...put a compressor and a limiter in your channels to 'gain stage' and get everything nice and loud?

greetings from amsterdam!

 

let me say: HELL NO ! ...

...its totally wrong, maybe you have other visions of mixing but isn't suppose to be like that ...i often just eq ...i use compression where i think it needs on tracks, maybe sometimes on a master bus if i like the groove i get if not i apply it on mastering stage ...you can use limiter on some sounds but on all tracks never heard of such mixing ...

 

Put a limiter on all tracks, and then cranck up the input until you see 15-25 db gain reduction on all tracks.

That should do the job pretty nicely.

Of course don't forget the limiter on the master bus, for another 10-15 db of gain reduction.

Then post your results here. Good luck.

 

roger! thnx...

 

No, that's not a great idea.

I my opinion you can choose between 2 options:

1. Keep the mixing and mastering part of your song separate (that's how I do it); for mixing, turn up the monitor volume and mix until it sounds rigth without comparing the loudness to other songs. What I mean by that is that you only use a compressor to get some instruments 'more clear' in the song. Save your mixed song as 1 file and start another session for mastering.

2. You could mix into a compressor and limiter. This means that you put a compressor and limiter on your master channel and mix the song with both plugins activated. That way you are mixing at louder levels and more or less lets you hear how the song will sound after mastering. So you already do a bit of mastering while mixing. It doesn't fit all genres, though. You can't take the comp and limiter off later because your mix will sound bad without those.

 

@manducator,

thanks for the tips, that's maybe one mistake on my account, i always have that thought flying around during mixing, "how to get it as loud as this?". the problem is everytime i did this, my mixes tended to be real soft (i started out @ -18db) and when i tried to make it louder, the sound of my mixes changed, i guess i'll just have to look into this again. because your method does make sense.

I'ma try em both out and let you know... that's if i don't forget

Got some crazy 'Amnesia' here, wish you could smoke some with me, your all so helpful. thanks!

 

Do i have to take this literally? do you mean during mixing u only use a compressor? so no other (fx) plugins? Or do you suggest concsious use of the compressor @ mixing stage?

 

I only use compression when I can't avoid it. If you want to create a recording that has no dynamics, then squeeze, limit, and stomp that sucker flat. But most experienced engineers will tell you compression or limiting work best when used sparingly. Except for certain type of bass guitar sound, and you can do some interesting things to reverb by pumping it with compression. I find overly compressed recordings annoying.

 

Try Sonnox Inflator ;)