Hi everyone: I've been avidly working on putting out my own album, and everything seemed to be be going fairly well. When mastering one of my tunes I am noticing that when I have a solo instrument i.e Organ, it seems to be quashing the other instruments when it is at full tilt. Sounds to me like maybe a compression problem. The organ is an internal midi patch. the same thing is also happening from an external audio source. My trombone solo also quashes the other instruments. Anyone have any ideas on this subject. I'm using all logic plug-ins. inc - Multipressor,ad limiter. Thanks Graham

[quote=bonehead]Sounds to me like maybe a compression problem.[/quote] Exacto. When using heavy compression/limiting, the loudest signal triggers the comp/limiter pushing everything else down in the mix.

Definitely sounds like a compression problem. What settings are you using on the Multipressor and Adaptive Limiter. Maybe try back off on the compression setting and see if this helps. Multiband compression can be a real tricky process to work with. When you get it right it does wonders for your track, but when you get it wrong it can completely ruin the dynamics. Bypass the Multipressor and see if it still happens with just the Adaptive Limiter. If it doesn't then you know the problem lies with the multipressor and the settings you're using. If the squashing still happens with the Adaptive Limiter then you have too much of an extreme limiter setting on it. Try back off on the Threshold. Another thing to try is too use the standard Compressor (single-band) as opposed to the Multipressor. Use a low ratio with longer attack and release times. Bring the Threshold down till there is a slightly bit of gain reduction, then bring up the gain a slight bit as well to compensate for the gain reduction. I have found that sometimes I get a better result using the Compressor than the Multipressor when mastering my material. It all depends on what you're going for and how well your track was mixed before you started mastering it. Take a look at some of our mastering articles here for further tips and advice: [url]http://www.macprovideo.com/hub/category/Mastering[/url]

Thanks. I took the Multipressor off and it did remove the problem. I took the compression down when reintroducing the Multipressor back into the mix. I was thinking that I may not be starting with high enough levels from the original mix as I am trying to be aware of clipping. I also get a kind of distortion (although not a clipping distortion) in some of my masters. The ad limiter doesn't Seem to be set to high. I turn the gain up so that I have around a 6db fluctuation from -6db to -0.1. It is a jazz album, so I don,t want to squish it too much, but am still looking for a decent volume level. Thanks for your input Any ideas on how to get to optimal pre mastered mix volume levels. Graham.

[url=http://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/468170-loudness-when-producing-mixing-tips.html]Loudness when Producing and Mixing [Tips][/url] [url=http://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/488734-guide-levels-digital-audio.html]Guide to Levels in Digital Audio[/url] [url=http://www.gearslutz.com/board/mastering-forum/420876-mixdown-mastering-tips-pdf.html]Mixdown for Mastering Tips (PDF)[/url]

Are you adding the mastering on your mix project, or are you bouncing out your mix and pulling the mix into a new project? I wouldn't recommend adding the mastering plugins to the master track in your mix project. Do this: In your mix make sure no mastering plugins are on your master track. Check where your volume is sitting on the master track. Start raising the volume till it sits closer to the 0dB region, but make sure their iid still some headroom of say 3-4dB. Bounce this track out. Now start a new Logic project and import the bounced track into this project. Take a look at the waveform and make sure there is no clipping in the waveform. Then start adding the Multipressor and Adaptive Limiter to the master track in this project. See if this works. For the Adaptive Limiter leave the Input Scale set to 0dB. Drop the Out Celing to -0.3dB. And Now raise the Gain to increase the overall volume of the mix Hope this helps.

Hi Gary: I have been adding the mastering on the the same mix projects. I will definitely try bouncing out the mix and importing the track into a new project, and then adding the mastering. I also want to thank redlogic, for the input and very useful links. Cheers Graham

Pleasure. Good luck with the mastering!

Thanks for the the useful advice, on mastering my album. I took your input and bounced the tracks down and placed them in a seperate logic file before mastering. I used only the logic plug ins for mastering the album, and it seemed to come out quite nicely. I just published my album "Quintessence" today. It should be up on itunes by end of the month Exciting stuff! Cheers! Graham Berry

Great stuff! Thanks for letting us know. Good luck with the album!