Volume levels while recording...

Hi folks!
I know this may be quite basic, but I am curious about volume settings on the channel strip, master, stereo out, et cetera while recording. Are there specific settings one must consider before recording one of the Logic instruments into a track? The reason I ask is because I record an instrument into a track that seems to be relatively present with regards to the volume. However, when other instruments are recorded and the texture starts to thicken a bit, an instrument that once sounded relatively loud is now MUCH less audible, even with the slider almost all the way to the top on my controller. Is this just a natural thing that is manipulated with automation and plug-ins later on after the arrangement is done?
Also, I was wondering if volume automation prevents the use of a slider to increase or decrease the overall volume of the track. I would like to apply volume automation, but at the same time, be able to control the overall level of volume using my controller. That way, the automation would move in tandem with the set level from the slider. Right now, the slider on my controller has no effect on the track volume that has automation. I know this is basic, but I'm new...

Hi there,
Here are some really useful threads at other discussion boards on this very topic. The main thing to remember is that tracking levels for digital recording do not need to be as hot as they do for analog recording, where signal-to-noise ratio is a greater consideration.
http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=31541&highlight=trackinglowerlevels
http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/mv/msg/15038/0/16/0/
These discussions get pretty technical at times, but the gist seems to be that for digital, you tend to get more in trouble at the "summing" stage (when things get mixed together) than with the recording stage where the noise floor is less of an issue. This could be why you're noticing what you're noticing?

Similar Messages

Volume fluctuations while recording using Audigy 2ZS & pioneer djm

I've been having trouble having the volumes properly adjusted when trying to record mixes. I used to record via Line-in where I had no problems. However, I decided to use the RCA inputs on the front of the other part of the card to connect to my mixer. Since then, I've had to toggle the auxillary unit in the computers sound panel to get feedback from the mixer. Unfortunately, with the volume all the way up on the bar in the panel, the sound that is recorded is still very low. I moved the positioning to the front because it was easier for the set up I have connecting the computer to the mixer. It was funny also because when I first connected the mixer to the front inputs, I could record under "wave" but now it won't let me do it. The recording program I have is Wavelab and I also recorded with the factory recording program offered by Sound Blaster and both came out with the same results. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!

Defiance,
I would suggest contacting support directly as I don't really have any suggestions to make based on the information.
The forums are intended for user interaction and a reply from a Creative rep is not guaranteed. If you have an issue that needs attention from Creative then your best bet would be to contact support. Their contact information is located in the Support/Contact Customer Support page that is located at this site.
Jeremy

Volume level on line-in at 100% but still low sound level when I rec

For many years and hundreds of times I have successfully recorded wave files using a wave editor (Goldwave). I have transferred albums, tapes, and now satellite radio by running stereo cables from my receiver into my line-in on my sound card (using a stereo-to-mono adapter). The volume level on the line-in was always too loud on my old sound card, so I always turned the volume of the line-in down to about 20% and it worked just fine.
Two weeks ago my old sound card fried (don't know the brand - got it from a friend, and I've already thrown it out). I replaced it with a Sound Blaster Li've! 24-Bit. However, using the same configuration (receiver into line-in on card), when I record now the volume level that it records at is way too low. Even when I set the line-in level at 00% the volume that it records at is not even half the level it was with my old sound card set at 20%. Basically, when I record now at 00% on the line-in, the volume level it records at is too low. I have no problem with the line-out level - when I play mp3's or anything else on my hard dri've the volume is crisp, clear, and plenty loud at 40%.
But what is the deal with the low volume recording level? Is there another setting I need to change? Or do I not have the right sound card to do this with? Please let me know if it is a setting issue, or if I just need a different sound card to do this. Thanks.

I've had an Audigy2-nx for a week and have struggled with low
recording levels as well.
Have you tried selecting "what you hear" instead of "Line-In"?
This gives me about 20% higher input levels.
I gave up on MedeaSource for variable bitrate recordings and
moved to dbPowerAmp. (direct recording to lame-mp3)
Others here mention good VBR recordings with MedeaSource, but
it won't exceed 90kbs (average) on my system.
I'm finally getting decent recordings from line-in.

