Hi, I was wondering why does a song sound louder, when I play it in Logic and not so loud when i turn them into a MP3 file or when I burn it. Its weird because after burning a song I have to turn the volume up to max on my cd player just to get a average volume level. Is there anyway I could increase the volume level? Please Help! Thanks, Abhi

Hi Abhi, The process (post Mixing) is called Mastering. It is a science in itself... and can often add that 5% extra sheen to a track that makes it stand out of the crowd. What I'd recommend is when mixing leave some headroom on the output 1-2 (4-5 dB) and bounce the mix. Now commence with the mastering process. Some people like using Waveburner for this... I'm happy with Logic... you can then check out some plug-ins like the Limiter, AdLimiter, Compressor etc etc... to make your track louder - more like commercial records. It's also a good idea to import a similar sty;e commercial track you like into Logic and compare the waveforms and dynamics. Cheers Rounik

hey Rounik, I'm kind of a newb to mixing. so, can you please explain to me what you meant by "leaving some headroom on the output 1-2" Thanks, Abhi

Hey Abhi, Headroom refers to the space between the peak of the level meter and 0dB. For example if in Output 1-2 your meter reaches -2.3dB. That means you have less headroom than if the meter peaks at -4dB. Mixing so that your final track peaks a few decibels lower than 0 is good practice - especially if you decide to add some other fx before you master the track...and you can always raise the levels during mastering. If you want to do a quick master, finish your mix and place an Adlimiter on the Output 1-2 track... play with some of the presets, making sure the output never gos above 0db... but pushing the rest of the track to a louder position depending on your taste. Cheers Rounik

Thanks a lot Rounik that helped a lot! But I wondering is there a tutorial that could teach newbs like myself, how to Master a track professionally? Abhi

Hi Abhi, That's an interesting idea. I don't think a good tutorial exists yet. Mixing is easier to teach, but I'd love to be proved wrong :-) But one of the reasons that Mastering engineers and pro studios still exist is because mixing or mastering in a normal everyday room with reflections and inconsistent sound traps etc is very difficult. The room, speaker setup, bass traps etc are all really important when mastering and mixing. There is a possibilty of a tutorial based on setting up the studio that could be of interest: [url]http://tnttutorials.macprovideo.com/forum/general/tnt-beta&id=10958[/url] What i would suggest is to check out the mixing series tutorials for electronica and rnb... and experiment with the adlimiter and the Output 1-2's Channel strip settings. Do check out the Plug-ins unplugged tutorial as it talks in depth about how to use the compressor, limiter and ad limiter amongst other great plug-ins :-) [url]http://www.macprovideo.com/tutorial/logicPlugins1[/url] Cheers Rounik

A tutorial for the external studio setup would be great, it's a awesome idea. I would get one. I'll also check out the Logic plugins tutorial. Thanks for all your help Rounik! take care Abhi

Hi Abhi, I should have mentioned that the Plug-ins unplugged tutorial does use the Logic 7 plug-ins. IMHO these are mainly aesthetic changes, besides from the different compressor modes in the Compressor plug-in, and the tutorial is still very much applicable to understanding how and why to use the plug-ins covered. Also, I forgot to mention the Logic 305: Waveburner tutorial, in which JF Brisette does a fantastic job showing how to use Waveburner for CD Mastering: [url]http://www.macprovideo.com/tutorial/waveburner[/url] So many great tutorial to choose from! :-) Rounik

Thanks Rounik, I'll check it out. Abhi

[quote:29167]Hi, I was wondering why does a song sound louder, when I play it in Logic and not so loud when i turn them into a MP3 file or when I burn it. [/quote] Hi guys, For more info on mastering, the "Mastering guide with Ozone" is an interesting read even if you don't own this plugin.[url]http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/guides.html[/url] ... but you mentioned that your MP3 is lower than the sound in Logic ? With the level set at maximum in iTunes or Quicktime, the result bounce file should have exactly the same amplitude as the song playing in Logic. Is that your case ? Christian