I read through an old thread on here about mastering (the one jfrey posted a long whiles back) but I still wonder if anyone can help a fuzz-brotha out.
Questions:
-How do I get my tracks as loud as something I hear that has been "professionally" mixed and mastered without compressing the bejeezus out of it? I HATE compression. I LOVE volume dynamics. I HATE when I have to turn the volume up like 15 notches to get my song to be as loud as something "professional." Is this just one of those things that I can't have both ways? Sometimes I'll send one of the tracks to a send track and modify the volumes accordingly. It makes the overall sound louder, but I can't tell if it's a dumb way to solve the issue.
-Does anyone have a good set of tips or tricks to make tracks an even volume? I feel like I get marginally close, but they're still noticeably off, I think. You know how you can look at the tracks you have running, and the master volume, and they're all at a certain volume, and then you go to another song you have with everything more or less at the same levels, but the song sounds quieter or louder than the other? That frustrates me. I do realize that bass tones seem quieter and mids and highs seem louder, but I'm having trouble finding the middle ground, I think.
-I record using monitor headphones to avoid mixing issues, and yet when I mix down and export tracks it's often-times really overpowering. I try to use a graphic EQ to see where those tones are and drop them accordingly, but is there a more effective way of dealing with this?
Thanks dewds. You rock.