Snare peaking too high compared to other tracks

[theguitarfreak]

I always had this problem of the snare peaking too high in the master track. The rest of the channels dont peak that high. So that eats up a lot of headroom on the master track.

Its not like my snare is heavily compressed or too high in volume. Rather i am not able to keep a snare thats in your face as that would create huge peaks in the master track.

I have attached 4 images of the waveform of the master track. Two of them are with all channels on, and two are with just the snare muted.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10355927/Master Waveform.rar

 

[ForHerDeadEyes]

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/production-tips/278894-getting-your-loudness.html#post5814571

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/production-tips/278894-getting-your-loudness.html

Throw a cglip or two on the snare..

 

[egan.]

There are a lot of flags in your post that suggest you need to learn more about transients, compression, limiting, clipping and the mastering process in general.

 

[theguitarfreak]

There are a lot of flags in your post that suggest you need to learn more about transients, compression, limiting, clipping and the mastering process in general.

Any ways to learn of it?

 

[Fandus]

Any ways to learn of it?

Lurk this forum for about a month

 

[bryan_kilco]

Lurk this forum for a few years

 

[BeneGuitar01]

I may be talking out my ass and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but would it be a good idea to put a preview mastering compression in the mix to see where everything is siting and adjust accordingly? I would think that'd work for a snare that has a fairly consistent volume. Like I said, I'm no expert so feel free to correct me on that.

 

[ForHerDeadEyes]

I may be talking out my ass and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but would it be a good idea to put a preview mastering compression in the mix to see where everything is siting and adjust accordingly? I would think that'd work for a snare that has a fairly consistent volume. Like I said, I'm no expert so feel free to correct me on that.

If you mean on the master? Then I'd say that it isn't necessarily a "mastering compression"..
A lot of pros mix into a compressor on the masterbus.. (have a compressor on the master while mixing)

 

[BeneGuitar01]

If you mean on the master? Then I'd say that it isn't necessarily a "mastering compression"..
A lot of pros mix into a compressor on the masterbus.. (have a compressor on the master while mixing)

Thanks for the correction, I do pretty much everything on my computer when it comes to recording, mixing and mastering on my computer (including running the guitar direct and using various amp sims, impulses etc) I'm also using modified DFH drum tracks. What I usually do since I'm aware that mastering will at times change the dynamics of the mix is put compression on the master channel to see where everything is sitting (might not be proper industry technique but it seems to work for me.)

 

[Heabow]

Ok guys I guess I'm gonna be kicked out ahah!

I DID researches here for a RTAS free clipper for MAC yes but everything talks about AU or VST ones (unless I'm awfully blind mm..) So if there are tons of threads about this specifically, fell free to insult me

THANKS A LOT to anyone that will be answer this request

PS: of course any cheap RTAS clippers will be also warmly appreciated ^^

 

[R.Kelsey]

T-RackS Clipper

 

[Clark Kent]

I always had this problem of the snare peaking too high in the master track. The rest of the channels dont peak that high. So that eats up a lot of headroom on the master track.

Its not like my snare is heavily compressed or too high in volume. Rather i am not able to keep a snare thats in your face as that would create huge peaks in the master track.

I have attached 4 images of the waveform of the master track. Two of them are with all channels on, and two are with just the snare muted.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10355927/Master Waveform.rar

I'll try to give you a helpful answer since everyone else kind of failed at it. Umm... first of all snare should be loud. I think your problem is that you are using a limiter/too powerful compression in the master bus which kills the dynamics = punch of the snare. One cool trick you should try is to overdo the limiting. Like f.ex. if you're using Waves L2 pull the limiting all the way down so the master sounds like shiznits. Now... this will exaggerate what your limiter is doing. Start lowering the volume on your snare. (also other instruments can be lowered) You'll notice a spot where your snare gets it's punch back. If not... you have guitars too high in the mix. If you can't get the snare punching try MUTING all guitar tracks and getting the punch right. Now raise the guitar tracks but don't let them go over the snare sound.

I think the most common problem in mixes are the guitar tones and the biggest FAIL is to let a guitar player mix. (I'm also a guitar player btw) Guitars are EXTREMELY easy to be heard.

There is an easy way to test your guitar levels: Turn your overall volume all the way down. Now start raising it up slowly. What is the first thing you start hearing? It shouldn't be guitars. NO NO NO! Vocals, snare, kick... those should be heard first... IMO in that order.

Give it a try and ask for more suggestions if it's not working for you.

 

[ForHerDeadEyes]

I'll try to give you a helpful answer since everyone else kind of failed at it.

Is.. Is it you?..

 

[Clark Kent]

Is.. Is it you?..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u6JYJH1ijo

Hey Beyonce should've won! What kind of racist program is this? What? Us black people can't win in every category?

...

Well I think the issue was a bit more complicated. Clipping a snare before the master bus is not something I would recommend. It leads to not having any dynamics. I would say most real issues in a mix are volume level issues.

The "real big guys" in this business use compression and EQ mostly just to add color. Loudness is not their concern. If everything is recorded accordingly you can get a professional sounding mix with just volume faders.

But more info on the matter would really help. Is it a sample? Can you give us a clip?

 

[NSGUITAR]

Just turn your snare down, learn to master a track, learn to mix, and maybe throw a transient designer on there.