Volume Level Bar

When I record my volume level bar is black. When I play back what I recorded, the greens and yellows light up. What can I do to see the volume level when recording?

If you are in MV, then you have to use 'Audition mix' and the 'smart input' settings. And make sure that there are no checks against any settings in the upper part of the meter right-click box.
In EV, then 'Monitor Record Level' and 'Show on Play and Record' have to be selected.

Creative Media Source record volume level slider doesn't w

I had an older version of Creative Media Source and a installed the latest version off the website to try to fix the problem, but the same thing occurs in the current version. I want to record, but the slider is grayed out and when I try to use it, the whole media source window moves, not the slider. It's stuck on zero. My sound card drivers are installed and working correctly. I can play music and adjust the playback volume. The record volume used to work. I don't know why it stopped.
Any thoughts on how to fix this?
Thanks,
Russ

Recording level is not used when ripping CDs.

Recording vocals, volume level

This is a little off topic, but I would like to get input about recording levels. It has been my goal to record vocals at the highest gain possible without clipping. When I apply effects the sound level almost always goes over. When I back the volume down the sound level seems too quiet. I have to lower all the other tracks as well in order to get a good balance of sound levels.
If I lower all the tracks like that it seems the overall loudness is low, but is that really a concern? I suppose that is where mastering comes in and re-vitalizes the volume among other things. But is something lost by having a weaker volume level in the mix to begin?

Brian,
Sometimes what I do when I have a track such as a vocal that goes into the red either before or after effects are applied and then sounds too low for the rest of the mix when lowered is to duplicate that track just below the original track.
I duplicate tracks that need more volume for the mix all the time wether its a vocal or anything else. This works out very nice for me and gives me the extra volume I need.
Sometimes I might adjust all the volume levels on a track at individual points to optimize it and then compress and limit the track somewhat before I double it up.
I like to keep all my track meters just out of the red and then I adjust my master track level just below unity.
Recently I have found that using the C3 Multi Band Compressor on the Master track at its 6db preset level can bring those mixes that slowly become lifeless back to life. Scott L-R uses this component a lot and I bet he has a lot of knowledge he can partake to you ( i'd like to hear it also).
Sometimes I will use the C3 Multi Band Compressor on a vocal track after optimizing its levels and export it out of GB and then back in again. Then I decide if it needs to be doubled up. I was doing that just last night. I have found the C3 Multi Band Compressor to have some nice limiting features also.
Hope that helps!

Volume levels fluctuate when recording

Right, I was just recording something using my Macbook and its built in mic.
When I play the file back, the volume level fluctuates wildly. It will cut in certain spots, almost sounding like it's being sent through a filter of some sort, and then come back at full volume, and then get soft again etc.
I thought that it was because it was clipping, but I re-recorded it several times at different volume levels and it did the same thing. Any ideas?
It is a guitar with distortion, if that matters.

did u check your volume adjustment in the little nix box it can be set to up lower the volume [ look 4 the little triangle an click to open track volume an level it out just trying something

How to identify low volume/level audio segments in a recording?

Iam newbie to Audition and trying to edit/master a 2 hour long lecture done in a live setting (not studio). Since the speaker sometimes moves away from the microphone the level of the audio sometimes falls off or reduces sometimes for a few seconds to a few minutes. I would like to identify all segments greater than 5 seconds which fall below say -5db.
I have tried using Diagnostics >>Effect : Mark Audio and set a Custom setting. I defined Silence has : Signal is below -5 dB, For more than 5000 ms (5 seconds) and Define Audio has Signal is above -15dB for more than 27 ms. It works to some extent in the sense it marks the Proper Audio segments in between the segments that are between the segments that are identified/marked as Silence but I would like the opposite. I would like to get the segments which are defined as Silence to be marked.
I am sure it is possible to do in Audition, appreciate all your help in figuring out how to do it.
To do the same in Audacity is very straightforward, Go to Analyze >> Silence Finder and define Treat audio below this level as silence : -5dB, Minimum duration of silence : 5 seconds. Thats it. That easy.
Would appreciate help from all the masters in the forum. Thank you for your time in advance.
VS

Is what you are going to do when you have identified these sections to raise the volume. That can be done automatically without previously identifying them by using the Dynamic Processing or Speech Volume Leveling effects.

