I am having a tough time wrapping my head around it..

I know that they suggest that you don't hover around -18dbfs and that value is RMS....but I am not sure how to calibrate my meters. And most people suggest using an empty instance of Nebula to knock off 6db. Why not a regular trim plugin. Running an empty instance of Nebula seems a little inefficient.

I am used to the peak meters in FL Studio.

I am trying to set my nebula chains up so I can drive the inputs in each stage like a real analog chain...

 

I put up a video on the Nebula thread on AudioZ about it from a preview of the Nebula Explained series.

 

What is Nebula all about? Is it any good? Just wondering because I've noticed ALOT of patches for Nebula on Audioz lately, & it's only be recently they have started popping up. Is there a reason why its popular?

 

It's actually pretty easy. Just make sure, that your source ist not peaking over -12dbfs. If it is, and as long as the source did not clip, you can use any trim plugin (http://www.sonalksis.com/freeg.htm) to bring the volume down before entering Nebula. I like to use Klanghelm VUMT since it is a nice VU Meter to show you the RMS but can also show you the peak level and you can trim the volume.

Just looking at the RMS level won't work since RMS can't be measured correctly for just a kick drum since it is just to fast. So always look for the peak level for fast and transient rich sounds. For any other thing always look at the peak AND the RMS.

Keep you peaks under -12dbfs and don't care that much for the RMS but keep it arround -18dbfs (most of the time this just works for vocals, bass nd any other slower acting source).

If I work with Vst Synths or Samplers (Kontakt) I always bring down the main output of the plugins so that I don't need to trim the volume afterwards.

http://www.puremix.net/video/recording-levels.html explains it very good.

 

Just a few notes:

Gain staging is NOT specific to Nebula. But since Nebula is about capturing the behaviour of analog gear at different level of dynamics, getting the proper dynamics into it becomes quite important.
But a lot of Waves plugins (and Satin for example) have a thing such as a 'VU -> dbFS' calibration. It's modeling analog gear, so you must pick a point on your digital meters which equals 0 VU on the analog device. Every plugin that emulates an analog device should have a calibration point, and it mostly somewhere stated in the manual.

Amp sims are no different for example. There are all kind of guitar-pickups out there, and they all have different output levels. So what level in the digital realm to you assume is what level in the analog world. Record a guitar DI as close as possible to clipping (as close as possible to 0 DBFS) they say. But sure, does that mean the ampsim now emulates the input level of Stratocaster-singlecoils, or vintage Gibson humbuckers, or modern high-output passives or even 18V EMG's. Ampsims almost NEVER state this though, you're supposed to do it by ear there which is OK , it's all about the sound in the end.

So, that being said. Not every Nebula library has the same calibration point! A lot of AlexB's stuff is -18 dbFS = 0 VU, but R2R's tape library is 0 dbFS = 0 VU I believe (they don't really state it, they say 'just use it' or something). Henry Olango's stuff uses -24 dbFS = 0 VU sometimes I've seen. Read the manual to know for sure, or just use your ears to get something you like and don't care about what it is :P.

Using an empty Nebula instance to drop -6 dbFS I never heard of actually, and doesn't seem a handy way to drop 6 dB in the digital realm. Like you said, any (perfectly clean) trim plugin will do the same.
If you have none, I'd take a look at 'sleeptime records' plugin pack. They have a free 'mono channel' and 'stereo channel' plugin, that is a proper VU meter + trim plugin in once (and has some stuff like highpass/phase switch but I never use those). You can set the calibration point.

So put an analog VU meter plugin that has -18 dbFS = 0 VU just before your Nebula (or other analog plugin!) instance. The level that that meter shows, is the level as the analog gear captured by Nebula would've seen it (assuming the Nebula library is calibrated to -18 dbFS = 0 VU). If your signal is way too hot, you can use the trim to take like -8 dB out of it to get it to hover more closely to 0 VU for example.

Remember, you wouldn't always hit all analog gear at 0 VU, hitting it at -3, -6 or even lower is quite normal to get it cleaner (with preamps for instance) and console strips you seldomly hit 0 VU. And not all analog gear behaves nicely when hit at 0 VU or higher . Some have nice breakup (remember, Nebula captures THD and frequency + dynamics, but real _distortion_ - like a guitar amplifier - it can't) and smooth out, others start 'farting' . A properly captured Nebula library will mimic the good _and_ the bad behaviour .

