Loudness Balancing
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:18 pm
Hi Guys,
Been a very long time since I was last in the forum. But I am still faithfully using Har-Bal to brilliant effect on all my work. I'm currently working at the Grosevenor House Bar 44 in Dubai and am trying to balance all my tracks to an equal loudness in order to avoid groping the desk to modify volume levels while I'm working!
I have read (and re-read!) the comments on how Har-Bal manages the RMS levels but the issue I'm struggling with is one of track 'density'. When a track has fewer instruments or is thinner in orchestration, the increase in RMS value to match another track that is much fuller, or 'more dense', is often very dramatic and, in my opinion, makes the track seem far too loud to be of equal 'level' to the reference track.
For example, I'm running a track for 'Autumn Leaves' that has only brushes, acoustic bass, a gentle jazz guitar and a sax solo. I'm using Do I Do as a reference track for RMS. These are all instrumental backing tracks that I have constructed in MIDI and recorded out. Do I Do is, of course, a much more dense and fuller production with many instruments and a bigger orchestration. When matching Autumn Leaves to Do I Do, the RMS increase is quite dramatic and really seems to make the track far too loud to be of equal loudness.
I'm just wondering what your thoughts are on trying to loudness balance tracks that are not as full in instrumentation without making them seem to become too loud when matched to another track's RMS levels.
I hope I haven't been too confusing with my description of the issue and look forward to your thoughts on whether or not this is just a perceived quirk. Generally though, I just find that the less complex the track, the much louder in reality is seems than those that are more dense in production when trying to match them. For example, the acoustic bass in Autumn Leaves is now really loud with the increase to match RMS. Naturally, the bass in the other, more fuller track, is covered by a whole range of other instruments and therefore is not as prominent so sounds more acceptable in listening level. Or do I just land up going with what my ears tell me.....? Thing is, when I'm working I want to try and avoid having to modify volume levels too often.
Thanks guys!
Brendan
Been a very long time since I was last in the forum. But I am still faithfully using Har-Bal to brilliant effect on all my work. I'm currently working at the Grosevenor House Bar 44 in Dubai and am trying to balance all my tracks to an equal loudness in order to avoid groping the desk to modify volume levels while I'm working!
I have read (and re-read!) the comments on how Har-Bal manages the RMS levels but the issue I'm struggling with is one of track 'density'. When a track has fewer instruments or is thinner in orchestration, the increase in RMS value to match another track that is much fuller, or 'more dense', is often very dramatic and, in my opinion, makes the track seem far too loud to be of equal 'level' to the reference track.
For example, I'm running a track for 'Autumn Leaves' that has only brushes, acoustic bass, a gentle jazz guitar and a sax solo. I'm using Do I Do as a reference track for RMS. These are all instrumental backing tracks that I have constructed in MIDI and recorded out. Do I Do is, of course, a much more dense and fuller production with many instruments and a bigger orchestration. When matching Autumn Leaves to Do I Do, the RMS increase is quite dramatic and really seems to make the track far too loud to be of equal loudness.
I'm just wondering what your thoughts are on trying to loudness balance tracks that are not as full in instrumentation without making them seem to become too loud when matched to another track's RMS levels.
I hope I haven't been too confusing with my description of the issue and look forward to your thoughts on whether or not this is just a perceived quirk. Generally though, I just find that the less complex the track, the much louder in reality is seems than those that are more dense in production when trying to match them. For example, the acoustic bass in Autumn Leaves is now really loud with the increase to match RMS. Naturally, the bass in the other, more fuller track, is covered by a whole range of other instruments and therefore is not as prominent so sounds more acceptable in listening level. Or do I just land up going with what my ears tell me.....? Thing is, when I'm working I want to try and avoid having to modify volume levels too often.
Thanks guys!
Brendan