Different volumes levels when I record tunes on a CD?

There are different volume levels when I copy tunes from my I-Tunes library. I'm trying to make a Sinatra CD from my I-tunes library and some songs are loud, others I can hardly hear. There must be a way to overcome this problem, but I don't know what it is. Can anyone help?

Repeating a post I made on another thread:
iVolume claims to work with iTunes' Sound Check to play songs at the same volume. The iVolume FAQ says the adjustment will carry over to burned CDs & iPods, too. It will not work on Music Store downloads due to DRM.
I've read people on this forum say it works pretty well. It's US$15.

Why won't volume levels stay saved? ro

After mixing I save and it appears to save everything. All the recording or overdubs save. It is just the volume controls that keep resetting.
When I open it back up, some of the volume levels on some of the tracks have reset to zero. It doesn't do it on all of the tracks, it is just random ones. Therefore, I am having to remember exactly what I am doing and having to reset and check over everything each time. That's suppose to be the beauty of "saving", so I don't have to keep going back and reset the mixing levels. It appears that after I have added about over 50 tracks, some of those tracks are the ones that start doing this. Anyone know what is causing the volume levels to not stay set at their correct levels on all the tracks? thanks
I have GB '09 version 5.1 and mac osx 10.6.7 snow leopard

Start Firefox in <u>[[Safe Mode]]</u> to check if one of the extensions is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox (Tools) > Add-ons > Appearance/Themes).
* Don't make any changes on the Safe mode start window.
* https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode
If it does work in Safe-mode then disable all extensions and then try to find which is causing it by enabling one at a time until the problem reappears.
* Use "Disable all add-ons" on the [[Safe mode]] start window to disable all extensions.
* Close and restart Firefox after each change via "File > Exit" (Mac: "Firefox > Quit"; Linux: "File > Quit")
In Firefox 4 you can use one of these to start in <u>[[Safe mode]]</u>:
* Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
* Hold down the Shift key while double clicking the Firefox desktop shortcut (Windows)
* https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Preferences_not_saved

Choosing bit depth while recording audio

Hi,
First, the short version of the question:
Do you know of any simple audio recording app (ie: not a monster audio suite) which takes low CPU usage, and lets you choose the internal bit depth using for audio sampling (ie: sample at PCM16, at PCM24,...) ?
Now, in case you need it, the long version of the question:
I'm digitizing my huge collection of audio tapes, with my G5 iMac (OSX 10.4). The quality of the recordings is somewhat low, so I don't need a high-end audio card, and I believe the builtin audio card of this G5 is more than adequate for this task (Burr Brown PCM3052 with support for PCM16, PCM24, and AC3 16).
I've done my first tests with the just-released new version of Audacity (2.0.0), which is compatible with 10.4 and higher, so I'm very happy to be able to install a brand-new application in 10.4.
Audacity works fine, but has a couple of issues:
First, you can choose the audio track bit depth, but not the internal bit depth at which you're sampling. In other words, I'd expect to use some selector to choose from PCM16 or PCM24 recording, which is what this iMac seems to support. However, I can only choose the storage bit depth, not the sampling bit depth. I suppose Audacity is recording at PCM24, but I've no way to test this.
Second, it takes about 40% CPU usage while recording (yes, I disabled the realtime graphics update of Audacity... if I don't disable it, usage becomes 60% or higher).
I tried Audio Hijack Pro (well, the last version supporting 10.4), and it won't let me choose the sampling depth either.
So... do you know of any simple recording app which overcomes this issues?
TIA!
cesarpixel

