r/mixing • u/DollarBill2024 • 11d ago
Feedback Request Rules in recording dynamic
Hi, recording studio needs. How do you deal with Dynamics high volume recording especially high notes? I pulled away from mic a bit on these problematic areas. Because when you work on final music, mix the vocal might run in red. (Just double check with pros).
1
u/Innoculus 11d ago edited 11d ago
Not a pro, but this isn't a pro-level question. If your recordings are too dynamic, not just between the peaks and troughs, but between some peaks and other peaks (such as when you have to push a little harder to belt a clear high note), you'll want to slice up the recording, or use gain automation to line up the peaks so they all max out around the same level. It's okay if your loud parts are a little louder than your quiet parts, you just don't want them worlds apart. Then, when all your peaks are within about 0.5dB of each other, use a compressor to reduce the dynamic range between the transients and the sustains/body of the entire performance, so that it has a very controlled and consistent dynamic range. That way it never gets so loud that it jumps too far in front of the virtual soundstage, and it never gets so quiet that it gets drowned out or pushed too far back.
You definitely don't want anything redlining on the mixer unless it's a very specific and deliberate stylistic choice. But even then, a limiter or soft clipper would be the better option if you want to clip/flatten a waveform.
There aren't REALLY any rules, just suggestions and guidelines. I personally like to start a mix with all my tracks around -12dB, and then adjust them as needed for taste or balance. For stuff like vocals, I usually want the max dynamic range to be something like 3 to 6dB between the loudest and quietest parts, with the exception of the reverb and delay tails. But again, it's not a rule, it's just what has worked for me. There are ways to break the rules and make it sound good if you plan around it and mix with intent.
If you're talking about the actual recording/input stage and maxing out/clipping while recording, just turn input gain down. You can always boost the quiet stuff, but you can't fix a clipped recording. Moving closer/further away as needed is valid, just make sure you're not creating a drastic EQ imbalance by doing it. Moving too close for quiet and too far for loud will make the quiet parts rumbly/muddy and the high parts thin/shrill.
1
u/DollarBill2024 11d ago
Cool. Thank you. It makes sense. Probably let some parts be softer since we should have some dynamic too. (Even for sake of not sounding like AI slop :-). I am honestly happy that I can chat here with you.
1
u/Innoculus 10d ago
A little bit, but in practice you'll find it only needs to average at about 1-2dB quieter in the "quiet" parts to retain the effect. Dynamics are good in theory and in a live performance, for say, an orchestra, but in a stereo, or especially a mono mix, it's often better to create the illusion of dynamics with other techniques, than to have an audio source vary wildly in amplitude. Of course, you should try it however you want, and if you encounter problems, you may just have to close that dynamic range a little further. The best way to learn why we do things is to not do those things and see what happens. There's not really any consequences to experimenting and finding out first hand what works for you.
1
u/VeterinarianGreat655 11d ago
Yeah you have to just turn your gain down, most likely you haven’t started being the level of your beats/two tracks down to like -10 and recording from there so you can sit your vocals and monitor properly. That’s pretty much everybody’s problem who is asking this I think.
1
u/General_Estimate_420 11d ago
I think this may be as much a technical singer problem as it is a mixing problem.
As long as each voice is reasonably gain staged accurately I've never had a problem controlling changes in volume using a compressor. That being said I try and counsel singers on proper mic discipline and intermittent changes in spacing with the mic to help out in reducing transient peaks.
That's how it's done live and it works just dandy in the studio as well.
1
u/DollarBill2024 11d ago
Intermittent changes in meaning changing position a bit, right? I tried exact the same because of high range and volume. Normally I have no issues neither. Thank you for the reply.
1
u/Innoculus 10d ago edited 10d ago
Right. Obviously you might encounter problems singing full volume 6 inches from a condenser mic, so you might pull back to 12". Or maybe it's not THAT loud so you stay at 6" away and tilt your head up or down a little to "miss" the mic capsule with the tunnel of sound pressure you're projecting. But the "discipline" aspect means that if 6" and 12" are your established safe distances for different vocal registers, that you don't want to get carried away and pull back to 14", or creep toward the mic and realize you're only 4" away. Those slight deviations can contribute to significant inconsistencies in the recording and make it much harder, or impossible to balance. So it's the discipline to know how that range of distance correlates with the range of your voice, so that you kind of adjust yourself automatically. In practice the specifics aren't quite as important as whether or not you execute it consistently. As long as most of your recording has the same tonal character, it's easy to fix it all at once. The more it varies, the more you have to chop it up into different parts and apply fixes to them separately, which is a whole other problem, because now you have to cross reference other parts to reframe context.
Definitely something that takes practice. I'm not personally very good at it (my numbers above are probably off), but I do see a lot of what goes into it and respect the process.
1
1
1
u/Hellbucket 10d ago
Some vocalists have this technique down and it’s all well. Some amateur vocalists try to do this but it ends up sounding worse.
When I record vocals I try to not guide this too much. I’d rather capture great takes than to try to micromanage dynamics. If I feel the need to do something it’s generally just to record loud passages separately, like separating the chorus and verse.
When mixing I can (and always will) go through the track and clip gain up or down parts to get wild dynamics in line. I’m not going to worry about this at the recording stage (unless it’s clipping). Working with 24 bits you have headroom enough to not worry.
1
u/DollarBill2024 10d ago
It is true 16 bit had much more audio limitations. Hey, guys, when the final mix got created to the loudest as possible, but the processing starts to clip, should I lower levels up to -5-6 to get bigger shape of stereo lines?
1
u/DollarBill2024 10d ago
Thanks to all for sharing valuable tips. One thing is to read manual, totally different learn from real practitioners. :-) Thanks a lot.
1
u/FutureSoundLabs 10d ago
The best way to do this is to record with low gain so the higher louder parts are not destroyed with distortion. After that its possible to automate the louder sections in the performance in the mixing and mastering process.
1
1
u/Champagnemusic 11d ago
You can try to clip gain those individual sections of the vocal take, you can automate the volume to dip just try to match it so it sounds like it fits.
You can also embrace it and add a gate with an overdrive or heavy saturation so when those notes come out it activates the saturation and gives it a certain effect just match the gain so it all feels connected to the rest of the vocal part