So I’ve managed to get my mix to -11 LUFS after console, tape and the limiter. The thing is in order to do that I’m now at 0dB of headroom on my mix buss. Is that ok or do I need more headroom? If I need more headroom, could someone please explain how to accomplish this? Thanks
Hey
You typically want to have -3 to -6 db headroom going in to the limiter. You can adjust the headroom you will have after the limiter with the output ceiling of the limiter. Usually you want to set the the ceiling of your limiter to -0.3 db and then start adjusting the limiting with the threshold and other parameters…
You dont need more headroom than -0.3db after the limiter but when you bounce the stems to be mastered you need to turn off the limiter and check that after the that you have some headroom around -3 to -6 db.
(You check your mix with the limiter on and then bounce the stems to be mastered with the limiter off. )
This is not all-encompassing answer but just a guideline
I think you can find this information in the mmw mixing cookbook that you get with the courses
Hope that makes sense
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Thanks so much for the detailed answer @Timo! That helped alot
You’re welcome Luke!
Maybe you could help me out with another problem I’m having with my current mix. In the beginning of the song the vox come in for a half a bar then the beat drops. When the beat drops, Pro L pushes down the vocals… So I tried slowing the attack which helped, but this creates distortion. Pro Lis giving only -5dB of gain reduction so it’s not like i"m crushing it crazy hard or anything. It’s mainly the kick that is being reduced so maybe the kick is too loud?
It does sound like it. If one thing comes in and ‘destroys’ the rest, then it is the first place to start. If you lower the kick and it then disappears, check the compression on that channel but also the sidechaining of the other channels. Get them out of the way so the kick doesn’t have to be ‘louder’ to be heard.
Kicks can be very hard to get right so they have the power, cut through the mix, but then don’t kill everything else at the limiter or start to distort when you push them.
On a general note, I try not to have the mixbuss limiter doing all the work. Getting good compression/limiting going on each channel means the limiter on the mix buss isn’t massively changing the sound, just ‘exaggerating’ the detail. Although the limiter is making the mix ‘louder’, I don’t think you should see massive differences in the short term lufs with the limter on or off. Every (plugin) thing in moderation!
Hey Luke
It is really hard to answer that question without seeing and hearing the project.
The best thing to do is to be part of the courses and/or the monday pro membership classes where you can send your track to be analysed by Danny and others!
I can highly recommend both as graduate student!
Also ask about the courses and mondays in the chat…
Cheers
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What I ended up doing what raising the levels of everything else in the mix and played around with the attack and release setting. There is no more pumping effect when the kick comes in and the kick is still very loud. So I guess that did the trick! @Elton
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Great idea @timo. Think I will start doing that.
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I can vouch for that too Luke. My mixes now are completely different as a result of doing the course. I would also say start right at mixing foundations. Although it isn’t where you learn the real clever stuff, without this foundation (no pun intended), you can’t make the most of the clever stuff. Not sure what it was like for others, but for me every lesson was a new lightbulb moment. I had already done a load of tutorials etc. before the course so I wasn’t sure if I needed it. Glad I did it though.
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Thanks @Elton. I’m currently enrolled in both foundations and next level mixing 1 and 2. I’ve learned ALOT
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