although I was looking for something simpler.
Compared to what you describe, my use of GarageBand sounds "simpler."
GarageBand is part of iLife, so it is meant to be easy to use, unlike big brother Logic. Furthermore, I am using it in a very limited way. When recording, I just set up ONE track, which is pretty easy.
GB records at the best possible quality, up to 24-bit. I used 16-bit because my source was analog tapes and records, and I did not think it would make the final result any better. The GB project file serves as my "master copy" for future enhancement.
The best part is editing the full recording of the entire tape/record, into individual songs, then exporting them to iTunes as 256 kbps AAC (or MP3) files, all within GarageBand. A few of my records had skips, and I was able to edit them out by overlapping two tracks with the same portion of music, and carefully eliminating the skip at the transition between the two tracks. Also, because the source is analog, there is noticeable background hiss when the music level is low. It is particularly noticeable at the end of songs that fade out. To make the hiss fade out along with the music, I gradually adjusted the master volume level downward to zero starting when the music level became low enough for the hiss to be noticeable. That made the hiss fade out, which helped "hide" it.

Listening While Recording Help?

Hi, I have been useing GarageBand for a while now and have been recording acoustic guitar through both real instrument and electric setting. Now that I'm confident in the program and my musical talent, I want to up the bar a bit by getting a better recourding. The major problem is I would like to listen to myself play while recording. Not being able to hear the effects while playing kinda eliminates the use of them.
Recording is not a prob, but I get all this noise and I can't figure out how to eliminate it. Especially when I use the preloaded amps and stompbox. Its almost like feedback but not really. I can only explain it as white noise, like the amps are turned up to loud or something.
My original setup consisted of acoustic recorded via usb webcam mic into GB. As I said this was sufficant until now.
Things I have done to eliminmate the noise issue:
* Bought a real microphone connected via built in input cause I thought the webcam mic was either to crappy or to sensitive. *Did Not Work*
*Bought an M-Audio FastTrack connected via USB.
Mic/M-Audio/Mac. Sound not quite as bad but can not hear myself play via headphone jack on M-Audio *Did Not Work*
*Played around with different volume levels on anything I could find dealing with volume. *Did Not Work*
*Various other things *Did Not Work*
How can I eliminate the noise, get a clean recording while at the same time being able to listen and hear effects as I play?

If your able to record through the audio interface, you probably need to turn the monitor on and use the headphones through your computer not the interface. Thats how i do it at least.

Level to record vocals at?

Hey guys, so I'm running a cheap dynamic microphone into an M-Audio Fast Track Pro. I'm recording my singer currently, and I wanna use the compressor in gb, bare with me, I'm not very experienced with how to use it with vocals. Basically, I don't want the signal to clip but for garageband to pick up his signal I've had to turn his track volume up all the way as well as bringing the compressor's gain level up pretty high, thus clipping the signal. In addition, when I have the gain and volume level at good level where it's not clipping the signal, I can't hear him in the monitors/he can't hear himself singing in his headphones. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Sorry if this was super unorganized and all, I did my best to describe the situation haha

The important thing about GB's built-in compressor is that, like all effects, it is applied non-destructively after recording the track. So while a compressor that you use in your signal chain before the computer can help you boost the silent passages of the recording while avoiding clipping, GB's compressor doesn't change the original signal at al. So you might just record dry without any effects and set the level so that it is in the red but doesn't clip, and apply the compressor and/or other effects later - as I said, it's all non-destructive, so you can change the effects any time.
If your singer's signal varies so much, it might be a result of bad microphone technique - in a song with a high dynamic range, you just can't sing all the passages at the same distance from the microphone, you'll have to get closer for the soft passages and back away for the screaming parts. If the singer applies this "human compression" technique, he/she makes it a lot easier to mix the vocals later without having to kill it with compression.

How to Have Effects Turned on WHILE Recording

I want to use Audtion as a live multi-track audio recorder for some multi-cam video work (5 talking heads on lavs). I want to record with certain effects (compression, limiter, etc.) on WHILE recording--NOT applied to the tracks AFTER recording. Is this possible?
I can only seem to be able to apply effects to tracks AFTER recording has already occured.

