How to finalize audio levels in songs?

what do you do when you're done and getting to the end of mixing your song?
I thought i was told to throw a limiter on your master track to make sure you don't peak and go to high, but when i do that, it sounds awful. it sounds like it keeps trying to limit to much stuff.
but at the same time, if i make sure that all my individual tracks don't peak by putting limiters on them, then i look at the master, i see that i'm still peaking and going into the red. idk how to make sure my final output isn't going into the red without making everything sound awful and compessed so badly.

Haven't done that myself so can't be sure but do know that you can make a copy of the first song/file with different start/end times (method used to make two tracks from the hidden song scenario)and the copy will only be as long as the time specified. So you could always burn from the copy.
Hope that makes sense

Similar Messages

How to match audio levels across tracks?

I'm creating a CD of two-person conversations to use for language study--30 conversations in all. There are several different voice sources; all of them were recorded in a studio, though at different times and places, with small variations in audio levels.
For each conversation, I start by putting each voice in its own track in the timeline. Then I go into the mixer to balance them. While playing the tracks, I check to make sure that the overall volume is just short of maxing out in the Out 1 channel strip; if the red peak indicator comes on, then I lower the volume slightly in the offending track. Once everything is OK, I go back into the timeline and use Export Mix to save the conversation. I go through this same procedure for each of the 30 conversations.
I thought this would result in 30 tracks which have the same overall volume; however, when I burn these tracks to a CD and play them one after another, there is enough variation between tracks that I am forced to fiddle with the volume on the CD player.
What's more, some of the tracks are a bit softer than I'd like. I want to be able to play the CD in a classroom and be sure that all students can hear it clearly. Yet, while I was mixing each track, I made sure to run the volume up as far as possible without causing clipping.
So my question: Have I done something wrong? Is another step needed to get separate tracks to match levels? If so, is this done within Soundtrack, or is it done when burning to CD? And how does one get the tracks even louder without causing clipping?
I'm quite new to audio work, so any help would be greatly appreciated!
Dual 1 GHz Quicksilver Mac OS X (10.4)

I just did a similar project, and I must agree that compression is your friend! It's also an art form. I recommend you search the web and find an introduction to the concept.
You can think of it like this: You set a "threshold", and the compressor automatically reduces the volume of any part of the track gets louder than your threshold. This can have the effect of making the quiet parts of your track louder without letting the loud parts clip.
Of course, there are trade-offs. Go too far, and you'll squash out all the dynamic range from your audio. Also, making the quiet parts louder means making the noise louder too!
Play with it and see if it helps: Click on the "*" button on the track, and add the Soundtrack Pro Compressor effect. Click the "Advanced..." button for the effect, and click the "Show Presets" button. Under "User Presets, Vocal Compressors" you'll find some good starting points. Try them all and see what kind of effects you get.
Once your tracks are balanced you can experiment with putting a single compressor on "Out 1". It can help you get the level of your whole mix up without inducing a bunch of clipping.
Yo should also experiment with the "DeEsser" which helps take the edge of "sss" sounds, among other things. It might be very useful for your project. Take a look at the presets and listen to what they all do. If you use both DeEsser and Compressor, you should probably put the DeEsser first.
When you play with effects, it's good to strive for moderation and to give your ears a break once in a while. Also a good idea to listen to your results on multiple speakers. It's easy to get carried away and make your audio sound very unnatural!
Have fun!

How to adjust audio level on timeline?

Hi,
I want to adjust the audio level using the pen tool on an audio track of the timeline... and I've done it before, but I can't for the life of me remember how. I've imported a voiceover, and have a separate track with the background music. How do I adjust the music level up/down at the point where the narration kicks in/out?
Thanks very much!
Vic

Click on the Clip Overlays button (the zig-zag line at the bottom left of the Timeline window). That will give you a pink line in the middle of your audio tracks where you can use the pen tool.

How to boost audio levels.

