The Song Fight Bulletin Board

for your final mix to get a nice even level, try using a compressor/limiter. it will make it so your levels wont peak, and thats always good.

But don't feel your mix has to be compressed to a pulp just so its as loud as everything else. Mixes are getting rediculous. It doesn't have to be that loud. Thats why you have a volume knob. I mean getting a good level is one thing but competing to try to get the highest "percieved loudness" just destroys mixes and dynamics. Try to get your overall RMS to around -12 to -15 and peaks no higher than -6 to -3 (if self mastering that is, if its a real project leave at least 6db of headroom for the mastering guy). These levels would be after the compressor you put across a mix. Then put some moderate limiting over the master bus as your "mastering" stage to bring the level up slightly and to make sure nothing goes over. Use your ears though. Good sounding and quiet is better than loud and clipped. Remember also that if you're getting soft mixes if could be the arrangement, Eqing, or panning not just the track volumes. If its really cluttered in certain frequencies, its probably eating up headroom especially with low frequency sounds.

I like a couple others had alot of trouble, and thus I won't be in for Am I Forgiven at all. I know everyone is sad about this news but please hold it together for the sake of the group.

toddlans wrote:Good sounding and quiet is better than loud and clipped.

I couldn't agree more. I'd go even further and say that great sounding is even better. And don't even get me started about fantastic sounding.

Perhaps some enterprising techie could graph the average RMS of winners vs. non-winners.

Mostess wrote:Perhaps some enterprising techie could graph the average RMS of winners vs. non-winners.

I've seriously thought about doing this. You know, find the mode RMS of the winners and then beat it by 1 db . I'll probably try it on a small, manual scale today.

toddlans wrote:Good sounding and quiet is better than loud and clipped.

If you record on a computer, use an 'audio editor' program to 'normalize' your completed WAV file to "-1 dB". This sets the loudest peak to a level that shouldn't overload any playback device, while keeping the whole song's relative levels the same. (Limiting and compression are totally different becqause they change the dynamics, but that's another story.)Then convert to MP3.
Ever 'stream all' and turn up the volume because the first song is quiet, only to have the next song blast your headphones off your head because the next song is LOUD? Not fun. Also, a higher level gives you a better S/N (signal to noise) ratio, keeping the music up out of the hiss that lurks in any recording or playback device. Just don't let anything be louder than 0 dB. This should keep it out of clipping, unless somebody cranks their playback device to loud. (But that would be their fault -- not yours.)
Google "free audio editor" and download an editor, or go buy one. I use Cool Edit, and it's got everything I need. Check the "how to" forum on Song Fight for more info. Those of you with stand-alone hard disk recorders -- read the manual or look at dedicated forums online.
Don't worry about it too much, but just remember that your finished product is not just a song -- it's a MP3 file. Keep the average level up there where commercial songs are, at least for the iPod audience.

Puce wrote:...beat it by 1 db

No way, man. Match that mode! It's the mode, perhaps for a reason!

I really have no idea how to implement this, but it seems important to normalize within fight (FBF's Crinkle Binkle won, Please the Pig lost, both are hard-limited to the threshold of pain). Maybe artist, too, though I'm not sure why; I'd expect an artist by RMS-level interaction (J$ sounds better soft, Plat sounds better loud, for instance). But definitely by fight.

I totally fucked up this one! I got up last Thursday morning... *ah, I'll do a songfight for tomorrow*. Then I looked on the site and it said "due Thursday morning" so I wrote a chord progression quickly, recorded it, wrote lyrics, threw them on top (my mic was making a really weird crackling noise, but I didn't have time to sort it!) and emailed it away, about an hour later than it was meant to be.

Then I realised I was 7 days early.

and the thought never occured to redo the song within the next 7 days and tell the fightmasters to use the better version?

Rone Rivendale wrote:and the thought never occured to redo the song within the next 7 days and tell the fightmasters to use the better version?

Nah, it did, but I had exams.

those cursed exams

i kinda miss exams... at least they let me know how much i SHOULD have learned...

ddd wrote:I totally fucked up this one! I got up last Thursday morning... *ah, I'll do a songfight for tomorrow*. Then I looked on the site and it said "due Thursday morning" so I wrote a chord progression quickly, recorded it, wrote lyrics, threw them on top (my mic was making a really weird crackling noise, but I didn't have time to sort it!) and emailed it away, about an hour later than it was meant to be.

Then I realised I was 7 days early.

However many years later, I've just taken Rone's advice and re-recorded this song (now called 'I Am A Camera'), hehehe... it's at www.myspace.com/dublindd

And it's on my setlist for when I support Wavves tomorrow night.