How to keep RMS Level Steady

[ShaiBobble]

So I noticed on the wave candy RMS levels that the RMS levels of many professional trap hiphop songs are around -6db in RMS but it moves steadily especially with 808 based songs.

When I play one of my songs the RMS level bounces up and down a lot even though the song was mastered & maximized to its limit.

How do they achieve this?

Examples : drake fire and desire, anything from views, or the future dj esco tape.


Example( for the unknowing ) : go into fl studio / master channel / take off limiter / add wave candy / go to meter / where it says peak , change peak to rms,/ add in drake fire and desire or 100 rack or whatever and you see it moving smoothly, meanwhile mines is very bouncy nomatter how I mix the beat.

 

[DarkRed]

So I noticed on the wave candy RMS levels that the RMS levels of many professional trap hiphop songs are around -6db in RMS but it moves steadily especially with 808 based songs.

When I play one of my songs the RMS level bounces up and down a lot even though the song was mastered & maximized to its limit.

How do they achieve this?

Examples : drake fire and desire, anything from views, or the future dj esco tape.

Example( for the unknowing ) : go into fl studio / master channel / take off limiter / add wave candy / go to meter / where it says peak , change peak to rms,/ add in drake fire and desire or 100 rack or whatever and you see it moving smoothly, meanwhile mines is very bouncy nomatter how I mix the beat.

Yes, this is a common phenomenon and tends to be a difference between high end mixes and mixes that are a bit less high end.

What makes the mix RMS level fluctuate by a certain amount has to do with the combination of the amount of signal you assign to vocals relative to rhythm relative to pad, the total compressor attack time, release time and attenuation amount these elements are subject to and the nature of the detector circuitry of the compressors these are subject to. A massively contributing factor to a more stable mix RMS is Opto compression on vocals and bass when you set the total amount of attack and release time not to be short. Opto compressors kick in more relative to RMS and hence tend to smooth out and balance out the RMS over time. But it is not only Opto compressors that have these kinds of effects. For instance also Vari-Mu compressors contribute because of their dynamically increasing ratio the harder above the threshold they are pushed, which in combination with attack and release effectively levels out the peaks and hence the RMS stabilizes over time. A compressor like this can work very well to gain stage into in order to improve the sound of for instance snare or vocals without making it too loud on certain hits, simply because when it is pushed that hard the louder hits will not end up too loud because the ratio is still ideal for those specific hits as a result of the dynamic ratio behavior. This type of thing you cannot do with a lot of other compressors that have a static ratio, those you need to feed less signal in order to cope with the louder hits, so hence you also get less vibe out... To some degree you can work around that problem by volume automation, but that's not as effective and is time/energy consuming too. When present as both narrow and broad stroke the net effect of these types of compression tends to be a less fluctuating mix RMS. It is a very important type of compression in mixing and mastering.

Vari-Mu compressors are very important in mixing and mastering because you can do unique things with them. For instance a short attack will amplify the "snap" as some of the initial portion of the transient is let through and then a much more dramatic signal attenuation kicks in as a result of the dynamic ratio. For instance very loud snare hits can get very massive like this, with a pre- and post- eq and side chained and with a reverb behind it this can sound incredible powerful and still sound pleasant to the ears. The sound becomes more exciting also because the compressor constantly makes each hit a bit different sounding depending on the expression of the playing. The issue with a lot of compressors out there is that they tend to not dynamically adapt to the signal, which means that it can sound great on the level you are adjusting it against, but then later on in the song it becomes too loud and you need to compensate negatively. So think of what you can do with the combination of a good Opto and Vari-Mu compressor combo...

The effect of two stage compression can be made to behave slightly similarly to a Vari-Mu, of course not at all the same sound but it reminds a little more so than if you do standard one stage compression. The reason is because when you send the signal to the two compressors in parallel you can decide how much of the signal is going to be sent to each compressor in parallel, this in combination with the fact that you can vary the ratio and threshold on both comps, means you can dynamically get the transients more attenuated with louder input. Be aware that although this softens the attack, too much attenuation can make the mix dynamically numb. To avoid this use a long enough attack time so that much enough of the natural transient sings out before the compression kicks in.

 

[Synapsis]

I tend to check my mix busses in the mixing stage, and firstly make sure I can hear everything, at low volume, and check the metres are about where I want them.. I leave the master channel alone, saturate the drum bus, and don't compress it.. My bass is always side chained, and I like deep bass, so I need to make sure the release time gives the kick space,yet pumps the bass in as to not muddify the kick's space..

depending on what I am doing, I choose sounds that sit well without the need for too much EQ... I make sure that there is a cohesive sound in the mix, and know where the levels need to be for mastering..

I use a master chain, like kotelnikov, then a Linear phase multi band limiter, then harmonic frequency expander, Master EQ, Opto Compressor, SSL master bus compressor, then Limiter.. by the final limiting stage, most of the bumps have been attenuated, so the limiter is only there to catch a few wayward bumps, and doesn't need to work too hard...

depending on what is going on.. The Mastering is where I do most of the gain staging, as the mix is usually pretty good by the time I bounce it to master...

 

[Synapsis]

Here is an example of how the mix sounds, then after it has been mastered