11 (Rare) Tricks to Make Your Mixes Louder Without Losing Quality
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Have you listened to your music and thought that “my mixes aren’t loud enough”? It can be difficult to learn how to get loud vocals without clipping. This is a guide that will offer tips on getting the louder sound that you want without losing the quality of your tracks. Whether you want to learn how to make songs louder in Logic or in any other software, these are tricks that will give you the balance of loudness and quality that you want.
1. Starts with the Recording
It all starts with the initial recording. You need to have high quality recordings of each track in the mix so that you can manipulate them while mastering the song. A common mistake is taking a poorly recorded sample and trying to tweak it to perfection later on. The initial recording needs to be clean and clear, otherwise you cannot make it louder without losing quality.
2. Balance EQ
If the sound is unbalanced, you are never going to achieve the level of loudness that you are looking for without sacrificing quality. It can be easy to overdo something like the guitar or drum to make the track sound more aggressive, but this may also create an imbalance that will interfere with the quality.
3. Take Compressions in Stages
Novice producers can be tempted to just handle all of the compressions at the end of the process. The best approach is to take these compressions in stages, doing a little at a time. This will give you the best possible quality at the end of production.
4. Don’t Overdo the Bass
Bass is often one of first things that people want to make louder because it is what people physically feel when they listen music. Unfortunately, this may not result in the best quality sound. It can be important to sacrifice some of that powerful bass for a louder track with quality sound.
5. Importance of Mid Frequencies
Some experts would argue that mid frequencies can be one of the most important bits of musical information in songs. This is because the ear is designed to hear these the best. By making just middle frequencies louder, you can make your whole mix seem louder without sacrificing quality.
6. Retaining Dynamics
Each part of the song needs to work together dynamically. If you make one part too loud, you may decrease the overall quality of the track by accidentally eliminating any intentionally quiet or expressive sections. You need to retain the dynamics and keep the sound cohesive when increasing loudness.
7. Smart Use of Distortion
Distortion can be a very smart tool to add harmonic content to your track. With smart use of distortion, you can increase the perceived loudness of the music.
8. Never Overdo Limiting
Limiting is a crucial part of what is known as the “loudness chain”. When you do incorrectly, this could seriously hurt the sound quality and ruin the track. Always remember to keep it balanced.
9. The Master Bus
A good master bus can make a huge difference during the compression process. From there, you just need to understand what your tastes are and how to achieve them as you tweak the loudness.
10. Balance The Bass
In addition to not overdoing the bass, you need to be sure that the kick drum and bass are not fighting over the same sections of your track. In each part, decide which one you want to be the star in that portion of the track.
11. Remember: Loud isn’t Everything
Everything is about balance. A song doesn’t need to be super loud to have a great impact. There is more to it, such as composition, instrumentals, vocals, and lyrics.
Wrapping Up
This is a good guide if you are trying to beef up the loudness of your track. All 11 of these tips can be used to give you music enough punch while maintaining a high quality recording. Good luck with your new song! I cannot wait to hear what you come up with.
Tell us how these tips worked for you in the comments below!
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© 2023 Omari MC, LLC. All Rights Reserved.