How to use a Loudness Meter properly?

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Punchinello
Posts: 44
Joined: 05 Jan 2018
Location: Berlin

14 Jan 2019

Hi all! :)

I got myself the Flower Loudness Meter but I have not found a proper tutorial yet.
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For example:

Do I put the Loudness Meter onto every track or only onto the Master Suite?
Honestly, I have not figured out yet how to get the proper loudness for the kickdrum, bass, lead, etc...
If I put the Loudness Meter only onto the Master, how do I know what track is loud enough and what track is not?

I suck at mixing so thanks for all the help! :D

Cheers, Chris
"Music is a Place to take Refuge. It's a Sanctuary from Mediocrity and Boredom. It's Innocent and it's a Place you can loose yourself in Thoughts, Memories and Intricacies." - Lisa Gerrard

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guitfnky
Posts: 4408
Joined: 19 Jan 2015

14 Jan 2019

loudness meters are typically only used at the end of the process on your main mix buss to make sure your signal isn’t peaking/distorting on the outputs. the Flower meter also lets you check some other stuff like the average difference in volume between the peaks and the quieter parts. in Reason, you don’t need to worry about clipping on individual tracks—as long as you’re not clipping when you export the audio, you should be fine.

that said, you shouldn’t be using a loudness meter to determine relative track levels (e.g. how loud your kick should be, relative to your bass, etc.). those are mix decisions, which are just that; decisions. use your ears to see what sounds right to you. listen to other artists you admire or whos sound you’d like to emulate, and try to base your levels off of that.
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Punchinello
Posts: 44
Joined: 05 Jan 2018
Location: Berlin

14 Jan 2019

Okay, thanks! I thought that there is something of a guideline how loud an instrument should be be...
"Music is a Place to take Refuge. It's a Sanctuary from Mediocrity and Boredom. It's Innocent and it's a Place you can loose yourself in Thoughts, Memories and Intricacies." - Lisa Gerrard

PhillipOrdonez
Posts: 3732
Joined: 20 Oct 2017
Location: Norway
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14 Jan 2019

Punchinello wrote:
14 Jan 2019
Okay, thanks! I thought that there is something of a guideline how loud an instrument should be be...
No such thing exists and that is a good thing. Only ears and taste should determine how loud something is relative to the other instruments. If you lack good monitoring, something like tonal balance control does something similar in the context of the mix (would be placed last is the chain, much like a loudness meter)

A loudness meter comes in handy at the final stages of a production, and as a visual guideline for making sure things remain under the 0db true peak along the way

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