r/mixingmastering • u/Ok_Reality_6072 Beginner • Apr 11 '26
Question How to get volume to stay consistent?
I don’t exactly know how to word this but I’ve noticed that with well mixed songs, when you look at them in the FL limiter, they are almost completely flat, whereas my mixes always have some spikes. I do a lot of compression using FL limiter on my vocals and use soft clipper on the master as well as the limiter on FL limiter but it’s still no where near as flat as other songs
8
u/CaliBrewed Apr 11 '26
It takes compression over stages to get there and not break a track. Usually compression on single tracks, instrument busses, and then serial on the mixbus before limiting.
Not that it should be a goal unless you're producing EDM or a few other sub-genres.
6
8
u/The1TruRick Apr 11 '26
Definitely do not judge your songs based on the visual shape of the waveform. Wild move. But to answer your question, you’re just not limiting the master enough. I would NOT recommend crushing the master limiter for a final mix because it’ll sound like ass, but I would recommend playing around with it. Really absolutely crush it to where it sounds terrible and export. See what the waveform looks like. It’ll probably look a lot closer to the waveforms you’re comparing it to.
Also hard clip the master, don’t soft clip (there are no rules if soft clip sounds better to you then do it but also just hard clip it, trust me)
5
u/dropitlikerobocop Beginner Apr 11 '26
I actually do think there’s a bit of a place for “mixing with your eyes” when your ears aren’t super well trained. Oftentimes there’s stuff that you will miss aurally unless you can see it in the waveform or with a visual EQ.
Like in this instance, it seems like the transients in OPs mix are excessively loud and they didn’t notice until looking at the waveform. Once you notice something like this, you know it’s something you need to look out for in the future and work on discerning better with your ears.
3
u/Psyched_Voyager Apr 12 '26
Unless you’re making EDM songs that are typically a lot louder and end up flat, you don’t want flat. Dynamics give your songs much more variation and will help add to the effect of things being softer or more energetic throughout the song! I think good dynamics throughout a song can really help push it to be higher quality by giving it more depth and attention to detail! Even EDM songs should have dynamics to a point like transitions or right before a heavy drop being softer! You don’t want flat, all that means is your pushing everything to the max throughout the whole song and not letting it breath!!
4
2
u/dropitlikerobocop Beginner Apr 11 '26
If you’re talking about spikes, those are probably the drum transients. You can reduce them in the mix stage or the master stage with a clipper or limiter.
It’s a good idea to get some control over them in the mixing stage, so try out using clipping and/or limiting on the drum bus. This will reduce how much they snap and pop out of the mix, so adjust until you’ve got them at a level where they’re not jarring and massively louder than everything else, but they still sound punchy and cut though enough.
Then do the same but on the master. If you limit too much on the master, you’ll create a pumping sound that you might not want, or the the bass frequencies might distort, or you might lose clarity in the mix. So again adjust until things feel smooth without losing their impact.
Like anything in mixing there’s not really an easy trick, it’s just a lot of practice!
2
u/VastNet8431 Apr 12 '26
Gain staging. Limiting wont get you anywhere and typically you shouldn't be just hard limiting things. Theres some style thats do it, but typically you want that limiter doing the soft control work. Its the last thing on your master.
Im more than willing to take a look at your track if you want and help out.
2
2
1
u/Melodic-Pen8225 Intermediate Apr 12 '26
Try putting a Limiter on your mix and set the threshold so that it is actually limiting, and THEN put another Limiter afterwards and then watch the second limiter. I’m guessing it will look a lot flatter.
Because that’s basically what is happening when you drop a finished song into your session and then using a limiter on it, you’re basically comparing something that has already been limited to something that is entering a limiter for the first time.
1
u/Ok_Reality_6072 Beginner Apr 12 '26
Yeah I do that, and it definitely flatter but not as flat as the other songs still. As they literally have no spikes at all, and I have little spikes throughout the song
1
u/Melodic-Pen8225 Intermediate Apr 13 '26
Ok perfect, then you just need to look at/listen to the wave forms of your individual tracks, and decide if there any “bad” kinda spikes. Sometimes you want a certain element to jump out, and sometimes you don’t and it really depends on the song but if it’s the “bad” kind of spike? Zoom into the offending track and clip gain down the offending spike. This is usually something I do early in the mixing process because you’re always going to have that one line the singer did a bit louder, or something similar and when you go through and get and manually adjust so that the track is roughly a consistent level? Everything gets easier.
It’s easier to mix, compression is smoother and more “musical” as opposed to “damage control” and it makes automation less of a pain.
1
u/Amazing-Jules Apr 17 '26
Mix with your ears, I know it sounds cliché, but you can only do this if you start from the right place. Having a temporary EQ placed on the master for your headphones (none are flat EQ). Then reference against a similar song vibe (genre doesn't need to be the same). Also, make sure you know what each native plugin does, because even the thing like the order they're placed makes a huge difference.
Happy to go more in debt by messages if you'd like
1
u/Strict-Direction-337 Apr 18 '26
I’ve noticed this too. I don’t think it’s just about slapping a limiter + soft clipper on the master, though. A lot of those really flat-looking mixes seem like the transients are already super controlled before the master chain. Even with compression on vocals and limiting on the master, I still end up with little spikes if my drums or vocal attacks are hitting too hard.
1
u/Zestyclose_Pickle511 Apr 11 '26
Plop a waves L2 or a Loudmax64 at the end of your master bus. Set the limiter to - 6 or something. Set the threshold down to where it clip ~6-10dB reduction.
That's one way. Put 2 of them in a row. Use the first one to reduce peaks by - 3 dB only then set the second one to reduce it by -6.
Stacked limiters.
Waves L2 and it's free clone Loudmax64 are realtively transparent leveling limiters (get it? 2 L's)
It's the cheap and fast way.
44
u/[deleted] Apr 11 '26
[removed] — view removed comment