Hmm... RANT!
Bob Howes wrote:
Finally, regarding SteveG's slur against TV sound people, I resemble that remark. Yes, we DID overdo compression but there were some technical reasons for this. For example, when we converted to satellites for distribution, we quickly found that the satellite system itself would overload slightly below +12dBu on the input. Not only did this sound bad, the satellite operator would threaten to throw us off (due to interference with adjacent users) if we hit this level--so everything we did had a brick wall limiter above +8dBu. However, this was still AFTER the production chain, not on the input. When doing location sound, although I'd leave the limiter on in the camera--but I'd set my gain staging so this was only a last-resort stopgap, not something being relied on to control levels.
It wasn't a slur against the people doing it - it was against TV sound, which, for the reasons you state, generally ends up as crap. It's also worth noting that it doesn't really stand a chance, right from the outset. For some strange reason, pictures always seem to come first. It's ludicrous; turn the picture off and listen to the sound, and you'll still have some sort of an idea what's going on. Turn the sound off though, and you generally have absolutely no idea at all! So which is really more important? Getting some presenter's ugly fizzog on the screen, or hearing what they're saying (I have to be careful here, as I might trip up my own argument...) So in some instances, sound ops don't have a lot of choice.
But overall, standards are slipping even further. Despite all of this legislation from the EBU, broadcasters still can't normalize levels between programmes. At present, the BBC is a particularly bad offender. It's not just compression, it's everything. I've recently watched orchestras being miced up, with some horror - bloody mics everywhere. End result doesn't sound like an orchesta at all - it sounds like a slightly sophisticated big band. So when I go and stick my SoundField (or even a Decca Tree) over an orchestra, people are amazed - suddenly it sounds like an orchestra again! I've asked some of the badly-trained monkeys why they do it like this, and have yet to recieve a satisfactory answer.
But in overall terms I don't care about compression on general TV output - it's only moving wallpaper, and you don't want to have to keep changing the levels, so from that POV it's a good thing; it's 98% rubbish anyway. But it does mean that on better programmes where they compress less - like Top Gear - you have to turn up the volume to listen to it, and be prepared to be deafened occasionally. That's fine, but at the end of the transmission you have to remember to turn the volume down again pretty quick...

APE 7 Mute audio while recording?

When trying to add a narration, my voice comes thru the speakers when I am recording. When I check the "Mute audio while recording" button the audio does NOT mute. Is this a bug?
The only work around is that I have to turn down the speaker each time I want to add a narration. It's a pain in the butt but it works.

I had the same problem and question in APE9, then I searched this forum and found your reply.
The only problem is the wording in the dialog box, which I think Adobe should fix. While your final sentence is quite true, the slider on the left is not a record-level indicator but rather a volume (as in headphones) indicator, which controls the volume of the feedback coming into the headset speakers from the microphone with a short time lag. (At least that's the way it seems to work with my headset.)
the problem is with Adobe's wording in that box, namely, "to reduce feedback while recording lower Input Level Volume slider." Well Adobe, the only slider that I see in the box is the one on the left, and calling it an "Input Level Volume slider" sure sounds like a "record-level control" to me. That's a logical interpretation in my book. And "mute audio while recording" is pretty vague, what audio exactly (you answered that question correctly also, but until I saw this post I assumed, like the original poster here, that "audio" referred to the sound/feedback in my headphones, not other audio tracks. Though I guess if I'd been recording narration on top of another audio track (which I don't usually do), I might have noticed that.
All this to plead with Adobe, if they're monitoring this forum, to reconsider the wording in that dialog box and in future elsewhere in the software. Maybe before releasing the next version, ask some non-engineers to read the wording in the various dialog boxes and have them edit it, or at least explain to you in their words what they think it means. You might be in for a big surprise, as above ... Just a suggestion
Vague or confusing wording such as this doesn't help anyone.

Volume levels while recording...

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