Hey guys, i'm kind of a newbie to FCP, I've been editing a lot lately w/ Canopus Edius.... I have a question on how to boost my audio levels of a clip. Is it true I can only raise the level of a clip 12db? I can't find any other place or filter to gain the audio. In Canopus Edius you had 12db of timeline reference then you could drop on filters to gain it. Hopefully I'm just overlooking something...
Thanks for your time

There are several options for you
1. soundtrack pro
2. double up the track and boost both
3. Crank it up, export it, reimport it and crank it again.
4. Put on the parametric eq filter and punch the whole thing.
5. Any combination of the above.
Keep in mind that you are also raising the noise floor and it will begin to sound unnatural. Best solution: audio engineer on set.

How To Track Audio Level by Keyframe Numerically

Hi,
I want to change the track volume from time A to time B by submitting numeric values for track volume at time A and B, and let Premiere alter the track volume accordingly when playing back. Basically, how do I update the value of the keyframe numerically ? How is this done ?
When I place the time cursor in timeline and adjust the track volume in audio mixer and then hit the add-keyframe rhomb at the track head, then it creates a new keyframe, but not with the value of the track volume in the audio-mixer. Unless it was the very first keyframe i've created.
I do not want to alter volume keyframes by dragging, that is not working precise enough to even come close to the targeted volume setting.
I also do not want to record live track-slider changes in the Audio-Mixer.
At http://help.adobe.com/en_US/premierepro/cs/using/WS1c9bc5c2e465a58a91cf0b1038518aef7-7f35a .html i saw "Adjust track volume with keyframes", but wasn't able to find any " ... Track > Volume from the drop-down menu at the head of the clip in the audio track", seems that corresponds to clip volume again and not to track volume.

Well, you may not be happy with my answer, but it is the only way I know of to enter the level by typing a number.
If you set the Track Mixer for that particular track to "Write" and enter the number you want, let's say -6 dB, then you press the play button on the timeline, when you stop the playback, the keyframes will have been set to that level. You can left and right arrow to get the job done also.
You may find that you will want to move the keyframes around after doing that, and you have to be careful not to overwrite the other keyframes, but it does work.

Adjust audio levels between keyframes

Hello,
What is the shortcut to adjust audio levels between keyframes (in sequence)? I know the shortcut CTRL ] [ , but this shortcut adjust audio level for entire audio.
I also know I can drag up and down the levels between keyframes using mouse. But some months ago I saw a tip ( from Steve martin) showing
how to adjust audio levels between keyframes using a shortcut..and better,in RT. but I forgot what is the shortcut.
thx

there is no shortcut command for this in FCP, you need to use the mouse to drag the audio level up or down
perhaps its another application your thinking of?

Monitoring peak audio levels?

In FCP 3, I relied on audio meters to ensure that my peak audio levels never went above -6. The meters "remembered" the highest level registered. I could play the entire timeline and come back 30 minutes later and know exactly the highest audio level reached. Now in FCP 5.1, the peak audio level stays on the meter for only about 3 seconds, then resets itself. So, the question is, is there a way to simply measure the peak audio levels to ensure that my program is broadcast safe. Thanks in advance...Brian

I think if you export your final track to soundtrack pro and then normalize, you'll acheive what you're trying to do. You can define how high the highest peak should be. Normalize will not change the relationship within the audio just raise everything the same amount. But, that said, how you perceive audio levels is subjective and levels need to judged with both the meters and your ears.

How do I adjust audio levels at various points on timeline??

How do I make volume level adjustments in a single clip on the FCP-X timeline? I have a music bed and need to adjust audio levels at various points in the song. In past Final Cut programs. This should be very easy but I can't find how to do it in Final Cut Pro-X. I don't want to adjust the entire clip.
Also, I recorded voice on channel 2 and shot gun on channel 1. I only want the voice (channel 2). How can I select a individual channel once I have edited the piece. I know I can re-import the video and designate which channel to bring in but I don't want to have to do that.
Thanks!!

Select a range and lower the level, or hold the Option key to click on the level line to add a keyframe.

I no longer have sound when playing my clips through adobe premiere elements 12. How to I correct this problem? I have checked all audio levels and there is no mute on etc. I have updated to 12.1. Still no sound.

