[HELP] Curse you, Volume!

[Armystuntman]

I've composed multiple songs, good, acceptable, (mostly bad), but I've had one recurring problem caused by my headphones and my ears themselves. This may sound very silly to you, so if it's not serious than go ahead and laugh.

The problem is that I can't seem to make a song at the "right" volume. I always never am able to put my headphones at the right volume to make a song at the right volume. I've tried to listen to other videos to compare volumes, but before I know it, I hear the song again and it's actually really loud or too silent.

What do I do? I've always had problems with volume in music and making videos. It's like I'm always at a "False volume" that will be okay to me but not okay to other people's volume. Is there some standard sound that I can adjust my volume to or something?


Another problem, is volume control in the song itself. I compose the song, and it sounds fine on the headphones. I'd hear every instrument clearly. But suddenly, when I hear the song from the speakers, some instruments are unhearable, and some way too loud! I never seem to be able to get a healthy sounding volume for the instruments. Is this something I need to get used to? Or should certain instruments be at lower volumes by default? (Such as the Timpani, those always seem to hog up volume in my songs. D:< )

(P.S. When I say compose, I mean make the song in fruity loops itself.)

[Freewave]

Well you definitely should listen to your music (before you release it) on different systems as that does change how they sound. Between headphones, speakers, your car audio it may sound very different on each and you may have to make some changes in eq of instrument levels before they sound good on a variety of systems.

You may also need to compress or put a limiter on a track if you have an overall low volume as that's very common for a track before you fully mix and master it. When a track is a lower volume then the rest of what's on ytube it can be difficult to expect others to raise it up (see the "loudness wars" discussion) and it will sound "weak" in comparison. But I do OFTEN run into ytubes with a WIDE variety of volumes and have to play with the volume control a lot. No way around that.

[Seven]

Would indeed be great to have some average volume standard out there. Seems like "as loud as possible" is they way to go if you want to fit in... (quote on post above)

[Navron]

Before this dissolves into another loudness war discussion, the basic standard for how loud a song should be is 0dB. Now, you're probably asking, "Well, most other songs are above 0dB, what gives?"

The answer, is the standard for tracks is nothing, "under," 0dB, but still remaining below clipping. Your quietest parts at 0dB, and your loudest parts right below the clip level.

Most of this is taken care of in the mastering stage, but you need to have a solid mix before you even bring it into mastering.

Having a solid mix means each instrument has it's own spot on the frequency spectrum. If all your instruments have no EQ done, then your track will seem quieter than other tracks, despite being at the 0dB level. This is due to those instruments taking up EQ space that isn't needed, such as a pad having too much inaudible subbass, or a kick and bass really overpowering the 150-500Hz spectrum. Your song will sound muddy and quiet, because you have so much extra noise that shouldn't be there.

This is why you cut EQ, versus boosting it. Boosting EQ raises the volume of certain frequencies, but does nothing for all that other noise. Cutting EQ lets you remove the extra noise, meaning there's more room in your mix, less extra noise raising the master track volume, and no muddiness, due to each instrument having its own space.

Once you have a good mix, your final track should be around the -3 to -4dB level. When you master that track, the end result should be somewhere around the standard, although chances are it will still be slightly quieter than professional tracks, because lets face it, most of us don't have degrees in audio engineering.

Some common errors made include:
- Cutting too much EQ. If you cut too much EQ, your final track will seem too loud.
- Cutting too little EQ. Your track will seem too quiet.
- Overcompression. Too much compression takes out the dynamics in your song, making the quieter parts just as loud as the loudest parts. A good way to see if you're overcompressing is to look at your master track. If your levels stay peaked right at the clip line for the entire song, you have too much compression.
- Not enough compression. If your quieter levels fall below the 0dB level, you can likely afford a little more compression to ensure the song stays within the 0dB - clipping range.
- Too much maximizing. If you use a maximizer, do so with very small amounts. With larger amounts you lose some very important aspects of your song. Your kicks will be less punchy, you'll have an awkward pumping/sweeping effect, etc. Pretty much the same as too much compression, which is why I use a maximizer last.
- Too much stereo expansion. Too much stereo expansion pushes your instruments that should be centered (vocals, bass, kick drum) too far from center, which makes them muddy up the entire mix.
- Too little stereo expansion. Your mix will seem muddy because you have too many instruments too close to center.