I am having difficulties in the final stages on making a song, and I hope someone can share some tips.
My song sounds exactly as I want it, with all the parts at their correct volume in relations to each other.
The problem is, Renoise shows the clipping led on in some patterns - this is probably when all the drums come together at the peaks of the track.
Now, if I turn the master volume down, or let Renoise do it automatically, the output of the final song is way too low - so I know I need to do something else.
The only something else I can think of, is reduce the volume of some of my drums, but then they sound too low during most of the song.
Does someone have any tips as to how to approach this?
I have read a thread here about Izotope Ozone, and I was wondering maybe this is what I need?
You might try compression on the master using 2:1 ratio, if that’s not enough try to compress the percussion tracks instead (4:1 or 5:1, don’t know the best ratio, this depends on the power) to implode the peaks or combine master-track & drumtrack compression.
Thanks, very helpful.
Now I need to study a little about the Compressor, to fully understand what each slider is doing (dont fully understand the Makeup yet)
Isnt there a shortcut key to turn off the clipping led? I know the ctrl-esc does that, but also stops the music.
My personal opinion is, when you’re really fine with the sound you have already, don’t mess with extra compression. Just turn on the soft clipping on the master channel and be done with it. You could also try the native Renoise Maximizer, which has two limiting presets included. If you have punchy music go for the fast one, for softer ambient or similar music choose the slow mode.
Regarding the clipping LED, there was a change made since version 1.9 (?), the LED will show clipping, even if you have the soft clipper enabled. You can savely ignore this then. It’s mainly displayed, so that one knows there might be something to fix, but the final rendering will have the soft clipper enabled and doesn’t clip.
Thanks! Didnt notice the extra “Mastering” box in the master track.
Will definitely give it a shot, the (bus) compression did some improvements, but I still think the output has a too low volume.
I am assuming that mastering a full CD may be a real pain, having to balance all the tracks so that they all sound at the same volume.
You can use the boost slider on the maximizer to make it louder again within a limited range (means it might be to much and not sounding good anymore).
Regarding the loudness of a full cd, i’d recommend getting an analyzer, which can show you the average RMS of your song, like the free RMS buddy. Put it on the master channel after all your effects and then choose a busy part of your song and play it for a while. It will now give you an average readout. I’m personally targeting roughly -10db to -11db average RMS. If you match this value in your other songs too, you’ll have a consistent volume perception.
These were some excellent tips.
Downloaded RMS buddy, applied Maximizer with the Master Limit Fast preset, increased boost a little until I reached -11 on buddy, and just in case, checked the Soft Clipping on the master.
Sounds like this will do the trick.
Thank you both for the help, I am smarter now than I was this morning thanks to you.