Ableton Forum

I'm new to this so go easy on me.... I am finding that when I export tracks the volume is low compared to other tracks on sites like Sound Cloud etc! I would not think all those tracks are professionally mastered so am wondering if anyone can give me some mixing advise to get my tracks to an acceptible level before I decide to get a professional in??

cheers
amature

its a common theme... low volume after export.

your Master track is what will ultimately be exported. if you're having your tracks mastered (as in sending them to someone) you should have your Master track's volume peaking at around -6 dB to -3dB. this leaves them room to tweak levels (EQ etc.) and then bring the overall volume up to at or around 0 dB afterward... it's known as headroom.

otherwise, the world is your playground... in Live you can have your tracks running as hot (loud) as you can stand... so long as the master track isn't clipping above the 0 dB mark you're good. some tricks people use to get higher volume out of their mix are:

* adding a Limiter to the Master track - the idea being you have your Limiter to keep the track at or below 0 dB. this allows you to raise the volume as much as possible... it can lead to the track sounding a little squashed or parts missing though, so it's a salt to taste thing.

* using compression on the master track (not necessarily recommended). you should read up on compression and experiment with it (especially on individual tracks like vocals, drums, guitar, etc, etc. the ill effects are similar to that of the limiter - but more an even more squashed sound with a huge boost in volume levels...all of which may (or may not) screw your frequencies and/or harmonics to hell.

here's a good site: http://tarekith.com/tutorials-and-reviews/

the creator is a member of the forum and an all around helpful dude. he masters too, so in the end if you decide that is the direction for you... this at least gives you a reference point.

the only other thing that i can think of (in terms of standard new to Live type questions) is that you might have your export settings working against you. there are plenty of threads on dithering and exporting. Live has material in the manual and youtube is a bad ass resource... the built in Live tutorials are pretty good too.

good luck.

Thanks for the tips! Ill give it a go. I like the free for all scenario should suit me well. Cheers

The guides on Tarekith's site as linked above are a great starting place for sure.

Mixing takes a lot of practice and ear training, but you have to start somewhere. Spend a lot of time critically listening to a lot of different music on headphones and start training your ears.

Other factors... Instrumentation, panning, not overusing effects or sub frequencies... plus...Speakers, room acoustics, DACs...

A lot of the tracks you hear on Sound Cloud that were not professionally mixed or mastered may be louder, but it doesn't mean they will sound good upon repeated listenings. Any maximizing Limiter can easily make a mix louder (but often not better). That said, most experienced producers have a basic idea on how to do their own "demo quality finalizing" which is more or less a combination of EQ -> Compression -> Limiting on the stereo mix. Ozone and T-Racks are very popular for a reason, since they are fairly cheap and powerful - especially with a bit of knowledge. Even with Ableton's devices you can get quite far.

I use a combination of hardware and software for my work (http://www.form8.com/formlabs/services.htm) - but I also teach a mixing and mastering course that uses T-Racks along with a book Bobby Owsinski wrote for them.
http://www.amazon.com/Mixing-Mastering- ... 1435457595 - I do highly recommend it for beginners.

Good luck and have fun!

_Brian

All great info thanks.