Discuss the various methods you use in music production, from compressor settings to equipment type.
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By Champloo Sun Nov 24, 2013 6:10 am
i have a beat that i tracked out and i have it running in Fl Studio...with no effects on my Master Track, but i have 2 sends (1 Reverb) and (2 Distortion) both set at 100%.

i have added individual amounts of reverb and distortion to each of my tracks within my beat and here are my Master Volumes after I export:

Send/Insert Effects turned ON: (-3.3)

Send/Insert Effects turned OFF: (-6.3)

i don't have limiters or compressors on any of my tracks at all

Do these volumes seem ok or do i need to study some more? :hmmm:
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By damien907 Mon Nov 25, 2013 11:52 am
3.3 db of headroom at the peaks is pretty good imo. a mastering engineer can def work with that.

does your mix still sound good with the fx added? or is those instruments quite a bit louder? if your mix still sounds good, your probably fine. as long as its not peaking to 0.0 on anything your probably good.
it can be good practice is to get your levels dry first, then add your fx and eq compression ect, then sometimes you have to "re do" your levels because the fx added more volume than without them. so going back and dropping all your faders back down might be what you want to do.

if you really like the sound of your mix and its just a track or two thats too loud now, you could also highlight each audio track and drop everything down a tiny bit until the peaking is at a more reasonable level. imo -3.3 db is fine.
generally you want to leave some headroom for the mastering engineer, but i would think that anywhere from -6 to -3.3 db of headroom at the peaks is enough to work with.

you are doing it right by making your reverb on an aux tracks and making it 100% wet, then and sending to them via busses on your regular tracks though. for the most part, compression and eq always go on inserts, and reverb and delays always go on auxes. i suppose something like distortion could go on either, ill have to try that out myself someitme, as i have only thought to put them on inserts before, but that seems like a better idea.

the bottom line is as long as your not peaking your track, or getting really close to peaking it throughout the whole mix, your probably pretty good.