Master volume of DAW rises with adding more layers to the track

[Master Mi]

So, I guess I'll have to work with those old fossils without touching the rusty levers. ;D

But just another question - just imagine you habe 2 layers in your track - both at volume 100 % (optimal loudness) - and at a certain point of the track a 3rd layer should lead into the mix (same volume/loudness).

How would you lower the volume of these 3 layers in this case - is there a special rule like 100% * 2/3 = 66,66 % of loudness for each layer to keep the loudness at the part the 3rd layer begins at 100 % without reaching clipping?

Or is it just less 10 % for each layer at this point where the 3rd layer leads in by the rule of thumb?

[timaeus222]

So, I guess I'll have to work with those old fossils without touching the rusty levers. ;D

But just another question - just imagine you habe 2 layers in your track - both at volume 100 % (optimal loudness) - and at a certain point of the track a 3rd layer should lead into the mix (same volume/loudness).

How would you lower the volume of these 3 layers in this case - is there a special rule like 100% * 2/3 = 66,66 % of loudness for each layer to keep the loudness at the part the 3rd layer begins at 100 % without reaching clipping?

Or is it just less 10 % for each layer at this point where the 3rd layer leads in by the rule of thumb?

It's too general to know for sure without a specific example. Try not to think too hard about it, because if it sounds good, then it sounds good. Again, if you don't want to clip, just find a better limiter. I suggested two of the best ones I could ever find or use.

[Frederic Petitpas]

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master

[Master Mi]

Just have found out that the limiter of my DAW works pretty well - maybe I forgot to stop and play the song again after activating the limiter the first time.

According to the screen in my Mastering Suite of my DAW it seems that the limiter can handle signals which are up to 15 dB over 0.

My remix starts with 4 Layers (Electric Bass, 2 Power Chord guitars, percussion) which should actually start at the highest possible volume.

Within the whole track there will lead in 2 further main layers (one after about 1/3 of the track and the other one after about 2/3 of the track) which make the master volume a bit higher (about 3 further dB for each further layer).

So, what should I do if I want to turn up the volume of this track (it's a rock/ metal track) everytime it plays right after (for example) an orchestral & peaceful track but blessed with a much more decent volume?

Shall I keep the starting master volume of the metal track really 6 dB below the 0 mark to end right about there at the points with the highest volume in the track?

Or does it make more sense in this case to begin the track at master volume level +/- 0 and leave the rest of the track (and higher volume levels during the rest of the track, so at least 6 further dB) to the limiter?

Or would you rather begin a bit below 0 try to keep the master volume at the same level during the whole track by lowering the volume of each layer for about 0,5 to 1 dB at the points where the additional layers lead into the track?

Edited July 25, 2014 by Master Mi

[Beatdrop]

Wow, 3 pages. There is literally nothing I can add to this subject that hasn't already been said. Good job, ya'll.

[timaeus222]

Just have found out that the limiter of my DAW works pretty well - maybe I forgot to stop and play the song again after activating the limiter the first time.

According to the screen in my Mastering Suite of my DAW it seems that the limiter can handle signals which are up to 15 dB over 0.

My remix starts with 4 Layers (Electric Bass, 2 Power Chord guitars, percussion) which should actually start at the highest possible volume.

Within the whole track there will lead in 2 further main layers (one after about 1/3 of the track and the other one after about 2/3 of the track) which make the master volume a bit higher (about 3 further dB for each further layer).

So, what should I do if I want to turn up the volume of this track (it's a rock/ metal track) everytime it plays right after (for example) an orchestral & peaceful track but blessed with a much more decent volume?

Shall I keep the starting master volume of the metal track really 6 dB below the 0 mark to end right about there at the points with the highest volume in the track?

Or does it make more sense in this case to begin the track at master volume level +/- 0 and leave the rest of the track (and higher volume levels during the rest of the track, so at least 6 further dB) to the limiter?

Or would you rather begin a bit below 0 try to keep the master volume at the same level during the whole track by lowering the volume of each layer for about 0,5 to 1 dB at the points where the additional layers lead into the track?

It's metal. Mix it as loudly as you can stand it, then turn it down a little. I almost always mix to 0 dB, so... yeah. But ask other people to tell you how loud they think it is before finalizing it if you're not comfortable with evaluating loudness. Not many people are, and in fact, I wasn't either for about 2 years of my DAW experiences.

You shouldn't always lower volumes of each layer temporarily, but sometimes it makes sense. I occasionally do that but not unless it's practical in the given context. If I think my EQ is all set and I don't want to thin things out with more cutting in the EQ, then I slightly lower the volume of the instrument temporarily. And by slightly, I mean literally 0.1~0.2dB at a time until I hear a difference, so it's so subtle that it's usually hard to tell unless you solo the track. I've been doing it subtly so it doesn't sound forced. So no, I wouldn't do it instinctively; consider what you're doing and whether it's actually necessary to do it before trying it, and make a lot of backup files.

Edited July 26, 2014 by timaeus222

[Moseph]

Automating levels on individual tracks or buses to even thing out over time is probably the way to go. Assuming the master fader is post-effects, you don't want to touch that, although overall level could be controlled somewhere else such as a bus before the master, or the output of a plugin on the master channel. The main thing to consider is whether changing the relative levels of sections interferes with the impact of the start of a new section -- and that's a decision that can only be made on a case-by-case basis.

As long as you have the headroom, it doesn't really make a difference whether you're reducing the level of the loud sections or increasing the level of the quiet sections -- the idea is just to balance them out in some way, and you can take care of getting everything back to the proper overall level using the limiter. If you've already set the limiter based on the loud sections, though, it's probably easiest to bring the level of quiet sections up rather than loud down, since that should let you leave the limiter as it is.

Edited July 26, 2014 by Moseph