Mastering Tips

Getting Your Track Loud


There are a few ways to increase the overall volume or percieved volume of a track.
Simply putting a maximiser on the master output is not going to cut it. This will only result in a sound that has no dynamics and is un-naturally squashed.

First have a check round your tune and try to see which elements are pushing it into the red.
Bass will eat up the headroom very quickly so think about shelving elements that you do not need so much low end in.
The elements that you decide to keep low end in will then need to be controlled to prevent them from eating up all your headroom. These will initially include the kick drum and bassline.
Try putting a limiter on the bassline to keep it under control.

Sounds with sharp attack points will push the level high for very short periods as well so you could compress / limit individual parts to prevent this. Some sounds naturally have very high peaks when they are first triggered, check to see if you need this effect as it will push the level a lot higher than the percieved volume level of the noise.

Try grouping the drums together and putting them through a compressor / limiter to, again prevent them jumping out radically. This will also help prevent an unwanted overall squashed sound that you can get by overdoing the maximiser on the master output.

You may have seen the idea already, compression and limiting!!
This is the key to getting a track nice and loud before the master output. Even if the track then sits under the maximum, you can then use a limiter / maximiser to get the level back up to zero but this time with loads more volume and punch.