Simplest way to make everything louder (compressor I guess)?

[numlock]

I hope (and beg) someone can help me with this simple (I hope) problem that I really need to solve.

I don't know anything about this tech stuff and seem to absorb nothing of it either. So please don't point me to tutorials. I just need more volume added to my sound: it's too quiet at the moment. I'm looking for the easiest possible way because that is all I can handle.

Each track I have is: NN-XT connected to RV-7 Digital Reverb and that connected to MClass Compressor (and that to mixer). I don't even know if MClass Compressor is what I should be using here.

So, what do I do? I would need to achieve the following:
-more volume to everything in equal proportion
-no clipping should appear

So what knobs do I twist? How do I detect if the sound clips? Can I avoid the possibility of clipping altogether by twisting some knob or adding some other effect or machine or whatever?

If possible, but not necessary, I could make the more quieter parts a little bit louder compared to the louder parts, but this is not necessary. If this can be achieved by twisting a knob, please tell me which one and how.

Most songs have only one track. But what if I have two (or more) tracks? Should I connect the signals/output of both tracks to one place (however that is done) and then route that to compressor? Or have separate compressors with equal settings? (All the volumes are ok, I don't need one channel louder than the other, I need all of them louder in the same proportion.)

I hope you can help me out, and please don't assume I know any tech terms, because I totally don't (despite having used Reason for two years).

All help very much appreciated!!

[submonsterz]

maximize/limiter in master section is all you need which will limit and boost the signal.
stick an mclass maximizer in there if you have no RE maximizers / limiters and twiddle away use soft clip button if you don't want clipping as easy way to go .

[tibah]

Like submonsterz said, the MClass Maximizer as your last effect should do exactly what you want. Compressor on every channel isn't what you're after. In theory you could make individual channels louder by using the compressors gain knobs, but this is not a simple process, as you requested.

You can load up a mastering Combinator from the factory patches or just unfold the master section and put the maximizer in there. Soft clip is one way to avoid clipping at the output. Another one would be a fast attack time and look ahead enabled. Now you can drive the input gain until you're satisfied with the sound. Just be careful to not overdo it.

[Loque]

Doubling the track with small changes or different octaves or power chords can help. Try saturation or shaping (eg with routing through Thor). Adding a sub with a simple sine. Compressors, limiters and maximizers do the rest. Also LP and HP filtern can help to make sound more present and creates some db space to increase the volume without clipping. Adding a layer for a specific frequency to support your track.

[numlock]

Thank you so much everyone, that's my problem solved! It really made a difference, instantly. I'm glad it was this easy.

[DoubleStop]

I'm sorry, I just can't resist! Just Turn it up to 11!

[guitfnky]

Ozone. Pull down the fader to taste. Done.

[LABONERECORDINGS]

Adding a sub with a simple sine

Someone else mentioned this method on Facebook in the Rack Extensionists group, however....

If your instrument is quite low frequency set already (ie around the 40-80Hz area), then adding a sine under it might work and it might not... you might actually make it sound weaker at times and stringer at others. If you are going to use a sine as your extra foundation harmonic (or root harmonic), then roll off the original bass a bit to prevent any phase cancellations, as your instrument might not be purely in tune; we're talking half to whole frequencies here

For example:

Sinewave at 55Hz as your extra 'bass'
Bass guitar being a 'real instrument' might be say between 54.2hz or 55.8Hz due to the actual pitch hit by the fingers on the fret board not being in exactly the right place for pure tones.

Ok now the phase cancellation part.... when you get the 55Hz Sine wave starting form zero and cresting upwards, while your guitar bass is cresting downwards, the bass could cancel out. Ok now if you have both sine and bass guitar cresting upwards but the bass guitar is say 55.2hz against the 55Hz sine, as they both play from 'zero' point they're in phase but start to drift away from each other and if the notes are long enough you might get to the point where the bass math 'cancels out' (+1 bass guitar signal & -1 sine signal = 0 = phase cancellation)

What we advised is do a parallel channel for the track you want to add more bass to, and low pass filter it, then using the faders on the SSL you can add inphase bass to the original part, without ever worrying about phase cancellation.

the only time where adding a sine may help add bass can be with synthesizers which are 100% in tune, but you do have to be sure that both sounds (sine and synth) crest in the same direction, and are in sync to hear (and see) the benefits

We'll do a tutorial on this too, got a list of 3 to do now

[LABONERECORDINGS]

Also the loudness thing....

