The Volume Thread To End All Volume Threads... I hope.

[BrandonS]

I want this to get cleared up once and for all! Before I screw up another recording session.

I have recorded my guitar tracks at about -11db or so, but when I try to mix the songs, they can only get so loud before they start CRACKLING!

So lately, I recorded some samples at -1db and they crackle, but I think if I can lower them by a db or two they wont. But before I go off and record a whole CD with that, I want to hear from the PROFESSIONALS! What is the standard, single, most-appropriate volume at which guitar tracks should be recorded? I'll break it down like this.

Left_Rhythm
Left_Ghost_Rhythm

SoloA \ ((Tracks for leads and/or solos, whatever...))
SoloB /

Right_Ghost_Rhythm
Right_Rhythm

You guys know what the ghost rhythms are eh, for 4-track recording... you make the softer tone just to hold the strong space panned -90 and 90 I think. It's something the people of this here forum told me anyway.

That's really the only thing I have trouble with. Bass? Fine. Keyboards? Fine..... even the drums are fine, I can raise them to 0db and they don't crackle at all. But the guitar rhythms are a thorn in my side. Also, what level of reverb would interfere with the tone and cause it to crackle?

If anyone can post their tone settings that are 100% good (or send me their Gearbox setup, txt file, etc...) let me know. I'm not one to steal a tone but I can learn from your example. Thanks guys!

edit: oh, and if there's a way to amp up my -11db guitar tracks to a great volume without them crackling, please let me know how. I don't feel like re-recording all the material. -_-

 

[neverpurify]

First of all, why not try a few takes and see how it sounds? No need to record a whole album and then find out you recorded at the wrong volume.

Personally get as close to 0 as I can get but it usually ends up around -3. That way guitars are recording as loud as possible without clipping and I have as much room to turn them down as I need.

 

[BrandonS]

Wait wait, so you have room to turn them DOWN? I thought the volume was supposed to be near 0db for the final product, after the mastering and compression and whatever.... I opened up a new Dimmu Borgir track in Audition a good while ago, and I think their guitar was at 0db or over.... And so were their drums.

 

[cobhc]

Wait wait, so you have room to turn them DOWN? I thought the volume was supposed to be near 0db for the final product, after the mastering and compression and whatever.... I opened up a new Dimmu Borgir track in Audition a good while ago, and I think their guitar was at 0db or over.... And so were their drums.

Getting them to that kinda level is due to mastering, not for mastering. Trust me you will want to turn them down. It's hard to explain, but trust us on this.

 

[Mutant]

Volume comes from a wide enough spectrum of freqs.

You can have a wave peaking at 0dB that is quieter than another one that peaks at -5dB even if both waves are equally compressed.

 

[JBroll]

Give yourself more headroom than you think you'll need, raise the volume appropriately in the DAW - after it's all in and you know it isn't clipping. The 'Getting your loudness' thread a while back discussed getting the most volume out of those tracks, and you don't need to worry about pumping things as close to 0db in the DAW as you might think. My recordings usually have their peak around -6db and I just raise the volume, clip/compress/limit as necessary, and bring it up appropriately afterwards. I don't use this 'ghost rhythm' thing, but I use two mics per track panned a short distance away from each other... what you may need to remember is that if you put two loud tracks together they'll likely get louder and this might be causing clipping. Clips would be nice, exported at various volume levels so we can tell what's going on.

Jeff

 

[BrandonS]

I hesitated to provide clips because I didn't want this thread to get slumped into the "rate my tone" forum like my last thread got.

Hey, I noticed this "phenomenon" you mentioned about how something at a much lower db could be louder than 0db. I recorded some pretty high-pitched music-box type sounds at some point, like a bell. I had to turn them down to like -20db just to get them level with the rest of the music! But you can't just ADD frequencies to a guitar tone to make it louder, eh?

I've got a couple guitar songs I just put up on my myspace page recently, you could find the link in my sig. I think they were both recorded with the tone as loud as possible... Anti-Metrognome and Looney Tunes they be called.

Right now, I've got my tone looking like it clocks in at -3db and it doesn't crackle. So I'd say it's good? In the mastering phase, does the guitar actually get risen to 0db at some point, or is that space simply occupied by the percussion which should be a bit louder? I recorded a tone test video and uploaded it to Youtube, but it's not done processing yet.

 

[JBroll]

#But you can't just ADD frequencies to a guitar tone to make it louder, eh?

You can make it appear louder... Play with 1k. Get annoyed. Be happy with what you had.

If it isn't crackling, fine - that's all. If you still want more loudness, drag the track into your DAW (a new project), and try running it through mild L1. Don't trust the faders or the lights or the knobs, if it sounds crackly then don't do it. If you'd rather PM me a link to the stuff so I can check it out and not turn this into 'Rate My Mix' then feel free, loudness and clipping are more than just numbers so if it sounds like you have clipping then ignore what the meters and whistles say.

Jeff

 

[Mutant]

But you can't just ADD frequencies to a guitar tone to make it louder, eh?

Yes you can !
Its in the mixing and eq.
For example you can take the lows and low mids from one track and add them to high mids and highs from a different track and you will have much wider spectrum.
IIRC Dimmu does it this way - they like to add many different sounds (amps and/or +1 octave) to create something huge and loud.