And - as faxesystem said - VU meters and RMS dB values are _averages_. Some over long periods, some over short (0.1 ms?) periods... but still averages none the less. That means that very heavy high, but short peaks will get missed in the metering... so if your signal seems to be at 0 VU but has a sudden loud transient in it, the analog gear and/or Nebula library will probably not be able to handle that peak.
That means that 'close to 0VU' (or close to -18 dbFS RMS) might mean less (and not be useful) when working with kick-drum tracks or snare-tracks for instance (or drum busses overall). In the end, the golden rule applies: USE YOUR EARS :P.
If transients are suddenly missing, it might be because you're just hitting a plugin or Nebula library to hard.


With all that said and one, you realize why 24 bit is _handy_ to have now. If you have a nice signal and you drop it 18 dB, don't be afraid, it's still perfectly OK. You still have all the dynamic range and precision an 16 bit signal would've had (or even 20 bit). If you think it's too low, just increase the volume of your monitors or headphones .
That's why - if you use a lot of Nebula for instance, like me - it's a good idea to record to -18 dB RMS from the start (if you can of course, if it doesn't make sense for your surroundings or instrument, don't :P). But my guitar-amps for example I record at a level where the signal shows 0 VU at -18 dbFS RMS. That way I know I don't hit the limits of my mic pre (analog clipping) or my interface (digital clipping) and 99% of the time I can just throw it through preamp / console-strip / tape / eq nebula instances without having to think about gain staging.
Also, I almost always have headroom in the dynamics, and my master-fader rarely comes close to -6 dBFS so I never have clipping tracks after hours of mixing, and if you send your tracks to a mastering-engineer he's happy that you have left room for him to work with .

 

I only want to make music, not study it , oh well back to school thanks

 

yeah, cause being a mix-engineer is a job and skill that comes naturally to everyone without experience / learning it / studying it..

oh no wait.
*sarcasm* Useful post, specially the full quote :S. */sarcasm*

In all honesty, nothing wrong with saying 'I just want to make music', but that means just plugging in a guitar amplifier , keyboard, drummachine or whatever instrument you use and start playing.. not recording or mixing it :P.

 

well... why read something when there is television, video, why write something helpful when there is the possibility of the bashing of other people's opinion, why learn something when there is the effortless instant gratification in every possible endeavour, pursuit, promised, guaranteed...

indeed not the best state of the things... *no*

even so, hoping for the best, or at least in some fastest way of effortless instant gratification of betterment (wisdomificatisation, perhaps?)...

oh, nearly forgot, wanted to thank you, dipje, in written form, too...

 

Yes thank you all for the assistance....very helpful.

 

Awesome! Thank you so much for explaining.
I'm starting to like what I hear using Nebula now!

 

There is simply no all round setting, because it is related to Nebula PROGRAM level itself.
If it was captured at -18dBfs RMS...you need to enter at -18dBfs RMS.
Some vendors use -18dbFS, some others -12dbFS...and on and on.
Read their manual to know.

But you can use normalizing to help you.

Example : your Nebula Program is -18dbfs RMS.

Simply protect Nebula from clipping by normalizing peaks of your audio clips at -18dbfs.
It will work, and you will never clip for sure.
Downside : with this method, you will not "drive" Nebula. Because there is no overhead. So you loose saturation.

It is up to you to use a level meter, and do it track by track. Or use normalizing, but get no drive.

Another way is offline rendering with specific softwares with RMS calculation
Welcome to Nebula head crushing

 

I am having issues finding said thread... can you guide me in the right direction?

Yea, I kind of came to the conclusion that normalizing @ 18dbfs was the easiest way...but, of course, all the magic of analog hardware is saturating those inputs! So here comes the learning curve...

Putting together a chain with all different references is going to suck beyond belief.

I make minimal hip-hop..and I only use 16-20 tracks at the extreme most on any project. I was thinking of making two only "go-to" chains, a drum buss chain and a master buss chain. The drum buss has to be driven...no compromise. Nebulas programs sound SO good..I think the labor of finding the sweet spot will be work well worth the trouble.

 

I can do better than that, I found the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaHQJ0T9iHg

It's only Part 1 and I suggest that you make a request on AudioZ for Nebula Explained. As far as I know it's the only professional Nebula tutorial available.