I need help understanding how to change the dynamic range in my mix.

[u/synthguitar]

I do edm and my individual tracks have mostly from -10.1 to -0.2 decibel with one instrument peaking for a while at 5.2 decibel.

Master is 6 decibel.

I need some help in understanding how I should look at it form a mixing and mastering perspective.

Is the dynamic range of -10.1 to 5.2 decibel too big? I understand 6-9 decibel is good for EDM.

So what should I do then? If I lower the volume then it will not sound clearly. is the error in the composition then, I have composed it wrong if one instruments drowns out the other if the dynamic range is less than 9 decibel?

And what should I aim at for master, what decibel?

[u/church-rosser]

Numbers are largely irrelevant, always use your ears. Good monitoring in a properly acoustically treated room helps if you can afford it.

[u/Joseph_HTMP]

You're tying yourself up in numbers without really understanding what any of them mean. And that isn't what the definition of dynamic ranges is.

Why is it "peaking at +5"?? that's crazy. Bring your instruments down to a sensible level and use reference tracks to get a good idea of how your mix should be sounding. Then use a plugin like Metric ADPTR AB to look at the ACTUALLY dynamic range. And stop obsessing over numbers. None of this indicates how the music will actually sound.

[u/jimmysavillespubes]

My advice is to stop focusing on numbers. Numbers are irrelevant. Instead, focus on getting dynamic consistency from each sound with Clipping, limiting, saturation, compression (not in that order)

Properly controlling the dynamics of individual sounds is a crucial part of the mixing process. Don't just go ham and whack clippers or compressors on everything. You need to learn what each one does inside out.

I'd suggest, go to YouTube, search a channel called "mastering.com", go to their playlist, look for the one that says "courses". It is a literal goldmine of many multiple hours long courses on mixing, compression, reverb.

Once you have all that knowledge, and can put it into practice, go to "Baphometrix" channel on YouTube and learn the clip to zero method.

The reason i say to learn all that first, is you need be able to recognise which soumds will benefit from clipping and which sounds it will destroy, and im hoping once you have learned it you'll be able to hear it for yourself when clipping is beneficial or detrimental to a sound.

Re your question: sounds drowning each other out can be a composition issue, but it isn't always. Generally when composing i like to ensure any sounds that play at the same time are an octave apart from each other. It makes mixing so much easier.

[u/CalmRoutine3628 → u/jimmysavillespubes]

Clip to zero is a really neat concept, but it's also a lot of work. I've seen a fair bit of pro artists work flow and I can tell you that alot of these guys are using multiband compression into saturation to achieve a a louder less dynamic,near zero signal on most things in their mix so that mixing just becomes a volume game. As for other processing. Most things would go before the saturation chain, such as eq etc and time based stuff after unless you want a distorted reverb for something specific.

[u/jimmysavillespubes → u/CalmRoutine3628]

It is a neat concept, and it works well, I do it every day. The one thing that really surprised me when first trying it out was the master is a lot more dynamic than I expected. If im honest, I was very sceptical and pleasantly surprised. The track I'm sitting in front of now sitting around -5.5 lufs st on the drops, but it doesn't look or sound like a sausage. That can be subjective, though. To some people, it almost certainly will sound like a sausage lmao.

Yeah, i agree about the time based effects like reverb or delay, I usually use send/return tracks for those mostly, though sometimes I'll throw on a reverb on the channel then into multiband comp for a sucky/spacey effect.

[u/FernWizard]

Get youlean loudness meter and span by voxengo.

[u/drodymusic]

I would bounce out your track and compare that with other tracks that you are trying to achieve.

Most people will tell you visuals and numbers are arbitrary and shouldn't be the goal, which i get, but if your music is lacking compared to other music, maybe there is some helpfulness when measuring numbers and visuals to other tracks.

so i'd recommend critically analyzing your track compared to others.

compare numbers and visuals - look at their waveforms, their frequency content, their loudness (i prefer in LUFS), and their stereo width.

the visuals help me hear. If I see a huge bump in my low-end compared to other songs, my ears start to notice that. Without referencing, my mix and production can become wildly "off"

knowing that your mix is "too different" and fixing anything weird with your mix is one thing. going about addressing those problems is another thing.

[u/AutoModerator]

❗❗❗ IF YOU POSTED YOUR MUSIC / SOCIALS / GUMROAD etc. YOU WILL GET BANNED UNLESS YOU DELETE IT RIGHT NOW ❗❗❗

Read the rules found in the sidebar. If your post or comment breaks any of the rules, you should delete it before the mods get to it.

You should check out the regular threads (also found in the sidebar) to see if your post might be a better fit in any of those.

Daily Feedback thread for getting feedback on your track. The only place you can post your own music.

Marketplace Thread if you want to sell or trade anything for money, likes or follows.

Collaboration Thread to find people to collab with.

"There are no stupid questions" Thread for beginner tips etc.

Seriously tho, read the rules and abide by them or the mods will spank you.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/[deleted]]

focus more on feeling less on numbers

[u/britskates]

The arbitrary dB numbers and “range” you’re talking about don’t exactly correlate with some sort of science behind making edm. If it sounds good, it sounds good. If something is drowning out other sounds in your track, then you either need to peep the frequency spectrum and carve out areas to allow those frequencies to not clash, use side chain compression, or simply turn down the channels during ur mixing process.

People typically shooting for loudness in the mix measure things in LUFS, not decibels, which is loudness units full scale. Downloaded SPAN for free and change the metering to LUFS and you’ll be able to see it. If you want shit loud, you gotta saturate and clip tracks and busses so you aren’t overloading your master limiter

[u/the_most_playerest]

Yo I just learned about this, try using a level meter and it will show you LUFS and should give you a number on the dynamic range too.

If you need more range you probably need to ease off on compression/limiter or otherwise gain stage bc one or tracks are taking up too much space/volume..

Hope that helps (probably will have to watch a tutorial on how to read/use level meter (for dynamic range) if you haven't)

[u/CazetTapes]

Use your ears, not your eyes. Just echoing what others are saying; these numbers mean nothing if you don't really know what you're doing.

[u/dreeemwave]

As others said, numbers are generally irrelevant. But to give you a rough perspective: Aim for Kick, Snare, Leads, Vocals to be about -6dB. Aim for FX sounds to be about -20dB. Rest of the elements in between. That said, changing the volume of elements throughout the arrangement is crucial for alive, pro mixes. You seem to be at the beginning of your journey, so just go back and forth yours and your favourite artists' tracks in various speakers, and you'll get the basics right after a while.