so i have finally finished a track that i am pretty happy with and done a bit of “mastering” (so i think…). i think i have most of the levels correct in the pre-master area, keeping the master track peak levels < or = -3 dbs, but i still just can’t seem to ever get my tracks to come out sounding as loud as tracks i download and listen to regularly AFTER i “master” it… anyone have any ideas? i have heard tracks that have come straight out of ableton sounding much better and i’m just curious if anyone has any other suggestions… here is the track and thanks in advance::
Dada Life - Cash In Drop Out (Maxy Remix) [FREE DOWNLOAD] by Maxy_
for my overall ‘‘mastering’’ i have:
sent all my mid basses to a bus and cut out the low freqs, i have side chain compression on the bus as well as another compressor on top to gel things together with:1.6 ratio and a high knee, quick attack and 48 ms release
added a seperate layer of sub-bass and side chained it to my kick triggers
added a bus for the drums and put a compressor on that with similar settings to my mid basses second compressor
and on the overall master track chain i have:
a limiter and set the to 6.10 gain with a -.3 ceiling and multiband dynamics with 0.80 db boost on the 2.50 khz section, a 1.80 gain boost on the mids, and not much done to the 120 hz section
i think that is a about it… any pointers would be sooo very appreciated!!
Man, this subject keeps getting on my goat. People master things way too loud these days. We are living in a time when listening to music is becoming uncomfortable for long periods, far more than before. The problem is that people who don’t know what they are doing are mastering tracks and setting false standards. Other people feel they have to compete so master in a similar fashion. We have tracks that are wider, louder and brighter than ever before. Possibly we’ll have an epidemic of people with hearing problems in the future because of this.
I know my rant won’t help you though, i’m sure someone else might be more helpful. All I know is that you need to make sure you only have energy in your sounds where you need it. If you are making a hyper bright track make sure you don’t have sounds with too much energy up at 20kHz (white noise sweeps etc) as these can actually reduce your headroom too. Remember that white noise has energy right across the board from 20Hz to 20kHz and therefore ALWAYS needs work if you’ve generated it with a synth to sit in the mix. Get your sounds clean and in a good space with each other, gel them together with a good bus compressor at low ratio and then use your best eq to sweeten things up overall (small amounts of dB should usually fix this, not large amounts) and then your best mastering limiter at the end. Mastering isn’t my expert area but I know a fair amount about it, hopefully an expert on here (Phil or Bryan?) will be able to help.
This is too broad a question to answer. Also it has been asked and had attempted answers about 1000000000 times. Search function is your friend.
[quote]i think i have most of the levels correct in the pre-master area, keeping the master track peak levels < or = -3 dbs, but i still just can’t seem to ever get my tracks to come out sounding as loud as tracks i download and listen to regularly AFTER i “master” it… [/quote]
Should be -0.3 dB… If you really use -3 dB, then thats is the explanation. I have also struggled with this issue, but I think a lot is down to the mixing stage. So maybe you need to take a step back and check your mix. If you have a balanced mix then I think it will be easier for you to make it louder.
quote a limiter and set the to 6.10 gain with a -.3 ceiling and (…)[/quote]
Oh, I just re-read you post. -.3 dB should be fine 
I would go back and take a look at the overall mix and also pay extra attention to what is happening in the low end. You can use somthing like T-Racks Metering to measure the percieved loudness.
well thanks for some of the info in here, i have been searching around this site and others for help but just thought i would check.
in response to the first guys rant, i am not trying to just make this track loud just to be loud for the heck of it. i want this to be able to mixed into my sets smoothly and consistently with other tracks without me having to turn up the gain on whatever deck i have this track playing on because it is just a few dbs quieter than tracks i buy on beatport and stuff. it just sounds quiet compared to your typical tune, know what im sayin?
alot of it is about perceived loudness. Not ramming it into a limiter.
Split the track is a good idea. I normal use a M/S eq to split the middle and side.
Cuttin a lot of the lows out of the side.
This then focusing the energy og the bass to the centre of the track. Creating the feeling of some extra loudness.
Also cutting in other key areas in the freq spectrum can help increase the power of the track.
Also you can trying sending your track to a pro master engineer. It is always better to get a pro invloded in this stage.
As this is a skill not everyone can do. And the people who can do it, it takes years to do it
Just cause you buy ozone or tracks doesnt mean you can master.