I no longer have sound when playing my clips through adobe premiere elements 12. How to I correct this problem? I have checked all audio levels and there is no mute on etc. I updated to 12.1, but still no sound in any clips. Even not on old files which used to work.

bfun
What computer operating system is your Premiere Elements 12/12.1 running on? Can we assume that this audio plays back OK
on the same computer when you are using a computer player independent of Premiere Elements?
What are the properties of these clips that worked before but do not know with regard to sound
For now, I will assume that you are working on Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 64 bit.
Have you checked the Edit Menu/Preferences/Audio Hardware ASIO settings? Do you have any 3rd party audio devices incorporated in your computer environment?
Please delete the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file and, if that does not work, then the whole 12.0 Folder in which the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file exists. The Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 64 bit path is
Local Disk C
Users
Owner
AppData
Roaming
Adobe
Premiere Elements
12.0
and, in the 12.0 Folder, is the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file that you delete. If that does not work, then delete the whole 12.0 Folder in which the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file exists. Make sure that you are working with Folder Option "Show Hidden Files, Folders, and Drives" active so that you can see the complete path cited.
Do you have installation files or installation disc with the purchased serial number in case we need to resort to uninstall/reinstall?
We will be watching for your follow up.
ATR

How to make audio of many clips the same level?

I have a sequence containing many interview clips which all seem to be at different sound levels. Is there any easy way to make all of these the same level? The only way I know how to adjust the level is using the volume level control under audio effects for a particular clip.
Also i'm wondering whether there is a way to filter out background noise?
Many Thanks

If the mic was a different distance etc then you'll never be able to make them all sound exactly the same tone. But For the background noise I'd really recommend the effects inside premiere I've already mentioned I have found that 90 percent of the time I don't ever need to use audition for interview type edits. I'm able to get by using a denioser and highpass to remove "most background" noises. However I don't film outside very often most of my background noise problems are usaully from too much gain or AC noise. So your scenario might be different than mine for this reason.
The benifit of the compressor is that it can make your audio stay exactly within whatever range you want without having to keyframe stuff. With the clips you have desribed you'll want to use a different dynamics filter for each group. So put each group on it's own audio track. So group one that you have desribed would go on track 1 since all those clips have similar range etc. Basically with group 1 I wouldn't compress it at all. I'd leave it alone except for lowering it's audio by -2 on the audio track 1. That way all the clips in the first group will be lowered by 2db if you put them all on track 1. You won't have to worry about it's slightly too high peaks as long as you set a dynamics effect with nothing enabled on it besides the limiter on the master track and have the limiter set to -6 since you said that's what you need your max peak to be. If you do this then everything in group one will be handled as far as levels go. (as far as db goes anyways) However if you want to have other things in the project to be higher than -6 then just simply put the -6 limiter turned on track 1 then instead of the master track.
Then for the second group I wouldn't touch them at all I'd put them on track 2 and just let the limter on the master track keep it's peaks from going to high since it's basically already where you want it. Then if the clips have a hissing noise or something you can add a denoiser and set the reduction to -10 and adjust from there.
Then for your final set you are desribing -22 to -12 for these I'd put them on track 3 and use a dynamics filter and keep everything disabled except for the compressor itself. For this I'd start with my ratio at 2 and put my threshold at -20 and set my makeup gain at 9 or so. Then from there if it looks like it's way to loud then try lowering the gain and if it looks like its lows are too quite then add the gain back but if it appears to be to loud then simply raise your ratio or lower the threeshold a bit. But I think the settings I have listed will get your to your desired range.
For the clips that are hitting -0 a lot if they are distorting then you really can't fix distortion but if they are hitting 0 and aren't distorting then you can just simply lower the volume for these you don't need to add any gain since they are already too loud anyways so if you just lower them by like -6 it should get them right within the range you mentioned.
As far as background noise such as hissing you'll really want to just use Premiere's denoiser effect. Start off by setting the reduction to like -10 and adjust from there. Then for cars passing etc try out a highpass filter and set it to 120 to start and move up there if needed. It will take the bass out of the peoples voices but it won't sound bad unless you start going over 160-170 range it also depends on if the person has a deep voice to begin with or not too though.

