Thank you very much, Jono, for yet another clear, succinct and instructive video. It was just what I was looking for and you explain things so much more clearly than most of the techy people out there!
Best teacher around, as always! I found this out the hard way with many trials and errors. What I find I do is I create automation points on all of the tracks, that way if I have to keep going in and making adjustments to overall volume or perhaps groups of certain tracks like strings sections, etc., I select all and drag all points down.
That definitely works! You might also find assigning multiple tracks to a VCA Fader helpful. I’ve looked at that approach in Part 2 - let me know if it helps. That way, you can ‘trim’ output volume for multiple tracks from a single fader. Thanks for the kind words as always, Jennifer. I hugely appreciate your ongoing support.
Hi, Jono. So I’m having an issue that is similar but a little different then the issue that your experiencing. It’s a little hard to explain but I’ll try my best to explain it to the best of my ability. So as of right now, I have Logic Pro opened and I’m currently creating a song. I have 2 tracks made. 1 for the beat & 1 for my main vocal. And down below in my mixer, I have 6 mixer tracks being shown. 1. The Beat 2. My main vocal 3. My Reverb Send Track 4. My Noise Gate Send Track and then 5. The Stereo Out Track with #6 being the Master Slot Track. Inside of my main vocal track (Audio FX Slots) I have a Channel EQ, DeEsser 2, Compressor and Auto-Tune. Mind you, my vocal track is completely empty…Without anything being recorded under the vocal track, For some odd reason (inside of my headphones) Me actively singing with (Input monitoring) on, the left side of my headphones where my Input Sound is being played back through is noticeably a lot louder then the right side. So long story short, with everything I describe of my studio session right now, the left side of my headphone speaker is a lot louder than the right side and it’s not my headphones themselves, I’ve checked. It’s literally just the track itself, I noticed it would simultaneously fade over as I added each (Audio FX) to my (Audio Effect Slot)…Any Answer on why this is happening and the best solution of how to fix it without messing anything up?
Hi. There are several reasons why this might be happening, so this one is tough to diagnose via text! But, my best guess is that it sounds as though the Audio Track you're using to record your vocals is a stereo track and that your microphone is plugged into Input 1 (ie the left side of that stereo track), which means that the left channel is loud and the right channel is quiet(er). If you're recording vocals with a single microphone (which is how most vocal recordings are made), remove all of the Insert Effects on your current vocal Audio track and then click the button to the left of the Input routing at the top of the channel strip for your Vocal channel so that it's a mono track, which looks like a single circle. If that doesn't fix the problem, bypass all of the effects channels and make a recording of your voice. Play this back, solo'd, and check whether, on playback, the sound is biased to the left. If it's not, turn on the first Insert effect you're using and see if this biases it towards the left. Keep repeating this process with each subsequent plug-in to see if any of them are introducing a treatment which is biased to the left-hand side. But my best guess is that you're working with a stereo track which, for vocals, you don't need to be. I hope that helps.
I find that the more tracks I have, the more likely a mix is to clip, and yet the overall LUFS are pretty low. I'm so confused about why this happens or how to fix it.
Sorry you’re having that problem. This is something I’ll happily revisit in future episodes. Remember that there are a lot of ways of measuring volume, some of which are transitory and others of which are averaged over a long period of time, including the entire length of a track. So it’s absolutely possible to have temporary spikes which clip at the same time as a relatively low average LUFS reading. A range of dynamics tools exist for regulating volume (alongside volume Automation itself), which can help tame spikes.
Trim Automation excellent, had similar problems once on the stereo out of distortion, I use a VU meter last in the chain on the stereo out to check the mix as I build, not sure if this is a good idea but thought id mention, cheers for all the vids
Could you trim from the Automation page all of them at the same time? Also what I used to do is create a VCA for all the tracks except reverb for the reason you mentioned. But we have to be careful because if our sends are pre-fader then this stantement is not true.
Hi Jean-Phillipe. Strangely, you can't easily selected several tracks to Trim their Automation simultaneously. However, if you assign all of the tracks you want to Trim to a Group, you can do exactly that. Select them, create a Group and then Trim any of them from a Volume Automation perspective and they'll all drop by that amount. You can then 'un-Group' them if you want to. I hope that helps.
Question- I notice that some of your channel strips hit yellow . Aren’t channels like kick and bass supposed to be around -10. And all channels to be in the green to leave room for mastering?.
Hi. Great question. There are no ‘absolute hard-and-fast’ rules about output volume for mastering. Some mastering engineers will say that they like somewhere around 3dB of headroom to play with, whereas others will prefer a little more. The principal considerations are ensuring that your output level isn’t so hot that it’s overloading and introducing digital artefacts. And - at the other extreme - that you’re not compromising resolution by printing mixes quiet enough that the signal-to-noise ratio is compromised as Gain needs to be boosted a lot at the mastering stage. Remember that individual track volumes within a mix are less of a consideration, so long as each one isn’t overloading/introducing artefacts. I’ve never worked with a mastering engineer who has expressed dissatisfaction with pre-mastered mixes printed to peak around the -3dB or -4dB mark. These days, we measure digital output level in a number of different ways, depending on whether you’re making masters for CD or for streaming services. But that’s a whole other topic of discussion! I hope that helps a little.
Yes, the automation trim is lovely. Saves the messing around selecting the automation points and fiddling with the dragging up and down. Question: I do volume automation as the very last thing in my workflow and I try to get my master volume around -6db. Am I on the right track (pun intended ) here with this rough volume db target?
