Compressor for live performance?

[danoworks]

I played my first gig last night using my apc40 in a big boomy martini bar. I did 3 sets using 3 different live files that had 10 songs all in wav files per set. Like everything else in life in a controlled environment like my home studio the sets sound great. One comment I heard was that there were big differences in volume of the different songs in a set. My question is what can I do to validate that all of the songs are of equal volume within a set? Would a compressor on the master channel help bring up the quieter songs and passages? Any recommendations?
Thanks

[Atomikat]

Use the GAIN fader in the clip view to equal the level of all the songs.

[danoworks]

Use the GAIN fader in the clip view to equal the level of all the songs.

Each song may have up to 20 clips spread over 8 channels sometimes 10 layers deep. I'm looking for a solution not so much at the clip level since I've made adjustments there already. I'm looking for a sort of mastering solution perhaps applied to the main output track.
Thanks

[Da hand]

When performing, just use your ears and adjust the master volume when mixing between songs.

When preparing your songs before the show, you should reference the volumes of the songs relative to each other. Choose one song as the reference song. Play the main scene of that reference song (A) and then the main scene of another song (B) and see if there is a volume difference between the songs. Use your ears, not the meters. If there is a volume difference, then adjust the other song (B) level to the reference song (A) (you can select multiple clips and lower their volume by the same amount). Then repeat, play reference song (A) and another song (C), etc

Also, you did have a monitor setup on stage / DJ booth when playing, right?

[FLaKes]

Yeah, meters dont really work too well... I have different tracks at the same level and they vary in volume a lot... it is very noticeable.

I use a reaktor mastering plugin on the master channel, and I compare the loudest track with the rest of them and level them as best I can

[cids]

Try the limiter device!

[Dexes]

+1 on Da Hand's post.

Use your ears, metering (and in effect compressors/limiters) are no good for ballancing "loudness" as they work with peak levels. A short stab at 0dbfs will not appear as loud as a long pad at the same level. You can try to get arround this by using an rms meter, but to make things even more complicated (if you rely only on you eyes), the human ear percieves different frequencies differently...sounds in the upper midrange seeming much louder than bass sounds.

There's a metering plug by IK-multimedia that comes with the T-Racks 3 suite that takes this into account and gives you levels for Peak, rms & percieved loudness, which I've found very usefull, when making songs to keep the levels close. But in the end you'll still have to rely on you ears.

For DJ's its easy, you listen to the song live, and can quickly ajust with a single gain knob, but if your working with multiple channels your probably need more time in preperation.