How do you know the audio level of a keyframes

I'm varying the audio levels of clips on the timeline by creating keyframes using the pen tool. I create four points:
1) -inf = beginning of fade-in
2) -5dB = end of fade-in
3) -5db = beginning of fade-out
4) -inf = end of fade-out
But when I'm going back to adjust points, how do I know what level they're at already without having to drag them away from their home position and then back?
Scrolling over them with the mouse (and not clicking) just gives me a crosshair and no info.
I want to make sure that points 2&3 are at the same level, so I can just move the envelope region between them up and down to change the volume. Any quick way to do this to speed up my process?

T-Bob wrote:
I want to make sure that points 2&3 are at the same level, so I can just move the envelope region between them up and down to change the volume. Any quick way to do this to speed up my process?
Specifically to address this point: if you mouse over the audio levels' rubber band segment BETWEEN your points 2) and 3) until the cursor changes to an up/down adjustment arrow ⬍, and move it up/down, it will adjust BOTH the levels at 2) and 3), maintaining the relative difference between them (or, if points 2) and 3) start at the same level, this adjustment will keep them equal as you drag them both up/down together in one action.)
As usual, much easier to DO it, rather than describe it!

How to use pen tool to adjust audio levels

Hi,
I've been using the pen tool to adjust the audio levels in FCE. When I do, however, I get curved line segments (kind of like a parabola) between the audio keyframes. I'd like to get something easier to control... i.e. straight line segments. Is this possible? How would I accomplish this?
Thank you!

Add a couple more keyframes and adjust them so the line is straighter. You can drag the keyframes along the audio line & move them up & down to adjust the shape of the curve.
The default shape is curved in order to align with what the human ear considers a 'normal' change in audio levels to be. Human aural sensitivity to changes in audio levels (aka loudness) is not linear - it is more or less logarithmic in shape. That's why the curve.

How do I shift clips and audio and adjust audio levels in CS5.5

OK, a couple of things.
I'm trying to shift everything over (this includes videos, some name supers, and unlinked audio) so I can insert some music here and there. I can drag the music on to Audio 2 or something, but I still want to scoot everything else over a couple of seconds. Is there an easier way to do this?
Secondly, I want to adjust the audio levels on the music. SO I want it to start off soft, grow louder, then back down until you don't even notice it. How would I do this? Thanks.

For the Nudging of multiple Assets, have you tried Selecting them all, and then using the Cursor Keys (arrows) to Nudge, one Frame at a time?
For the ramping up/down of the Audio Volumes, there are several ways to do that. Keyframing the Fixed Effect>Volume (in the Effects Control Panel) will allow one to adjust the Volume up/down over time. If you have never done Keyframing, then I would start with the Help File, as there are a lot of things to learn. Once, however, you have concepts and mechanics down, Keyframes are easy, and so very powerful. This article discusses several ways to adjust Volume/Gain, and might be useful: http://forums.adobe.com/message/3472343#3472343
Good luck,
Hunt

How does PrE 9 fix audio levels automatically?

Hi,
In one of my projects, I'm combining multiple pieces of footage with different audio levels. I've read somewhere that PrE 9 fixes audio levels automatically. How do I use this? Where is this feature in the app?
Thanks,
Sam

The main thing I want is to make sure that audio level is too high for one footage and then too low on the other. At the end, all the clips are put together to produce a single video and I want the audio to be consistent throughout the video.
Would I then select all the clips and do what you're suggesting? Do I do this one clip at a time or do I select all at once -- not sure how to do it?
Thanks,
Sam

CS3 How do I fix inconsistent audio levels?

With cs3 I'm creating a montage with video and pics. The audio from the video clips i'm using isn't the greatest. I'm having a hard time getting the audio to match the level of the song playing in the background. As each video clip fades in as I lower the audio level of the background song but its a harsh difference between the 2. Is there any fix to muffeled voices in the video in clips? Is there a set standard for the audio levels that would smooth it all out. Also, it seems to be inconsistent when played on different dvd players... meaning it sounds ok on one and horrible on another. Thanks if you can help!!!

I set my Audio Levels by ear, and by hand, with a little watching the meters. This ARTICLE will give you two methods, and explain the differences.
I am much less a fan of Normalize, as I find that it seldom does exactly what I want, and often really raises any noise floor, while not having the desired effect for the other Audio. Also, this ARTICLE might be helpful for cleaning up Audio.
Good luck,
Hunt

How to finalize audio levels in songs?

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