Cubase LE 4 audio mixdown

[Electriclight]

Right,

The kick is triggering the compressor which then knocks down everything. Try putting a compressor on the offending kick track. Or try a multiband compressor.

[brn_mcnulty908]

ok. Ill try both. any suggestions for mac compatible multi band compressors then?

[Electriclight]

VST plugins [slim slow slider presents]

slim slow slider c3 multiband compressor

[AKR]

This compression talk is confusing me. Why would a "hot," uncompressed audio track make cubase mix it down quieter?

Regardless, I have the same issue when mixing down ANYthing - be it audio or midi. For me, it has nothing to do with it being a "hot" track. I can take any midi track with the volume set at any level, and the audio track it is converted to is ALWAYS quieter. I compensate by cranking the midi tracks high as hell before exporting them, but I don't have that luxury with audio. This makes absolutely no sense to me.

Originally Posted by brn_mcnulty908

ok so everything is going swimmingly. I have run into another issue, though. when I compress the master to make it louder, this funny effect occurs where kick drum hits (the kick stands out in the mix - not too much, though), for lack of a better word, "dent" the volume level of the guitar and bass tracks. In other words, the guitar and bass are louder when the kick drum is not being hit. I muted everything except for the kick, guitar, and bass to make sure my suspicions were correct, and indeed they were. I know this is a result of using the compressor on the master bus (I'm using the compressor on the "VSTdynamics" plugin that comes with LE4) because when I take the compressor off it stops happening.

Go here and search their database. You can search for just mac VST's.

kvraudio.com

[Electriclight]

Originally Posted by AKR

This compression talk is confusing me. Why would a "hot," uncompressed audio track make cubase mix it down quieter?

I'm not sure exactly what you are referring to, but an uncompressed waveform must not exceed 0dB to avoid clipping. So if you have one large spike somewhere, that is the limit you can go, and all the rest of the tracks will be very low volume. A limiter or compressor will lower those peaks, so then you can raise the overall level of the entire track.

Cubase won't mix down higher or lower than what you feed it. Period.

[brn_mcnulty908]

Originally Posted by Electriclight

Cubase won't mix down higher or lower than what you feed it. Period.

thank you for helping me out with this. that's what I thought it was at first. just lack of experience/knowledge. I understand that now.

[AKR]

Originally Posted by Electriclight

I'm not sure exactly what you are referring to, but an uncompressed waveform must not exceed 0dB to avoid clipping. So if you have one large spike somewhere, that is the limit you can go, and all the rest of the tracks will be very low volume. A limiter or compressor will lower those peaks, so then you can raise the overall level of the entire track.

Cubase won't mix down higher or lower than what you feed it. Period.

Ok, so however much it has to drop the volume to get that spike to 0, it has to drop everything else the same amount. That makes sense now. Thanks. This actually was my problem, even for the midi tracks. Damn, now I have to go back and check all of my tracks, but at least I know what's going on.

[tacman7]

If your tracks are too hot you can lower the master bus instead of going back and doing individual tracks.

[Renegade Studios]

2 compressors I like to use on the master channel are Waves L3 Maximixer and the Sonnex Limiter/expander... ( not together, depending on the track needs) on insert 7 and uv-22 (dither) on insert 8... just aslong as everything in the mix is right it helps push me over the top...

Not cheap plugins but worth every penny... They help me to be a competitor in the loudness war that's raging...

[AKR]

Originally Posted by Renegade Studios

2 compressors I like to use on the master channel are Waves L3 Maximixer and the Sonnex Limiter/expander... ( not together, depending on the track needs) on insert 7 and uv-22 (dither) on insert 8... just aslong as everything in the mix is right it helps push me over the top...

Not cheap plugins but worth every penny... They help me to be a competitor in the loudness war that's raging...

Ouch. BRB, selling a kidney!