What should volume be set to when finalizing songs?

dpizza wrote on 9/4/2023, 4:57 PM

Hi everyone,

Finished my first song. I have 6 tracks and they all set to same volume (midway (50%) using the volume slider on the left of the tracks).

My question is now that I am ready to publish it, what should the volume be set to each of the tracks? 50% 75% or all the way to the right 100%? I want all of the tracks at same volume just not sure what that should be before publishing a song?

Thanks for your help

Comments

SP. wrote on 9/4/2023, 5:19 PM

@dpizza This cannot be set generally. Compare it with songs where you like the volume and loudness. And carefully check the optimization options if you publish your music to streaming services or else they might lower the volume or loudness by a significant amount.

dpizza wrote on 9/4/2023, 5:31 PM

@SP.So there are no standards for setting the volume? I’m worried the sound may be too loud or too soft. Is there a range I should stay within so I won’t have those worries? Like maybe anywhere from 60% to 80%?

SP. wrote on 9/4/2023, 6:06 PM

@dpizza You need to stay under 0db or you'll get distortion and clipping. Everything else is up to you.

Using reference tracks to get the volume and loudness to a comparable level is highly recommended. Each genre of music is different. There are also differences between formats like streaming, CD or vinyl. It depends where you want to release your music.

dpizza wrote on 9/12/2023, 1:28 PM

Thanks @SP. and I just found this website to test your loudness per song and any reference song you may be using as a base. https://www.loudnesspenalty.com I've tested many different bands mp3's and they are all over the place with what loudness they use. Mine are midpoint in comparison. (-2.6 average - some bands I've tested went to -8.6 and a few were even higher and some averaged at -4.6 mark)

Here are my results from the loudness penalty

-2.6 YouTube

-2.6 Spotify

-2.6 TIDAL

-4.6 Apple

-1 Apple (Legacy)

-2.6 Amazon

-1.3 Pandora

-3.6 Deezer

browj2 wrote on 9/12/2023, 9:09 PM

@dpizza

Hi,

Download, install and learn how to use YouLean Loudness Meter 2. Watch this tutorial to learn how to use it.

For YouTube, you should have a max. of -14 LUFS and no clipping.

John CB

dpizza wrote on 9/12/2023, 9:19 PM

Thanks @browj2 I will check it out!

browj2 wrote on 9/14/2023, 8:12 AM

@dpizza

Hi,

I just tried YouLean Loudness Meter in Music Maker 2024. I noticed that putting it on the master FX in the Mixer, it is pre-fader, so the levels of the faders on the master strip have no impact on what you see in YouLean. The best way is to run it and if the LUFS exceed your target, reduce the master faders by the number of dB required. Then export and run the export through YouLean and an online program to see if what you get is acceptable. Of course, you have to do mixing of the tracks to get the right mix of audio that you want.

I also noticed that most, if not all, Soundpool loops are already normalized to 100%. When I put YouLean on a track with one of these, like drums, it shows that the peak is exceeding 0 dB, which shouldn't happen.

My test was with Deep House Vol. 1, Apparat A - gives +3.6 dB peak. Backbeats A is less at +0.3 dB. When combined, I get about +5.6 dB peak, so the volume of both will have to be reduced. That is part of the mixing process.

Another good tool is MLoudnessAnalyzer from Melda. Download and install the free bundle from Melda and try MLoudnessAnalyzer It has more tools and you can set the target and adjust the output gain or use Auto-gain so that you hit the target. The graphing is not quite as good as YouLean, I think, but there is some flexibility. It takes some learning to use this to your advantage.

You can add the meters to each track and to the master track FX in the mixer.

John CB

dpizza wrote on 9/14/2023, 10:19 AM

@browj2 Thanks I will give those a try this week and see how they do in Music Maker (YouLean & MLoudness Analyzer)