Recording volume and Mixing Volume

[NocturnalBurial]

Hey guys. I have read a lot of post about recording volume and mixing volume, a lot of people say to record at low volumes (guitar) then when mixing you can bring the volume back up with compression and limiters. I have tried and tried again but everytime I record something in that method, when i crank the volume of the song, the highs are WAY TO HIGH and it seems like there is no low end at all. Also, how can set volume levels and frequecy's so that they dont step on each other? For example with that, If I play a song that has double kick drum parts, the guitar seems to get quiet during the double kick parts then comes back up when the double kick stops. Its frustrating cause im a noob and im trying to learn but its stressin me out haha. Here is a link to some of my songs. Please feel free to comment on it and give me some advice cause I could sure use the help. There is only drums and guitar in these songs.

http://www.youtube.com/user/NocturnalBurialBand

 

[voidar]

Can of worms..

Your kick is triggering the master buss compressor making everything pump, or during fast double-kick pars, be more steady-state (lowered volume). If you absolutely need it there. figure out how to side-chain the compressor with a hi-pass filter untill this stops. You might find you will need to lower the kick after this.

 

[voidar]

As for your recording problems I am not 100% sure of what you mean, but.

In a typical guitar recording scenario, the amp should be blasting loud into the mic(s) hitting the preamp with a good signal to noise ratio. Signal from preamp hitting your sound card (AD) can be lower than you think. People advocate levels at -18 to -12 dB digital fullscale and so for all recorded signals, not just guitar. This is usually what you would call 0VU in the analog world.

This is called gain-staging. There are plugins you can buy or find that emulate the old style analog VU meters that will help you with this.

 

[NocturnalBurial]

Ill look into side chaining commpression then add the high cut filter like you mentioned. It is good practice to mix the drum tracks first then add guitar into the mix afterwards?

 

[voidar]

Low cut (hi pass), not high cut (low pass). You would need to remove the lows, maybe as high as 1000-2000Hz from the compressor detection circuit. Depends on how much you want the low-end to dictate your mix.

There will always be changes in the overall mix, but I like to get the drums wicked and build a mix around that for metal. Might be bad practice though some would say. Whatever works.

 

[AboutBlank]

I would'n suggest you sidechaining at this point.

It seems that either your levels(balance, volumes, low-high end ratio) aren't fine or your attack or release times on your mastering comp/limiter.
Or maybe all of those mentioned things.

Get your balance and settings right before fixing something you could fix better at the source.

 

[BLUElightCory]

A few things:

- When you record guitars, the amp can be set at any volume, just use what sounds best. Set the levels on the mic pre/interface conservatively, 24-bit recording doesn't require high levels so leave plenty of headroom.

- Don't use compressors and limiters to bring the volume up in mixing. Just turn up the fader. If you have the fader cranked and need more volume, turn the other tracks down instead.

- Monitor at around 85-90 dB when you're dialing in sounds and mixing, and double-check at other volume levels. This is where your hearing is most accurate. You can buy an SPL meter at Radio Shack or similar stores.

- If you have too many highs in the guitar tone, move the mic away from the center of the speaker or address the amp's settings. When you're dialing in the amp, get your head down in from of the speaker and listen to the tone there.

 

[NocturnalBurial]

Thanks for the responses guys. Im going to lower the volume of the track and try mixing the drums first like Voidar mentioned. Hopefully I can get a good sound and balance in the drums before I add the guitars in.

 

[KHE]

Hopefully I can get a good sound and balance in the drums before I add the guitars in.

don`t spend to much time with processing them in solo-mode. they need to work together with all other elements, so if you create a drum-sound wich sound killer in solo-mode, it probably won`t work well with guitars/bass/vox.

just a hint

 

[Vinny]

Not sure if this is considered "good practice" to other people, but screw it. I start with the fader at unity (0), turn the gain up on the preamp so the signal is hitting at roughly -18db. Then I turn the fader up or down to whatever volume sounds best. No need to use compression/limiting simply to turn the volume up. If you find yourself needing to do that, then just turn all the other tracks down, turn your speaker volume up, and then you can get the volume back during the mastering.

Also- Honestly, My mix revolves around the guitar tone. Most of what I record is riff-based metal. So that obviously is the most crucial tone since that is what has the most focus. So the way I MIX is this- Guitar tone -> Bass Tone -> Guitar + Bass tone together -> Kick tone -> Snare/tom tone -> Overheads/Room -> Vocals -> all other programming and effects. (However, as far as recording, I start with- scratch guitar with metronome -> Drums -> Guitar tracks -> Bass -> Vox -> etc.)

(Sorry if this post is kind of jumbled. Your original question was kind of vague, so I answered to the best of my abilities. Hope this helps.)