So Lately I’ve been starting every project in Logic with a gain plugin on the master channel set to +10db…I’ve found that writing like this helps me to stay way below the peaking volume of my DAW. I simply shave a little of volume off of every instrument track as I write my piece & at the end I can turn off or lover the volume on the gain plugin on the master channel leaving me with plenty of headroom to mix & master my track. Does anybody else do this or can you think of a reason why this might not be a good idea?
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It sounds like a solid method. I’m not 100% on the rules of mixing and mastering and the dB and LUFS and all that. I generally do the same thing as you but I just turn everything down a LOT and then turn my monitors/headphones up. Then mix it to peak at like -8 to -6 on the stereo out.
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Hi Gerald, I generally try to leave my physical volume knobs where they are so that when I bounce around to reference track I can get a solid idea of the similarities & differences between my material & theirs.
Not a bad idea. I tend to leave as it is and when the master starts clipping I select every track and lower them all at once. Pretty much the same trick but the other way around. Whatever works for you
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Sebastian, great to see you here. I really enjoy the music you’ve uploaded to your Youtube Channel!
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Many thanks. Trying my best 
What’s your channel?
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Yeah man, you’re doing great! I’m at Lonely Sea Productions. Have a great weekend Sebastian!
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Already subscribed when is your next post? Sure you have some good stuff waiting to be posted
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I’m working on a commercial right now so whenever the producers make up their minds as to which track to go with I’ll post. I pretty much only post work that I’ve been commissioned for. I should probably start a different page for bits, pieces, & demo’s…
Remember, almost all plugins you use were created with an input range, a specific one… so if you have your mixer levels very low, you may not be getting the best sound possible.
Also, if you go too slow in the faders, you loose resolution, so any small change is a big leap in decibels for that specific fader… less control.
Mixing is super easy, there is a lot of myth in it because lots of people try to get into it without the learning curve… so they don’t really learn. Also, the audio-engineers are very jealous of their Kraft (with due reason, they have worked their life out to really learn the facts).
I would recommend to stay out from Izotope Neutron as a fader volume helper… But do not stay away from it as a good plugin, also Ozone is great (is a must have, in my opinion. iZotope Ozone is great!)
Get good monitors (BASIC TO MIX, not necessary important, but VITAL important). I recommend to have at least 2 different pairs to A/B them; one for the small speakers (The MixCubes by Avantone) and the JBL MKii 3 Series 8". For me, those two can gab all the spectrum…
There is no magic pill… you have to learn to adjust the levels yourself; in a very close future, this will not be the case, AI software is taking over everything…
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Theres some useful info on LUFS levels etc online, generally they tend to be around the -13/-12 mark, each store has its LUFS level that it recommends, so if you are too much under or over their algorithm will compress your song a bit and you’ll lose quality.
There is a plugin on Logic for monitoring it and generally you’d put a limiter on when mastering at -0.1. Its always best to try and leave a little head room in the mix before you master i.e it should go much louder than -1 around there so you have playing room. -18 is the ideal listening volume for ears so when you do gain staging at the beginning around there is a good starting point .
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I’m sure you mean LUFS right? (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale).
Spotify is -14dB LUFS
Apple is -16dB LUFS
I am so extremely glad the loudness normalization has been implemented basically everywhere now so we get rid of the insane loudness wars. I am a huge fan of dynamics, and well preserved transients (limiters and high compression squash natural transients).
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haha yeh I did, not sure why I have DUBS in my head hahaha
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All great info guys. I’ve been using this site lately & ma masters seem to be within the acceptable ranges according to the Loudness Penalty Analyzer. Is anyone else here using this? Do you find it useful?
https://www.loudnesspenalty.com