lay the track is cool
cause when you mix then you can bring whaT ever sound up or down,like that kick
drum that needs to hit a lil harder or the hatz need to be quieter so on and so forth.... "Basicly" Ill post more later goto go..
cause when you mix then you can bring whaT ever sound up or down,like that kick
drum that needs to hit a lil harder or the hatz need to be quieter so on and so forth.... "Basicly" Ill post more later goto go..
Normalizing is cool in some cases but if you just randomly normalize the entire track every time you may not leave yourself any headroom if you ever want to get the track mastered. Mastering engineers hate when people just normalize everything without any purpose. Just normalize certain parts that need it only or add some compression to bring out those parts up on a level.
J-malice
PRODUCER ALMIGHTY!!
ill o.g.
o coo. thanks. yea i just randomly normalize the whole track when im done makin a beat. or when i mix down a song, becuase i read that the kick drums and snares should peak at 0 decibles. so i would just normalize eveything to 0 when i was finish makin a beat or song.
so to clear it up...this is not a good thing to do?
so to clear it up...this is not a good thing to do?
vitaminman
IllMuzik Staff
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
Hey,
My experience is that you shouldn't normalise to 0db, but rather a little bit off like -1db. If let's say you burn your track to a cd, and your software/burner accidentally introduces an extra bit during the burn, you could get a pop. There is also what Architect said, that if there is no headroom it makes it difficult to do any addition processing on the file without it clipping.
However, there is a BIG difference between compressing a file and bringing it up to 0dB, and simply normalising up to 0dB...if you compress the audio, you are effectively changing the dynamics destuctively which cannot be undone later on if needed. Normalising simply brings up all the levels so that the highest value is at 0dB and everything else is brought up equally.
Unless there's something I don't understand about normalising, any engineer worth his salt should be able to rip the track into a wave editor and normalise to a lower value before adding any more processing, this should not damage the file at all at it is only removing bits that were artificially introduced when you normalised it.
Take care,
Nick
My experience is that you shouldn't normalise to 0db, but rather a little bit off like -1db. If let's say you burn your track to a cd, and your software/burner accidentally introduces an extra bit during the burn, you could get a pop. There is also what Architect said, that if there is no headroom it makes it difficult to do any addition processing on the file without it clipping.
However, there is a BIG difference between compressing a file and bringing it up to 0dB, and simply normalising up to 0dB...if you compress the audio, you are effectively changing the dynamics destuctively which cannot be undone later on if needed. Normalising simply brings up all the levels so that the highest value is at 0dB and everything else is brought up equally.
Unless there's something I don't understand about normalising, any engineer worth his salt should be able to rip the track into a wave editor and normalise to a lower value before adding any more processing, this should not damage the file at all at it is only removing bits that were artificially introduced when you normalised it.
Take care,
Nick
you just dont want to process things needlessly. each time you do that you will degrade the sound quality. it only will (most likely) process at 16 bit. its like multiplying and dividing a number that goes to 32 decimal places with a calculator that only has the capability to process up to 16 decimal places. you will get pretty much the same answer but not an exact replication. each time you process you will round out parts of the data... does that make any sense?
If your burning your beats on a cd for your friends to listen to then yah, normalize it so they dont have to fuck with their volume for each time. but only normalize if theres a reason and alwayz keep an un-normalized version backed up.
If your burning your beats on a cd for your friends to listen to then yah, normalize it so they dont have to fuck with their volume for each time. but only normalize if theres a reason and alwayz keep an un-normalized version backed up.
There is absolutely no rules especially when it comes to processing drums and bass tracks. Each track you make will be slightly different so don't get into the habit of doing any processing unless you need it! Any processing that takes place can not be easily undone especially on the platform that most of us on this forum use PC/MAC all of that processing is destructive.
Some mastering engineers do have some things they can pull on undoing the damage that a lot of us do when attempting to make our tracks bigger. louder and clearer, but believe me I have been studying up on the subject of mastering and once you effectively squash your music to death it is very difficult to put any life back into the music, there is no magic button.
Some mastering engineers do have some things they can pull on undoing the damage that a lot of us do when attempting to make our tracks bigger. louder and clearer, but believe me I have been studying up on the subject of mastering and once you effectively squash your music to death it is very difficult to put any life back into the music, there is no magic button.
Medicine Man
ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 2
Most pro mastering engineers never ever normalize! Mainly because when they started computers weren't used to make music back in the day. Usaully to master a mixed down stereo track one would use a Limiter to boost the overall level of the track. But normalizing can come in handy when making a mix cd from allready mastered tracks or Mp3's by boosting all the tracks to the same level. I think the rule is only use normalizing after a track has been mastered either by a pro engineer or by yourself if one learns the art of mastering. Mastering is a hard art to learn but there's alot of books out there that can help out any up and coming producer.
J-malice
PRODUCER ALMIGHTY!!
ill o.g.
aight so, basicly my best bet is just good mixin? for a long time i thought that kicks and snares should peak at 0 decibels. now im readin that the kick should actually peak at +3? how can u get your kick to peak at +3 on a computer when computers dont go over 0?
or on a better note. does anyone know how good generalization of how good levels sound?
example: kick drum +3
Snare +2
hi hats -10
bass -3
???????????????????????????????????
or on a better note. does anyone know how good generalization of how good levels sound?
example: kick drum +3
Snare +2
hi hats -10
bass -3
???????????????????????????????????
Medicine Man
ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 2
Never record anything above 0dB. If your recording analog, its ok go go above 0dB a little because analog distortion sounds nice. But if your recording digital, or on your computer, then never record levels above 0 dB. And remeber that durring mixing its good to keep your tracks at first a little low, like -10 to -4 dB, then slowly bring up different tracks in the mix untill you get a good mix. This is called leaving headroom in a mix so the main output dosen't overload and distort by the time you bring up all the tracks.
Okay, I guess this thread clears up most things in relation to normalizing but I still got a couple questions. I know that I have read that it is bad to rely on normalizing, you should just get your levels right in the first place. This is in reference to your levels as they were recorded into your system. Well, what exactly does Normalizing do that causes harm? Someone mentioned rounding above, is that the case in all situations? What about samples, if they are old and wern't recorded at the right level in the first place, should you normalize them or turn up their volume in the mix?
Thanks...
Thanks...
Formant024
Digital Smokerings
ill o.g.
dudes, max peak is -0.1dB, not zero! hehe
A
ACEBEATZ
Guest
In fact you can put it to 0 db. It will not clip, but some db meters will show like it clip, they light up red, but in fact the music dont clip. But i do limit to -0.1 so you dont see them light up and it will never light up anywhere after.
Holla Ace
Holla Ace
A
ACEBEATZ
Guest
UnOwn said:
Normalizing is to help a recording or a wav when you gotta lot of high and low peaks so wut it does is to find the most high average peaks and then bring those who are less loud to equal those who are more loud (an automatic volume adjuster kind of). This can be good to cover things up when you can't do nothing else, but the best is to record with a compressor well adjusted and take a good leveled recording. You gotta have dynamics in recordings (some peaks higher some lower) but not more than 1-2 db up or down.If you have totally no dynamics it sounds un-natural. And if you have too much it sounds lilke someone playin with the volume up and down.
Holla Ace
SpinDoctor
The Lovable Rogue
ill o.g.
I got told by this producer that i know and he said that there is no pint to normalizing anything unless u have compressed it first because normalizing is where u make everything as load as it can go without being distorted, so if u compress it first everything will sound sweet when u normalize it.
Peace
Peace