For best sounding mixes, don't worry about the final loudness at the moment, get your track mixing well first always helps point in the right direction, and aim for your objectives one step at a time ie

1] Sample / sound selection (does what it says on the tin)
2] Arrangement (song writing)
3] Mixing (instrument balance / pan / eqing / effects to stereo stem aka master buss)
4] Mastering (icing on the cake, broad eqing across the whole mix, compression over the whole mix, limiting over the whole mix....)

We used to fall into the trap of 'turn it all up' and we ate headroom like Pacman on a powerpill mission, and kept on wondering why we were getting nowhere fast. The thing is... we're lucky to have digital in the box mixing, where we can have much quieter signals going in to our mixer desks / daws without worring about noise floor. Throwback to the 80s where digital desks cost the earth and tape was the common sampling medium, you had to drive the signals hot to 'mask' the noise of tape. You don't need to do that with digital DAWs now (because noise floor is really low in comparison to tape), ideally go for signals riding on average around -20dB per channel, with peaks up to -10dB. This will give you more headroom later once you have all the instruments in the mix, leaving you bags of room to do broader EQing and compressing etc without overloading the final output. Believe us you'll get stuff done faster this way and sounding way better.

If you can focus on each stage of music production, you'll start to find you'll mix quicker and easier, and have more opportunities to fix anything that pokes out first rather than think that mastering will be the magic button fixer (which sometimes it can be but if the mix isn't right the master can't save a bad mix, a great mix however can be mastered to perfection)

Another method.... use fader rising... this is classic old skool way of doing things, using the gain faders to make things louder or quieter. Seen a video where 1.5dB gain at a chorus stage made such an impact (also known as ambush technique, from what we've come across). There's various tricks you can employ to make things sound louder in the mix than what they truly are - side chain compression is one method, as well as the aforementioned gain riding. To make one thing stand out more, turn everything else around it DOWN when that sound comes in ie a vocalist singing a few words, instead of turning them up, 'duck' the volume of the rest of the band to make the vocal stand out more, again you don't have to go mad, just a few dB here and there to make it sound more dynamic, without resorting to compressing the life out of everything - not saying don't compress, just saying "don't push square pegs into round holes until the hole get bigger or peg gets rounder... both with end up mashed up "

Something else too.... while you're mixing at lower levels, simply turn up your speakers to give you the loudness you're aiming for, and turn other references DOWN to a similar level so you can perfect the mixing stage - if you can make a mix sound as good as a mastered-but-turned-down-to-match track of chosen genre, then when you do turn it up it WILL sound way better than ramming in the redline.

[tibah]

Some quality post by LABONERECORDINGS!

I have to mention one thing only. Depending on the genre, there is quite a few things differently from a general approach to mixing, because most of the guys that *created* that sound, didn't care much for the traditions of mixing. If you're familiar with the FM in the studio series (now turned into a more track focused series) you probably know what I mean. Soundgoodizer, limiters everywhere. Having your sound squashed seems to be *the thing* in certain styles.

It all comes down to personal preferences and taste of course. Sometimes I like to have more dynamics and a more open feel to a mix, but other songs and mixes require that kind of sausage/against the wall sound. There is a sweet spot though. Sometimes, my ears will just get tired, but if done well, it can be quite pleasant. Learning the more traditional mixing techniques, that might even be based on examples you can't relate to e.g. mixing a band and vocals, but also fooling around with compressors/limiters/clippers on synths & samples are both very valuable experiences.

[decibel]

buy some bigger speakers lol

[Loque]

Adding a sub with a simple sine

Someone else mentioned this method on Facebook in the Rack Extensionists group, however....

If your instrument is quite low frequency set already (ie around the 40-80Hz area), then adding a sine under it might work and it might not... you might actually make it sound weaker at times and stringer at others. If you are going to use a sine as your extra foundation harmonic (or root harmonic), then roll off the original bass a bit to prevent any phase cancellations, as your instrument might not be purely in tune; we're talking half to whole frequencies here

For example:

Sinewave at 55Hz as your extra 'bass'
Bass guitar being a 'real instrument' might be say between 54.2hz or 55.8Hz due to the actual pitch hit by the fingers on the fret board not being in exactly the right place for pure tones.

