Making a live recorded set louder

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Making a live recorded set louder
Posted on: 20.09.2010 by Hang Natelli
Hello all,

I just got through recording a live set. Levels are pretty consistent the entire way through, but when loading it into Ableton, I can see there is some room for volume boost.

My question is: Is it advisable to boost the gain of the entire set to fill the empty space before it starts to clip?

-PL>Y
Carli Halsall
30.09.2010
Originally Posted by PRESSPL>Y
Sander, thank you so much! I can't say enough how much I appreciate this! Let me know ever if I can return the favour in any way.

If you'll PM me back, give me your full name, or DJ name, so I can include you in the credits for your mastering work.

P.S. what did you believe of the set?

-PL>Y
no problem mate, helping eachother is the best way to learn DJ name is no secret, same as my username: Sander Bongertman

I really like the tunes, I will listen again carefully to look at mixing techniques and stuff so I can give you some helpful feedback instead of 'nice'
Hang Natelli
30.09.2010
Originally Posted by Sanderbongertman
A PM with the download link of the mastered file should be there in 10 minutes, the file is uploading now.

What I did is first use a neutral compressor to tame the absolute highest peaks. Those peaks are usually created when mixing tracks and also applying reverb, delay etc. The key is to only let the compressor work really lightly when there is a big peak. 98% of the time it should be letting everything through without any processing.

After that I put a waves SSL compressor on it. Slightly lowered the threshold so it doesn't change the audio too much, with a low ratio as well. This makes the levels of the whole set more equal and this particular compressor gives the whole set a really nice punch. Again, make sure the compressor doesn't affect the audio too much so you don't lose all the dynamics.

And finally I used a waves L2 maximizer to boost the volume to around -6 dB RMS.

Here it wasn't necessary, but some people tend to fiddle with the EQ's too much when mixing which can lead to the whole set having too much low-end or high-end frequencies. You can apply an equalizer to fix this but when making cuts always use a wide band so it's not so apparent.
Sander, thank you so much! I can't say enough how much I appreciate this! Let me know ever if I can return the favour in any way.

If you'll PM me back, give me your full name, or DJ name, so I can include you in the credits for your mastering work.

P.S. what did you believe of the set?

-PL>Y
Hang Natelli
29.09.2010
Originally Posted by Sanderbongertman
Hey,

Sorry I've been really busy. Had to finish and master 6 EP's so couldn't find a window of time. I'll get to it tomorrow if you don't mind
Of course not! I totally appreciate it! I'm sure I'll be able to return the favour one of these days.

You gotta let me know what you did so I can try it out with my next one!

-PL>Y
Carli Halsall
20.09.2010
Originally Posted by PRESSPL>Y
Hey Sander, sorry I stepped out for dinner.

I'm going to upload it to soundcloud now and I'll PM it to you.

I really appreciate this!

-PL>Y
no problem mate waiting for the PM!
Hang Natelli
20.09.2010
Originally Posted by Sanderbongertman
Very important point! It's better to use a device like a loudness maximizer which doesn't really distort when you hit peaks. Also be careful of not over-doing it because tunes you play in a set are already mastered and compressed. I have some free time on my hands now. If you want send me the set and i'll master it for you
Hey Sander, sorry I stepped out for dinner.

I'm going to upload it to soundcloud now and I'll PM it to you.

I really appreciate this!

-PL>Y
Carli Halsall
20.09.2010
Originally Posted by PRESSPL>Y
Hello all,

I just got through recording a live set. Levels are pretty consistent the entire way through, but when loading it into Ableton, I can see there is some room for volume boost.

My question is: Is it advisable to boost the gain of the entire set to fill the empty space before it starts to clip ?

-PL>Y
Very important point! It's better to use a device like a loudness maximizer which doesn't really distort when you hit peaks. Also be careful of not over-doing it because tunes you play in a set are already mastered and compressed. I have some free time on my hands now. If you want send me the set and i'll master it for you
Hang Natelli
20.09.2010		Hello all,

I just got through recording a live set. Levels are pretty consistent the entire way through, but when loading it into Ableton, I can see there is some room for volume boost.

My question is: Is it advisable to boost the gain of the entire set to fill the empty space before it starts to clip?

-PL>Y
Tressa Schemenauer
01.10.2010		The compressor is good for this... I just had a live set where the booth didn't have monitors.. so the signal was heavily processed... which resulted in eq and volume changes being recorded substantially different then what the main PA w/ processing produced.

I don't normally mess w/ my live sets as I feel its cheating.. but in this case I rationalized my way into processing the mix a bit to reproduce what the live set actually sounded like... here's what I did in Ableton master bus:

1. Applied a standard compressor and set it to be a leveling amplifier: Mid threshold, Mid Attack, Mid Release... set to RMS.. apply gain compensation and boost output just until the the track peaks into the red. The gain reduction indicator should almost always be indicating some activity throughout your mix.

2. Apply a limiting compressor after the leveling amplifier in the chain. (standard preset right out of the Ableton browser) Its important not to smash the input our output here (hard limiting) otherwise you'll reduce your dynamics and an hour long mix will get boring. The gain reduction indicator should not be continually lit.. if it is, reduce the output on the leveling compressor.. The limiting compressor should just work on the peaks.

3. Adjust the settings so that the musical dynamics aren't reduced, but the overall volume is evened out at -0.5db to 0db

This evened out differences in volume and weird EQing... and generally produced what I heard in the club. I was careful not to overdue it to the point where my mistakes would have been masked, but that's just a matter of personal preference.

