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[William Boyle AKA Elfy]

Howdy. Recently ive had to deal with tracks that are quite uncorrelated.  (can i say that)
In some cases 4db of average difference, over the duration of the song.
What is the best way to deal with this, and how far is too far  before a remix should be considered.

Cool Bananananana's

[bobkatz]

elfy wrote on Sun, 25 September 2005 13:45

Howdy. Recently ive had to deal with tracks that are quite uncorrelated.  (can i say that) In some cases 4db of average difference, over the duration of the song. What is the best way to deal with this, and how far is too far  before a remix should be considered. Cool Bananananana's

A very good question. First thing is to evaluate it as "objectively" as you can. Does the volume difference really bother you? How does it translate at normal listening volume in a normal environment?  Do the low passages bother those listeners? Is this material that is intended to be listened to in a noisy background (e.g. bar, club, car)?  

After you get that all sorted out, then and only then can you make your decision. Whatever you do, close your eyes and don't look at the meters. The meter will make you think something is "too low". When someone points out my meter and says, "isn't that too low?" I reply, "what do your ears tell you?"

Anyway, after all that, if you determine the soft passages are too low, then some combination of manual compression, and/or parallel compression can beef up any perceived soft passages. I've made corrections in level of soft passages as little as half a dB to the satisfaction of all. How you deal with the transitions so as to maintain the dynamics is what separates the mean from the boys. I wrote a whole chapter on that one  

BK

[William Boyle AKA Elfy]

bobkatz wrote on Sun, 25 September 2005 18:54

elfy wrote on Sun, 25 September 2005 13:45 Howdy. Recently ive had to deal with tracks that are quite uncorrelated.  (can i say that) In some cases 4db of average difference, over the duration of the song. What is the best way to deal with this, and how far is too far  before a remix should be considered. Cool Bananananana's A very good question. First thing is to evaluate it as "objectively" as you can. Does the volume difference really bother you? How does it translate at normal listening volume in a normal environment?  Do the low passages bother those listeners? Is this material that is intended to be listened to in a noisy background (e.g. bar, club, car)?   After you get that all sorted out, then and only then can you make your decision. Whatever you do, close your eyes and don't look at the meters. The meter will make you think something is "too low". When someone points out my meter and says, "isn't that too low?" I reply, "what do your ears tell you?" Anyway, after all that, if you determine the soft passages are too low, then some combination of manual compression, and/or parallel compression can beef up any perceived soft passages. I've made corrections in level of soft passages as little as half a dB to the satisfaction of all. How you deal with the transitions so as to maintain the dynamics is what separates the mean from the boys. I wrote a whole chapter on that one   BK

Once again im leaping before im looking, ive got your book Bob.
Ill check that out again.
Way too much for me to absorb from one read, but i refer to it all the time, for what its worth, thanks Bob, great insight for me, im a novice. The only prob with the book, is like all good things, it had to end.
Thanks for a great reply also.
Those damn meters man, also even nice numbers on plugs and knobs get the better of me. Like 5.0 instead of 5.1 ratio.