Ok now the phase cancellation part.... when you get the 55Hz Sine wave starting form zero and cresting upwards, while your guitar bass is cresting downwards, the bass could cancel out. Ok now if you have both sine and bass guitar cresting upwards but the bass guitar is say 55.2hz against the 55Hz sine, as they both play from 'zero' point they're in phase but start to drift away from each other and if the notes are long enough you might get to the point where the bass math 'cancels out' (+1 bass guitar signal & -1 sine signal = 0 = phase cancellation)

What we advised is do a parallel channel for the track you want to add more bass to, and low pass filter it, then using the faders on the SSL you can add inphase bass to the original part, without ever worrying about phase cancellation.

the only time where adding a sine may help add bass can be with synthesizers which are 100% in tune, but you do have to be sure that both sounds (sine and synth) crest in the same direction, and are in sync to hear (and see) the benefits

We'll do a tutorial on this too, got a list of 3 to do now

Wow... Sounds complicated. I add a sine normaly only within a synth and if it sounds good, it sounds good. The frequency around 50hz is mostly reserved for kick except i want some bass only or maje the woofer sound a vit rythmik. In nirmal casess i have a HP in that region for my base or a dynamic EQ with side chain, becauss it starts quickly sound muddy.

[avasopht]

You can go further with 2 subharmonics (so the first an octave below, and then the second at -19 semitones and -2 cents). I think it's used in some of the Korg Triton workstation sounds to give it that rich texture.

[LABONERECORDINGS]

Wow... Sounds complicated. I add a sine normaly only within a synth and if it sounds good, it sounds good. The frequency around 50hz is mostly reserved for kick except i want some bass only or make the woofer sound a bit rythmik. In normal cases i have a HP in that region for my base or a dynamic EQ with side chain, because it starts quickly sound muddy.

Agreed with a synth it can work no problem, but with sampled sounds such as a guitar you might hit these problems if not tuned - that's why harmonic effects are made for such cases (the sound is analysed better and can be driven in tune to prevent the potential phase problems using a tuned sine against an approximate matching frequency instrument) - if one octave down yeah it can sound ok too, but if it has a tiniest bit of warming up (subtle distortion) then the low end sine can create 'overtones' which can then translate over more speaker types, and when heard the ear is 'fooled' and the brain puts the bass in (not strong, but gives a nod in that direction) - ie mobile phone loudspeakers (play a low sine and you wont get much output, but play a low sine with a parallel channel with a touch of warming up, you should be able to hear the low end better even though the spekaer can't play the true lowest frequency).

Also you mention 50Hz is your kick and so dynamic eqing (ala de-essing style but lower frequency) on the bass part can work well when the kick and bass plays together - both are fighting for the space at tha tone moment in time, so you may get 'double 50Hz' when the kick and bass play, but you're right with dyn.EQ and sidechain

Sounds more like a live sound you're working with, since your bass is higher than your kicks. EDM can be a bit more of a funny beast, where House music has the kick as the the low end bass driver, while Drum'n'Bass has kicks around the 100Hz, and the subbass driver being 40-55Hz (E/F/F#/G/G#/A notes to get that low end rumbling and carry across as many speaker types as possible, and definitely in a club)

Ahhh TFI Friday

[LABONERECORDINGS]

Was thinking about the under-sine again.... and if your sound does not have low sub signal (anything below say 100Hz), then layering a sinewave underneath can help because you're adding in an extra harmonic that was not there before. If however you do have low sub signals in your sound, then parallel channel the signal and LPF the parallel to have a flexibly controlled bass-addition signal which you can balance with the original - sort of like high detailed eqing (without actually EQing, sort of similar to shelfing but you're not really warping the signal that much due to the filter use)

[DoubleStop]

Ahhh! Why is this question still being tortured to death!!! If you want to make every thing "louder" MAKE ROOM!!!!! There is a finite amount of sonic space to fill! Every sound is nothing without the other elements it contrasts with. Create some dynamic space so there is some room to make something "louder".

Word.

[Majestik Monkey]

Input Gain Has a job to do ' Don't sack it ! it will always be you're friend , for instant BOOST