Cannot get a decent RMS value ?

J

JaySpring

New member
Hi, so I have been really going hard on my music in the past few weeks, and I am trying to figure out, how to get a decent RMS value (for EDM) My breakdown is currently at about (-14)-(-16)db, but I start to clip when I try to increase the volume, and still dont get a decent RMS. I got some reference tracks, and they all have RMS at about -8, they do seem a lot less dynamic, that means that a lot of limiting and compression occured (also chest factor is under 1), but it still sounds good. I tried compressing the leads, but It does not improve the RMS at all, and makes the sound even quieter (even after adding gain).
I have put a limiter on my bus channel for my leads, messing around with it. Obvisouly got to about -11 RMS, but I dont know if this is the way to do it. It did get louder, I have adjusted the ceiling, so it does not peak over -3, so I have headroom for mastering, but the thing is, it would already be clipping to about +2 if there was not the ceiling, and this is not even the mastering proces. And If I get to -9, that sound if fcking disorted anyway, and my reference track had like -8. What should I focus on, to get a good, loud RMS value ? What really worked was distortion, but that is pretty much the only thing. I am pretty sure , my EQ is not bad, I am using Parametic EQ 2, so not a lot of sculpting like Fabfilter allows. For everything else basic FL STUDIO plugins, and also tried Izotope Maximizer for limiting.
Maybe my mix might be ok, and I just have to wait for the mastering, but if I were to have -3 db headroom, my track would be either really quiet (the RMS would be like -20), or really loud using a limiter (like -10 RMS, so not that low, and would be clippping as hell without a ceiling) , but it would sound squished as fuck. I will appreciate any help, also recommendation of a good RMS number would be welcomed.
If you have time, and wanna chat for music or offer closer help, add me on skype: jara1999 or Discord: JaySpring. FB through message .


P.S. I might be wrong in many places, I started focusing on this a little time ago, so I am really lost.
 
JaySpring said:
What should I focus on, to get a good, loud RMS value ?
Click to expand...

CD music recorded using hardware, hardware with lots of headroom. Start by listening to CDs again, just simply CDs. Stop listening to junk music online on sources like Spotify, YouTube and SoundCloud, through mobile devices etc. You need to become familiar to how music sounds in its natural form. This will clear up your ears and remove the digital sound in your head.

Once you can truly hear how poor software music sounds, then you can start to make some good decisions.

Gain staging is not complex, but with software it is impossible.

Constantly remind yourself about true, cool, real, truth, life and love, because that's what it is about. So make it rock... lift yourself to that level...
 
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Hey there could be really long list of what to do to get a good mix but there is a list of what not to do to get a good mix

And Im pretty sure you are doing exactly these things

Why? Because I was there

A loud mix can turn to a loud master
If your mix is quiet it cant!

A good crest factor (if you mean) is in the mix
 
I'm sure there are some things you need to fix, but there's a big thing about peaks that I would highly recommend. I've mentioned this somewhere else, but soft clipping is extremely helpful pretty much in every mix. Soft clipping helps to cut off peaks while still maintaining the sound and loud perception. A couple great soft clip plugins are Kazrog Kclip and Stillwell Event Horizon. You can do this on individual tracks in your mix that have high peaks. Then during mastering, you can put it at the end of your chain right before hitting the limiter. Cutting a bit of the peaks off one last time before going through the limiter. It really helps the limiter to push it a little harder without damaging the sound. It allows you to limit a little more than you would normally and works very well. And it still sounds like the peaks never were taken off. It's pretty amazing. I was told this is a technique mastering engineers tend not to share too often for achieving loudness. Really worth looking into
 
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A loud mix can turn to a loud master
If your mix is quiet it cant!

A good crest factor (if you mean) is in the mix
Click to expand...


That's true. The basis for a loud master is created in the mixing process.
 
Go through all your mixer channels, and on every one that does not have any low end content you want, apply low shelf, hi pass eq liberally. It cleans things up and makes mixing easier too, but it also allows everything to have space to get louder.
Bass eats up a lot of energy. It builds up.
 
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