All of the above! (Laz Mix!)

I have a Sound Click account. We'll see how it sounds on here.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=476208&content=songinfo&songID=11911393

I tried using the compression on the entire song and didn't like it as well as with out. I do however like those settings and may utilize them on specific tracks within my mixes. I'll let my eyes and ears be the guide as to where it is needed.

Laz, I was hoping you would expound on your compression strategies. I'm being really thick headed. I admit that and gosh darn it, I'm Oh-Kay! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
(obove edited for spelling and a lot of other offenses to the only language I speak.)

Seriously, if you have the time, I'd love to hear. It's over my head still.
I tried using the compression on the entire song and didn't like it as well as with out.
I wonder if it was a technique used only for track leveling and that entire mix adjustments would be a separate mastering process? That, my digital friend, is a wild guess and nothing more.

Basically, I process each track (or family: drums, harmonies) with not too much compression, using linear levelers where needed. I try to use the same family of reverbs for each track (drums as one stereo track), with similar parameters, so that it sounds like it's all from the same performance.

After final mix-down, where I've got all the levels balanced and it sounds good to me (don't add extra reverb here), then I apply an overall compression (as described above) so it sounds better online. This would be called "mastering" if I was a Master at it.

So yeah, I've tinkered a bit with Audacity, and I know what I like, but don't think of me as an expert. :shock:

Well, you know more about it than I do so it helps! :D

Well, you know more about it than I do so it helps! :D
Ditto.
That, and it does help to hear others' experiences, thoughts, tips, techniques, etc, etc.

Here is the mix Laz was kind enough to do for me. He did a nice job with it.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=476208&content=songinfo&songID=11912486

Here is the mix Laz was kind enough to do for me. He did a nice job with it.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=476208&content=songinfo&songID=11912486

That was fun. Here are my notes:

- Using Audacity 2.0. Each of the adjustments were made on the entire track - no regional tweaks.
- I didn't mess with the drum/bass track (this is the old one)
- Converted the guitar tracks to Mono, and then used the pan control for stereo
- Duplicated the vocal track and added reverb, then mixed them together. Note I used a "tighter" reverb, with a room size of 10m.
- Duplicated guitar1 track and added similar reverb.
- Added 6db of bass boost to the non-reverb guitar1 track. Now the two guitars don't sound so similar.
- Balanced and mixed down to stereo.
- Did my version of mastering, which is compression 3:1 (threshold -12db), hard limiter at -2db, amplify by 1.8db.

It took me about an hour, maybe 90-minutes.

FYI - your headphones were bleeding into your vocal mic. Not a problem this time,but it could cause trouble on a different song.

Now how do you deal with soundcloud crushing the audio stream? Oddly enough, the answer is add some compression to it yourself. Do another mix and apply the SC4 effect with the following settings changed from the defaults:

RMS/Peak: -10 Range is 0 to 1db.
Threshold: -20
Ratio: 3
Makeup Gain: 2db

What you do here is add some GENTLE, soft knee, compression to bring the peaks of the file down a smidge so that Soundcloud's limiter doesn't trigger. You won't notice it playing back the mp3, and Soundcloud won't smash the snot out of it when it's streamed."

I've been using the standard Compressor in Audacity to level out our practice recordings. I use the following settings:

Threshold: -12
Noise Floor: -40
Ratio: 3.0
Attack: 0.2s
Release: 2.0

Make up gain (check)
Compress on Peaks (no check - this causes pumping)

After that, I apply the Hard Limiter at -2db, and then Amplify by 1.8db to get the level up.

Moonrider: How do you compare the Compressor with SC-4?

Ah - note on the peak value for the SC4 that negative values must be entered manually. 0db is WAY to high for peak value unless you're using brick wall limiting, and even then you don't really want it much higher than -10db. Using a soft knee with a 0db peak will allow the track to clip.

SC4 allows you more control over the different parameters than the standard. It can be used to dramatic effect. Try abusing attack and release times, ratios and hard knee vs. soft knee on a drum track.

If you guys are REALLY serious about stepping up your mixing game, then I'd recommend you install Reaper. It's a very good tool that several top guys use on their mobile rigs. It's professional grade power at a hobbyist price. It's also free to use until your conscience makes you pay for it. Here's the link:

http://www.reaper.fm/

Also, Kenny Gioia has done an excellent tutorial series on getting the most out of Reaper.

If you guys are REALLY serious about stepping up your mixing game, then I'd recommend you install Reaper. It's a very good tool that several top guys use on their mobile rigs. It's professional grade power at a hobbyist price. It's also free to use until your conscience makes you pay for it. Here's the link:

http://www.reaper.fm/

Also, Kenny Gioia has done an excellent tutorial series on getting the most out of Reaper.

Joined the Reaper club about 4 years ago and finally bought the license a little over 2 years ago. I tried Cubase and Audacity before and Reaper is way more powerful than Audacity and way easier to work with and more intuitive than Cubase.

Reaper huh? I'll have to give it a shot. Heck, I think I have software that came with my little Peavey VYPYR that has Reaper included with it.