LMMS • Forums

How bad is it, if one track is constantly in the red area ?
I would like to turn up the volume of this choir track, even more.

Does this mean this track is over-steered ?

What confuses me, is one track. Its a choir track. Its constantly in the red, but I don't hear distortion.
The master channel, is not in the red, or at least not as extreme.

The master channel is the important one. Keep it (constantly) below red levels to prevent clipping, over-steering, etc. Other channels are allowed to hit red levels, but it's best to listen to each channel individually just to test and check if it sounds what you are aiming for. If it does, it's good, even when it's red.

Not ideal. If you really want that one track to stand out more in the mix just turn the other tracks down a bit. Then you can turn the master up to get back the overall volume. Or at least that's how I do it...but that's using the LMMS FX mixer like a real studio mixer so there may be a better way .

Steve

Red is bad, period. If you are consistently hitting such high levels in the mixer, you need to work with more post gain (turn up computer volume, etc). Use spectrum analyzers to make sure that you aren't hitting over 0dB on your mixer channels or master, as that is where clipping occurs.

caLRo wrote:over-steering

I have never heard of this term used for anything over than driving. Care to elaborate?

caLRo wrote:The master channel is the important one. Keep it (constantly) below red levels to prevent clipping, over-steering, etc. Other channels are allowed to hit red levels, but it's best to listen to each channel individually just to test and check if it sounds what you are aiming for. If it does, it's good, even when it's red.

Thank you.

Stakeout Punch wrote:Red is bad, period. If you are consistently hitting such high levels in the mixer, you need to work with more post gain (turn up computer volume, etc). Use spectrum analyzers to make sure that you aren't hitting over 0dB on your mixer channels or master, as that is where clipping occurs.

caLRo wrote:over-steering

I have never heard of this term used for anything over than driving. Care to elaborate?

Over steering in sound happens, when you record too loud.

Its the same sound you get as when you turn up the volume in lmms too high.

slipstick wrote:Not ideal. If you really want that one track to stand out more in the mix just turn the other tracks down a bit. Then you can turn the master up to get back the overall volume. Or at least that's how I do it...but that's using the LMMS FX mixer like a real studio mixer so there may be a better way .

Steve

I already tried this, but will give it another go. The problem started because I do not have to turn down the volume a bit, but a lot on all other tracks.

Gps wrote:Over steering in sound happens, when you record too loud.

Its the same sound you get as when you turn up the volume in lmms too high.

That's just called clipping. Overloading a signal is sometimes referred to as overdriving. I have never heard over-steering actually used, and I work part time in a studio.

A proper mix will result in a balanced sound that doesn't clip. I say clip and not "red on LMMS's mixer" because the mixer's visuals are horribly inaccurate. Try it yourself! Place a hard limiter on the master channel, set it to 0dB, and blast some sound (that would otherwise clip). Notice where 0dB sits. However, it's still a good practice to avoid high levels (0dB, and honestly anything above -6dB) in your mixes. Mix quietly, mastering is what normalizes the track and brings the perceived loudness up.

A good method is to set each FX fader in use to 80%, then individually set each instrument/track to 0%. Start gradually turning individual tracks up in volume until it sounds balanced and the master channel doesn't peak over around -6dB. Use the FX mixer to fine tune levels and effects once you get the rough mix done. If you aren't familiar with mastering, a quick and dirty way is to load a limiter with a medium-high gain with the hard limit at -0.5dB or 0dB. I don't recommend that method, if you are familiar with limiters and compression feel free to go about it differently.

also, find out which part of the spectrum contribute most to the clipping. You can then try to use a EQ and precisely aiming to lower those part of the spectrum.
For that i can recommend blue-cat-spectrum-analyzer BUT
You may newer!!! leave it in your project, because it will freeze the project at re-open (as does ALL blue-cat plug-ins :/// a las)
It is however an awesome plug-in, with a load of super nice presets for sound visualization.

Stakeout Punch wrote:

Gps wrote:Over steering in sound happens, when you record too loud.

Its the same sound you get as when you turn up the volume in lmms too high.

That's just called clipping. Overloading a signal is sometimes referred to as overdriving. I have never heard over-steering actually used, and I work part time in a studio.

A proper mix will result in a balanced sound that doesn't clip. I say clip and not "red on LMMS's mixer" because the mixer's visuals are horribly inaccurate. Try it yourself! Place a hard limiter on the master channel, set it to 0dB, and blast some sound (that would otherwise clip). Notice where 0dB sits. However, it's still a good practice to avoid high levels (0dB, and honestly anything above -6dB) in your mixes. Mix quietly, mastering is what normalizes the track and brings the perceived loudness up.

A good method is to set each FX fader in use to 80%, then individually set each instrument/track to 0%. Start gradually turning individual tracks up in volume until it sounds balanced and the master channel doesn't peak over around -6dB. Use the FX mixer to fine tune levels and effects once you get the rough mix done. If you aren't familiar with mastering, a quick and dirty way is to load a limiter with a medium-high gain with the hard limit at -0.5dB or 0dB. I don't recommend that method, if you are familiar with limiters and compression feel free to go about it differently.

Thank you. About the words over steering, the problem is probably me translating a dutch word, and some of my native English speaking friends, claiming its the right word. When I gooogled on over steering in sound, I got 0 hits, so you’re probably right.
I learned this word ( in dutch) back in the good ? old days when I recorded music to music cassettes.

I have problems like this a lot with technical terms. Most translation sites, ( Dutch to English) don't do technical terms.
At work we usual had two dictionaries, a standard dutch to English, and a technical dutch to English.

When I use the site TecDic it gives me, three options.
Overdrive, overload and ship.

That site is basically made by (dutch) technicians, and is not an official dictionary.