Hi Jan, I did some testing with normalization yesterday and it's not what I need. Normalization, it appears to me, is simply a destructive gain tool. I've always used compressors for gain stages but normalization is definitely cheaper on CPU cycles. I might experiment with normalizing the new masters. I tried normalizing one of the old masters and it didn't make much difference. I've a feeling it won't do anything with the new masters. I am placing a single band compressor in front of JAMin and using high cut filtering and these strategies are helping to minimize the amount of limiting. Because the job is so demanding, it's a great learning experience. I might actually be starting to enjoy this but don't tell anyone. :) ron --- Jan Depner <eviltwin69@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Ron, > > There's a command line tool out there called > normalize that you might > want to look at. It's on the Loads of Linux Links > page (that's easier > to search for). > > Jan > > On Sun, 2004-04-11 at 21:03, R Parker wrote: > > > > --- Mark Knecht <markknecht@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > On Sun, 2004-04-11 at 13:16, R Parker wrote: > > > > Hi, > > > > > Ron, > > > I'm not totally sure I'm in tune with the > exact > > > problem yet, but on > > > my end today I'm doing some first mixes of a Big > > > Band group I recorded > > > Thursday and last evening. 8 horns, drums, bass, > > > guitar and piano. > > > Probably not the same sort of music you're > working > > > on. (Strange music > > > for me too....jeez...I'm dancing close with a > sexy > > > brunette in 1940's > > > New York...) ;-) > > > > That sounds like a fun job. I don't work with live > > horn sections very often but man they are great. > > > > > My first step, which doesn't effect sound if > it's > > > done right, was to > > > simply normalize the tracks up a bit. (I told > the > > > normalizer to make the > > > highest peak -1db) > > > > I've never normalized a track. Can normalization > hold > > a -0.5db peak to -0.5 while it pushes a -12db > valley > > up to -6db? > > > > If normalization behaves that way, it can help > > "louden" a mix which would be appropriate for my > > situation. That combined with cutting dominant > > frequencies would give me the loudness I need. > > > > I'll read up on normalization tonight. Do we have > a > > LADSPA normalization plugin or are they > non-realtime > > tools? I imagine you must produce a new normalized > > file. Is that correct? > > > > Until this job, I've never really needed to get > every > > bit of available gain from a mix so normalization > has > > never meant anything to me. Someone on this list > tried > > to explain it to me once but I'm to old and > bullheaded > > to learn anything new. That is, until my rear end > is > > hanging in the air. > > > > > I'm no expert on compressors, but I think a > > > 4-band compressor is a > > > really place to start for what you want to do, > so > > > Jamin should be > > > helpful. My biggest recommendation would be to > > > compress as little as > > > possible. If I do too much it all sounds > unnatural. > > > In my case it's > > > really only the band below 100Hz that's > consistently > > > ranging down. The > > > other 3 are moving much less. > > > > With the job I'm doing compression and limiting > are > > probably alot more extreme than what you're doing. > > This is multitrack pop music. Reguardless, when I > > reach for the last bit of gain, I'm limiting to > damned > > hard. If normalization does what I hope then it > > combined with leveling the floor by cutting and > > compressing dominant frequencies might enable me > to > > achieve greater "loudness" without the super hard > > limiting. As I think about it, I'm not sure what > else > > normalization could be. > > > > Good stuff, thanks for the help, > > > > ron > > > > > > > > > > > --- Steve Harris > <S.W.Harris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > > wrote: > > > > > > On Sun, Apr 11, 2004 at 10:04:43 -0700, R > > > Parker > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > Not sure but I probably mentioned > something > > > > > about > > > > > > this > > > > > > > several months ago. Steve, do you have a > > > soft > > > > > clip > > > > > > > LADSPA plug? If yes, I think it should > be a > > > > > > candidate > > > > > > > for adding to the output stage of JAMin. > > > > > > > > > > > > There are some soft clip LADSPA plugins, > but I > > > > > dont > > > > > > think any of them are > > > > > > better than JAMin's "boost". > > > > > > > > > The thing is my client has requested a %20 > > > increase > > > > > in > > > > > volume across the entire album. The first > > > question > > > > > is > > > > > does he know what he's asking for. Well, he > > > probably > > > > > has a fair enough idea. He has compared the > old > > > > > master > > > > > with stylistically similar million dollar > > > masters > > > > > and > > > > > concluded the percentage to increase. > > > > > > > > > > If anyone here has tricks for achieving > gain, I > > > need > > > > > to hear about them. My bag ain't got alot in > it. > > > I > > > > > basically cut dominant frequency either with > > > > > compression or equalization and with the > leveled > > > off > > > > > floor, achieve gain possible; input, > compressor > > > > > makeup, limiter input, boost and output. Of > > > course > > > > > then it's just a matter of tweaking ratios, > > > > > thresholds, etc. > > > > > > > > > > The trade off in general is less dynamics > and > > > more > > > > > distortion with several deciables of > increased > > > > > volume. > > > > > I love the work but this job is like a No > Rules > > > Cage > > > > > Match. I might eventually win the title but > it's > > > a > > > > > good thing I brought lunch and a first aid > kit. > > > > > > > > > > > I've heard that you can ignore peaks that > only > > > go > > > > > > over 0dB for less than a > > > > > > millisecond, but I've not experimented > with > > > it. > > > > > > I think this is very specific to to where in the > > > chain it happens as > > > well as the exact system you're using. > > > > > > > > > > > > > If that's the case, then I might have this > job > > > in > > > > > the > > > > > bag. I'm watching overloads at the input > > > channels of > > > > > my mixer flicker on and off. I've been > trying > === message truncated === __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - File online by April 15th http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html
