Hello, I am completely new to this, I was watching some mixing tutorials on youtube, about compressing, limiters, mastering...they are all about the volume, but why would you render a track that is quiet and then make it louder with mastering, cant you jsut do it in the program ? Also with compressors, why would you make something quieter with this, cant you just lower the volume of the instrument, same with limiters except louder. This might be stupid...but i need the answer....
Really basic mixing question ?
- Thread starter roggy87
- Start date
bandcoach
Zukatoku - Mod Scientist
a signal may be overall quiet with the odd loud thump or spike throughout.
mixing so that that occasional loud moment is kept under control is really not an option if you want the majority of that signal/source to be heard
this is where we use a compressor:
- set the threshold to be above the general level of the track;
- adjust the attack time to set how long it takes before the compressor starts to act;
- set the release time to set how long it takes before the compressor stops working after the signal drops below the threshold
- use makeup gain to compensate for the loss of the high energy spikes
some compressor use input gain and output gain to set the ratio and makeup gain in one step: boost the input gain and cut the output gain accordingly
a limiter is a special case of a compressor except that when it turns on it turns on straight away once a signal hits the threshold set - you would usually be using a ratio more akin to 10:1 or higher and would use makeup gain to bring the signal back up if needed; again you might use release time to control how long before the limiter switches off after he signal has fallen below the threshold
and leave mastering alone, or at least defer it to separate task with the stereo bounce track of the final mix: you are thinking in terms of fine micro-level adjustments to eq, and channel levels not broad brush strokes
mixing so that that occasional loud moment is kept under control is really not an option if you want the majority of that signal/source to be heard
this is where we use a compressor:
- set the threshold to be above the general level of the track;
- adjust the attack time to set how long it takes before the compressor starts to act;
- set the release time to set how long it takes before the compressor stops working after the signal drops below the threshold
- use makeup gain to compensate for the loss of the high energy spikes
some compressor use input gain and output gain to set the ratio and makeup gain in one step: boost the input gain and cut the output gain accordingly
a limiter is a special case of a compressor except that when it turns on it turns on straight away once a signal hits the threshold set - you would usually be using a ratio more akin to 10:1 or higher and would use makeup gain to bring the signal back up if needed; again you might use release time to control how long before the limiter switches off after he signal has fallen below the threshold
and leave mastering alone, or at least defer it to separate task with the stereo bounce track of the final mix: you are thinking in terms of fine micro-level adjustments to eq, and channel levels not broad brush strokes
