MPC X, MPC Live, MPC One & MPC Key 61 Forum: Support and discussion for the MPC X, MPC Live, MPC Live II, MPC One & MPC Key 61; Akai's current generation of standalone MPCs.
By whoiscgm Sat Oct 01, 2022 8:22 pm
I have a bunch of basic questions and I know they will sound ridiculous so I’m warning you and prepping you. Also anyone else who has an embarrassing question can ask here too.

First one- say you have an album you’re working on. You have several songs and mpc project files. But each project has a different recording volume. How do you get all the projects to be at the same volume? Like my mpc one has a recording volume knob but I don’t see a master volume for the mpc software.
By Rank31 Sun Oct 02, 2022 11:19 am
There is no stupid question. The forums are made for that.

As far as I know there is no way to tweak the volume of the projects outside the project itself. But maybe you could export your songs in mp3, compare their sound volume and come back to each one to tweak them. Use of compressors and/or limiters should speed up the process.
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By EnochLight Tue Oct 04, 2022 8:54 pm
whoiscgm wrote:First one- say you have an album you’re working on. You have several songs and mpc project files. But each project has a different recording volume. How do you get all the projects to be at the same volume? Like my mpc one has a recording volume knob but I don’t see a master volume for the mpc software.


You hire a proper recording/mastering engineer and have your album mixed and mastered by a professional. I mean, unless you're willing to teach yourself... :hmmm:
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By Neodymium Wed Oct 05, 2022 11:03 am
Quick and easy answer I think would be to normalise them. This is where you set the maximum level, say -12dB, and process the file to that level. If all the recordings have a similar dynamic rage, then this will put them at similar sounding levels. I don't use the MPC software, but I'm guessing it's in there, otherwise Audacity is free and does it. You don't want to normalise to 0dB if you are uploading to some kind of distributor.

Otherwise it's mastering, and which either you do, someone else does, or try AI like LANDR

For the future, work with reference tracks, that have a sound you like, and as you mix all your work to these, they should all come out in the same cricket field.
By Yerbalist Wed Oct 05, 2022 12:32 pm
Macro dynamics - each track has different purpouse in song, so has to be leveled out according to that in relation to whole mix. Try to think submixes in MPC when gain staging. So eg. main elements on the front 100% loud (thats NOT 0db, leave 6-3 db headroom), middle section about 75% and subtle details 50-30% loud. Keep your eye on bus meters in your projects, channel strip is a good starting point. Its same as in DAW, but I would reccomend keeping it simple by grouping sounds. I found good gain staging practice and thought out comp/limit/gate processing on layers detrimental, really glue together multiple projects if you follow certain rules of ballance in mix you impose for yourself. Takes time to figure out for sure, DAW is easier than MPC for this job. I believe you can apply (almost) everything of this in MPC if you get the hang of it, K.I.S.S method again. Good mastering done by someone with pair of fresh ears in is indeed important btw, but it all starts with a good mix. Reference, reference, reference...