Louder mixes without the damage

[Marc Edwards]

It's not a subject that I really want to spend heaps of time on because I think most good engineers agree that making something loud and ruining dynamics is a bad thing, but...

What I have noticed is that if you look at the final stereo mix as a waveform, you can see the instruments that are more likely to cause overs (usually the attack of the snare or some other percussive inst). This will let you play with the attack of the offender (limiter or whatever) giving you a louder mix only altering 1 or 2 instruments.

Does anyone else do this?

Cheers, Marc.

 

[e-cue]

I used to do this. But when I started ignoring my meters, my mixes ended up sounding better. I'm sure this works diffrently for different people.

 

[Marc Edwards]

Hahaha! I know what you mean... I only do this as a last step, not as a creative choice... just as a way to squeeze a few more DB out of a mix before having to hit the comp/limit.

Maybe I'm crazy. It wouldn't be the first time.

 

[mikemoritz]

I agree. When I get a mix right and there's that one part that either peaks or will ruin the mix in the long run, I'll fix whatever instruments are offending at that spot.

Mike

 

[MadMoose]

I pay attention to a few things on the VU meters while mixing. #1 I want to see what my RMS level is. I'm more concerned with that then peak levels. The other thing I look at is how my mix is balanced. Sometimes I need to look at the meter to see if I'm right or left heavy and then figure out what I did. I don't take the meters as final word but it helps.