Hope it helps.
Carli Halsall
30.09.2010
Originally Posted by PRESSPL>Y
Sander, thank you so much! I can't say enough how much I appreciate this! Let me know ever if I can return the favour in any way.

If you'll PM me back, give me your full name, or DJ name, so I can include you in the credits for your mastering work.

P.S. what did you believe of the set?

-PL>Y
no problem mate, helping eachother is the best way to learn DJ name is no secret, same as my username: Sander Bongertman

I really like the tunes, I will listen again carefully to look at mixing techniques and stuff so I can give you some helpful feedback instead of 'nice'
Hang Natelli
30.09.2010
Originally Posted by Sanderbongertman
A PM with the download link of the mastered file should be there in 10 minutes, the file is uploading now.

What I did is first use a neutral compressor to tame the absolute highest peaks. Those peaks are usually created when mixing tracks and also applying reverb, delay etc. The key is to only let the compressor work really lightly when there is a big peak. 98% of the time it should be letting everything through without any processing.

After that I put a waves SSL compressor on it. Slightly lowered the threshold so it doesn't change the audio too much, with a low ratio as well. This makes the levels of the whole set more equal and this particular compressor gives the whole set a really nice punch. Again, make sure the compressor doesn't affect the audio too much so you don't lose all the dynamics.

And finally I used a waves L2 maximizer to boost the volume to around -6 dB RMS.

Here it wasn't necessary, but some people tend to fiddle with the EQ's too much when mixing which can lead to the whole set having too much low-end or high-end frequencies. You can apply an equalizer to fix this but when making cuts always use a wide band so it's not so apparent.
Sander, thank you so much! I can't say enough how much I appreciate this! Let me know ever if I can return the favour in any way.

If you'll PM me back, give me your full name, or DJ name, so I can include you in the credits for your mastering work.

P.S. what did you believe of the set?

-PL>Y
Carli Halsall
29.09.2010		A PM with the download link of the mastered file should be there in 10 minutes, the file is uploading now.

What I did is first use a neutral compressor to tame the absolute highest peaks. Those peaks are usually created when mixing tracks and also applying reverb, delay etc. The key is to only let the compressor work really lightly when there is a big peak. 98% of the time it should be letting everything through without any processing.

After that I put a waves SSL compressor on it. Slightly lowered the threshold so it doesn't change the audio too much, with a low ratio as well. This makes the levels of the whole set more equal and this particular compressor gives the whole set a really nice punch. Again, make sure the compressor doesn't affect the audio too much so you don't lose all the dynamics.

And finally I used a waves L2 maximizer to boost the volume to around -6 dB RMS.

Here it wasn't necessary, but some people tend to fiddle with the EQ's too much when mixing which can lead to the whole set having too much low-end or high-end frequencies. You can apply an equalizer to fix this but when making cuts always use a wide band so it's not so apparent.
Hang Natelli
29.09.2010
Originally Posted by Sanderbongertman
Hey,

Sorry I've been really busy. Had to finish and master 6 EP's so couldn't find a window of time. I'll get to it tomorrow if you don't mind
Of course not! I totally appreciate it! I'm sure I'll be able to return the favour one of these days.

You gotta let me know what you did so I can try it out with my next one!

-PL>Y
Latoria Kavulich
29.09.2010		Yes use a hard limiter mate. Thats pretty much all i do when i edit our mixes. I go with a limit of -1 db and set the boost to around 6 db depending on the recording level. I use audition but i believe audacity has some simuilar fearures built in.
Marcel Ei Gio
29.09.2010		the key is to bring it up a bit, but still keep it so that there is still dynamics in the volume. no one likes a set that has no dynamics. i find that if you record it properly, you almost dont need to edit it.
Carli Halsall
28.09.2010		Hey,

Sorry I've been really busy. Had to finish and master 6 EP's so couldn't find a window of time. I'll get to it tomorrow if you don't mind
Hang Natelli
28.09.2010		Hi All,

So incase Sander doesn't come through, can anyone recommend me the appropriate action to take in Ableton? Maybe recommend a good sound-increasing device?

Or can I just simple turn of the db in the warp section?

-PL>Y
Hang Natelli
28.09.2010		Hey Sander, have you had a chance to download and listen?
Carli Halsall
20.09.2010
Originally Posted by PRESSPL>Y
Hey Sander, sorry I stepped out for dinner.

I'm going to upload it to soundcloud now and I'll PM it to you.

I really appreciate this!

-PL>Y
no problem mate waiting for the PM!
Hang Natelli
20.09.2010
Originally Posted by Sanderbongertman
Very important point! It's better to use a device like a loudness maximizer which doesn't really distort when you hit peaks. Also be careful of not over-doing it because tunes you play in a set are already mastered and compressed. I have some free time on my hands now. If you want send me the set and i'll master it for you
Hey Sander, sorry I stepped out for dinner.

I'm going to upload it to soundcloud now and I'll PM it to you.

I really appreciate this!

-PL>Y
Arline Gruel
20.09.2010		maybe try hard limit of .01 or something to that effect
Carli Halsall
20.09.2010
Originally Posted by PRESSPL>Y
Hello all,

I just got through recording a live set. Levels are pretty consistent the entire way through, but when loading it into Ableton, I can see there is some room for volume boost.

My question is: Is it advisable to boost the gain of the entire set to fill the empty space before it starts to clip ?

-PL>Y
Very important point! It's better to use a device like a loudness maximizer which doesn't really distort when you hit peaks. Also be careful of not over-doing it because tunes you play in a set are already mastered and compressed. I have some free time on my hands now. If you want send me the set and i'll master it for you

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