Volume tips n tricks

[chummslick]

Recording into the 404 from various sources ie: turntable , cd player , dvd player etc ! was wondering how you guys deal with the various volume differences ? like some samples sounding louder than others , any tips or methods on how you get it to gel together and sound sweet .

[drewzle]

i route everything through my mixer first, then i can use it's digital VU meters to get the source sound to a certain level i know works well within the SP....good to take advantage of the pre-amps in the mixer too

peace

[KR]

Recording into the 404 from various sources ie: turntable , cd player , dvd player etc ! was wondering how you guys deal with the various volume differences ? like some samples sounding louder than others , any tips or methods on how you get it to gel together and sound sweet .

You can use compressor (effect 12) when sampling, its good "tool".

[chummslick]

Thanks KR will look into that

[hurlingdervish]

be careful with compression though, you cant undo it. if you had to do it at the end up the project the stuff you compress twice will sound like crap, so you're better off making sure the volume is ok and compressing it later since compression takes the loudest signal and average's it with the lowest creating the flat "loud" sound that can overpower your other samples.

when you press sampling don't you get a volume light thats red and blue? if so then just make sure its fully blue without blinking red. maybe thats just a 555 thing tho

[KR]

Yeah, over compression isnt good at all. But, with sp-404 you can use compression effect as "volume tool" when sampling, Same time check out other sample volumes, and adjust compressor level so that it matches with other samples. Dont sample too loud (compress too much). "game" is open, whut ever works, but compression is one way with sp-404 if u dont have mixer.

Or simply use sources volume button when sampling...vinyl player: use volume button. Dvd player: use volume button.....and so on.


If u wanna some dilla bounce when patterns (beat) is ready, put compressor to all pads and bounce it! u can do some wicked bouncing compression effect with sp-404 compressor.

[bonnaventure]

I compressed too much on my latest battle beat, and it sounds fairly dodgy. I usually forget to take care of stuff like volume levels, which is why I like using computers for production, but then again, it's always a learning experience

[hurlingdervish]

if you compress everything at the end, it has a much better effect then individual pieces . doing this way will get you good results (if you like that sound)

[fauna]

i just sample in and turn up the levels until the red light on the 404 flickers on the peaks. generally everything ends up at a similar volume this way.

[kel]

i just sample in and turn up the levels until the red light on the 404 flickers on the peaks. generally everything ends up at a similar volume this way.

is there any use in recording samples that you know will be quiet in the mix quietly to begin with? or will it sound the same if you sample all your stuff with the red light flickering and adjust volume afterward? i guess using the madlib compression effect requires one sample to be sampled louder than the other from the getgo or it doesn't sound as punchy...

[tape smoke]

I usually forget to take care of stuff like volume levels, which is why I like using computers for production,

i got opposite problem, there is no way ever i can make music sound good on a computer, no matter what i do it doesnt work. i would be nowhere without my 404.

its so easy to set levels and make everything go right. computers and mouse clicking twists up my brain when i try and make music.

[Antee]

i usually sample from vynil or any kind of source, i connect the source with my mixer and than run it into the 404... i try to sample as loud as possibile, for the drums i sample with the red light occasionally peak like the manual said... i have one problem, i hope you can help me, it's very frustrating... like many people on this forum, i produce all my beats into the 404, i try to do everything in the machine, (often i put vinyl sim comp to all pads, it seems that the sounds mash up better) and then rec my beats into the pc and put a limiter on the master, many people do that...but my beats sound really low in volume compared to many beats... any tricks?

P.S. i've exported my drums sounds into the pc looking for the Db of each sound and they are usually around -0,5 Db

tnx for attenction Sp-Headz

[tape smoke]

yo antee try this .

make your beats so they sound good on headphones and speakers

record them into your compter. make sure you dont clip.

they should be cool waves . if you have cool edit , load it into cool edit.

then go to hard limiting. heres some diagrams.

remember not to over do it , set your computer volume to full blast to detect any distortion . you can also acheive this with dynamic compression, but if you using vynil sim it might over do it



when you record it in cool its raw and ready to juice up .

if your bass is too high in volume you will have to turn it down on the sp.



you should be able to get away with anywhere from 3 to 6 db . 6 might be over doing it depending on how cool your wave is .

then you get a fat wave , this is the industry standard but lots of people will disagree and think hard limiting is bad .




dynamic compression works almost the same way. you can eq before or after hard limiting, depending on how your ears work. after can be really difficult if your boosting up lots.

remember distortion is BAD . enough is enough.

check this out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_range_compression


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gain_compression


and this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

lots of people prefer orginal cool recording with a bit of eq. others want that pumped up banging sound.

im shure others can add lots or even disagree with this method .

peace

[PHeMoX]

I agree with you with the exception that really low or really high ends of the beat might be literally cut off when using a hard limiter. A hi-hat that gets cut off sounds bad. Of course, for the most part it's a matter of making sure all sounds are just at a similar level and you'll be able to boost sound with less or no issues.

I'm still a noob at mastering though, it's pretty difficult.

[tape smoke]

i found out a cool way to make shit fat without hard limiting,

record your beat into the computer, then drag the wave to your memory card , import it to your sampler . then use vinyl sim about 3/4 or whatever your preference is . then resample, drag and drop back to the computer and there you have it a banging track.

here she be . sorry cant leak this beat , working on a secret tape, but well post it when were done.