[MPA] Recording for CD Sound Level with Digi001

[Gene Bogart]

> ----------------------------------------------------------
> Subject: [MPA] Recording for CD Sound Level with Digi001
> From: Satrokon <satrokon at mac.com>
> ... trying to figure out how to get my recordings to the right level to match
> professional audio CDs. ... my results generally turn out CDs much lower in
> volume ...turn the stereo system way up.
>

Sounds like what you may need to do is to "normalize" gain on your final
master levels. This is not to add further compression (which, as someone
mentioned, would result in loss of dynamic range), but rather to simply
"make everything louder", so that your CD's play back at about the same
volume settings/levels as all the other CD's people play.

As an analogy, if you were mixing multiple tracks into a stereo mix, and
were then going to record that onto tape; you might have your mix exactly as
you want it, but if the final recording levels on the "master" tape deck
weren't high enough, you would end up with a tape that was too quiet...  So
you'd boost the "input levels" on the recording tape deck to the proper
"normal" levels (i.e. to "zero VU", or just the level below which clipping
begins), and then your tape would be "properly saturated" and your final
product would sound "normal" when you played it back through your stereo or
in your car (or boombox... wherever.)

This is basically what a "normalize" function does in digital mastering. I'm
not sure if Pro Tools has a "normalize" built-in (you would think they
should, but who knows...)  At any rate, other mastering applications (like
Bias Peak) have it built in...  There's a free app from Prosoniq called
"SonicWorx Basic" that has "normalize". Here's the URL for the download:

<http://www.prosoniq.net/html/swrxbasic.html>

SonicWorx is pretty cool, it does a bunch of editing/processing functions
quite nicely, and it runs 8, 16, and 24 bit files.

If you need any further suggestions, feel free to contact me off-list.

-Gene

-- 
Gene Bogart

Bogart Voiceover Productions
* ABC-TV25(WPBF) Announcer *

<gbogart at bellsouth.net>
{fax/tel} 561-750-1899