The peaks are not what we really sense as the "overall" loudness. There is a balance between limiting the peaks in order to push up the balance and squashing real dynamic change. Of course not all things need to be at the same dynamic in my opinion. But that is just me. You'll have to decide what is best for you.

i was wondering if a limiter would be in order. or do i have to individually go in and lower peaks. is their a faster way to do this.
up to this point, example: my kick drum is peaking around -8 db. the same in the 2nd song. the one in the first is louder then the one in the 2nd.
i know that just because the peak goes to a certain height that doesnt mean that it is the same volume all the way through.
it may be playing at around -12db the whole time and then peak at -8 for just one hit. ive heard bad things about normalizing or limiting the track
to one level. "it will make the track very inhuman sounding". any suggestions.

How do you individually lower the peaks?!? Duck the slider down at that point? That would sound like garbage. A limiter is exactly the tool to use here. The trick is to use it subtly. Too many people use it like it's a chainsaw.

this is what i was originally doing. so say from example above. if at -12db average with peak around -8db. limit to about -10 or so will give a better result without
chopping its head off?

well, ok. i used the boost/limiter that came stock with sonar 8. i set the boost and output to 0db. from that point i set my kick to peak at -5.5db. as i raise or lower the level bar the peak goes with it so i have full control on it now.
thanks for helping with my questions. both song are sounding just about the same now. problem solved. now, on to the next one. lol

You need to get the RMS levels to be similar. Then you can decide where to put the peaks. You may need to lower the other tracks a bit or a bunch for the time being. Once all the tracks sit equally well together then you can worry about bringing up the volume of them all. At that point is when you will have to decide how much dynamic range to give everything.

There are different controls on limiters. Knowing what these do is key to how to use them. Many limiters are also compressors. To learn about these units generally check this [[url=http://[/URL]="http://recording.or…"]sticky[/]="http://recording.or…"]sticky[/]. The fourth post down by Shotgun specifically.

thank you very much for the help. i read the whole thing. i understand this pretty well. im glad someone took the time to explain it in a way that a noob will understand.
thanks again