Mixing at -6db question

K

kl1

New member
Hi, I am mixing my tracks on FL Studio with my kick set at -6db which i then mix the other sounds around. When i put a limiter on my master channel i see that when solo the kick is at -6db however when i play it with all the other sounds it peaks at nearly 0db even though on the mixer it is set at -6db. Can someone explain why this is the case and how to fix it if its an issue. At the moment my way of fixing it has been setting the limiter on the master channel also to -6db.

Thanks
 
If your kick channel is set to -6dB(fs) and your master also at -6dB, your master should actually read -12dB with just the kick - you're reducing a further -6db from the kick's already reduced -6dB, right? Anyway, the level is only relative to 0dBfs, it's not like it's an absolute cap that can't be surpassed. As a silly analogy, if you build a 6-foot tall pile of stuff and then put more stuff on it, it's going to be higher than 6 feet - unless you have a ceiling (=limiter) at 6 feet, in which case you'll just squash more stuff in the same space and the pile stays the same height.
 
Thanks for the reply. The kick actually still stays at -6dB with a -6dB limiter on the master although i know what you mean because when i initially tried to fix the peaking I put the limiter on the kicks mixer chanell and it dropped to -12dB. Your analogy actually makes sense i understand now why it was peaking before I am just curious if my method of fixing it (-6dB limiter on master chanell) is a bad way of monitoring my mix or if it will mess things up when mastering.
 
The limiter is an extreme form of compression, so yea, while there are pros who are able to mix into a limiter and get great results, it's not exactly advisable when you're just learning to mix; you can mix as badly as you want and it'll never clip because of the limiter in place that squashes everything below that -6dB.
 
Limiting is limiting, no matter which threshold. The only allowed limiter action is at the end of the mastering chain.
 
I would not start mixing with a limiter on the master, I think its good to know the differences when it comes to loudness and a limiter will cover all that up. What I mean is, when your master has a limiter on it, your not gonna see any peaks above what you set the limiter to. With no limiter on the master, levels are free to move and peaks can happen, this way you can learn and visually try and reference what is causing the meters to peak and try and go back and adjust the faders.

If what your trying to do is not peak above -6db on your master then try and mix the faders so the track has a good balance to the sound, not necessarily have the kick at -6db (if there are other elements in the track). Try using a metering tool to check peak levels and find the culprit thats causing the meter to go above -6db (usually its the snare for me). Drum sounds have sharp transients and a lot of the time sounds are stacked over each other and hit at the same time. So sometimes what i like to do is move these drum sounds slightly before or after the transient point. Not too much cause then they can sound out of time, but just enough where they might not all hit at the same exact time but still sound in sync.

Hope that made sense.
 
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