Hi John. The short answer is yes, -6B should be fine. The slightly longer answer is that it slightly depends on the bit depth at which you're working. If you're printing a mix at -6dB and you're going to have it mastered, it's highly likely that part of the mastering process will seek to bring levels up overall (how hard the mastering engineer will work to achieve inflated output volume will depend on the genre of music and your instructions as to how 'loud' you want the track to sound). As levels are boosted, the noise floor and 'artefacts' in your mix will also be raised, so there is an advantage to looking to print mixes closer to -3dB (or so) to ensure there isn't a resolution loss as mastering takes place. If you were working at 8-bit (I'm sure you're not, I'm just using it as an example!), the noise floor boost would be pretty apparent as mastering levels bring volume up. At 16-bit, it would be much less apparent and at 24-bit, it's not really an issue.
Jono, this is a masterclass gem! Helpful, clear, so well presented; and a set of skills that are great to add to my Logic toolbox. Much appreciated. -Jimmy
Thanks Jono for another really helpful video. On a slightly unrelated subject can you use the Logic Remote control for iPad to write in automation as well as say control the mixer? As I have a Korg nanokontrol which is pretty temperamental! Thanks!
You can indeed select Automation modes and draw Automation from Logic Remote, though there are some limitations in terms of parameters and it's much less capable (than the mouse and the Main Page) when it comes to anything third-party plug-in related. I'm very happy to make a video exploring its strengths and weaknesses for the series.
I’ve had a weird phenomenon happen where a single vst was spiking apparently at 30db or higher when I would play something on my keyboard with it, but the output volume (basic send with 0 plugins/limiters) was still saying something like -9db. I would expect using a limiter would make this happen but it was peculiar to see this happen without any explanation or prior experience on my end
Hi Lachy. Yes, I'd aim for the summed mix peaking at around -3dB at the Stereo Buss stage, with the Master (VCA) Fader set at 0dB (as recommended in this video). That's a good target and allows for a dB or so in either direction. You can then create a processing chain of plug-ins to control dynamics and output level thereafter. Video on that very subject coming soon.
Always follow the advice of a mix or mastering engineer, so I'm happy to be over-ruled! But be careful that the overall output level isn't printed low enough for resolution to be compromised, or that the noise floor comes up through the mastering process.
Hi Jono. That problem’s been occupying me quite a bit, so thanks v much for the video. Can I ask, would it also be legitimate to lower the gain on the individual track inputs? I’ve noticed a lot of loops come in very hot. I guess this feeds in to the contentious topic of Logic gain staging? Looking forward to following your new channel. Pete
Hi Pete. You're welcome and great to have you here. Lowering the Gain on the track inputs would certainly help manage volume further down the line but be careful. If you lower input gain (at the top of a channel strip) having already configured a Compressor solution for that track on a subsequent plug-in, the Compressor will behave differently as a result of receiving a lower input level, potentially changing your mix considerably. So if your starting point for gain reduction is to lower the Gain of a loop at the point you drag it into the project as a first step, absolutely this will help you. But if you decide to do that further into the process, because gain structure is getting out of hand, just be careful to ensure things are still sounding as they should.
Hi Jono! Thank you very much for the video, I found it quite helpful. But I have one question: the peaks seem to be standing still, does that mean they are showing the maximum? How can peaks be measured correctly and accurately? Thanks!!
Hello! Glad the video was helpful. For true level measurements, I'd recommend putting Logic's Level Meter (in the Metering folder) plug-in on the Master Output fader at the very end of the chain. This will let you check RMS and/or Peak levels, giving you an accurate 'live' level check at playback. Hope that helps.
Hi Jan. Absolutely, VCA Faders are great and, in fact, a video comparing the ways in which Volume can be managed is upcoming. It's useful to have a number of techniques at your disposal, as sometimes Volume is an issue on just one track (in which case Volume Automation management is effective) and other times, the issue is across a whole mix.
That was truly great Jono. I have one question though. You emphasised placing the gain plugin in the first slot on the stereo out. I was wondering why not the last? I'm guessing the in the first slot it is adjusting gain while in the last slot it is adjusting volume and it would be simpler to just turn down the stereo out fader. Am I correct? Would love to hear your explanation for this.
Thanks Warren. Ideally, you don't want to touch the Stereo Output fader OR the Master VCA fader but rather to use each track's volume faders to ensure that the level reaching the Stereo Output is controlled. If it's within 1 or 2dB of where you want it to be, a cheeky Gain plug-in at the top of the Stereo Out channel can offset level to set you up for the stereo processing you might then go on to do on the Stereo Output Buss (EQ, Compression, Stereo Width, Loudness Maximising etc...). So think of the Gain plug-in as an initial volume regulator, rather than as a final volume control for your overall output level. I can see how this might be confusing, so do look out for next week's video, which I hope will help!
Thank you very much, Jono, for yet another clear, succinct and instructive video. It was just what I was looking for and you explain things so much more clearly than most of the techy people out there!
Thank you so much. 🙏
Very helpful! Didn't know about the trim on the automation 👌 Thanks
Thanks Stephen. Happy to hear it was instructive!
Same here. Thank you, Jono.
@@eh2254 You're very welcome.
Best teacher around, as always! I found this out the hard way with many trials and errors. What I find I do is I create automation points on all of the tracks, that way if I have to keep going in and making adjustments to overall volume or perhaps groups of certain tracks like strings sections, etc., I select all and drag all points down.
That definitely works! You might also find assigning multiple tracks to a VCA Fader helpful. I’ve looked at that approach in Part 2 - let me know if it helps. That way, you can ‘trim’ output volume for multiple tracks from a single fader. Thanks for the kind words as always, Jennifer. I hugely appreciate your ongoing support.
@@jonobuchananmusic Thanks, Jono Buchanan! I look forward to watching it this weekend; and you are most welcome! 🎵
Hi, Jono. So I’m having an issue that is similar but a little different then the issue that your experiencing. It’s a little hard to explain but I’ll try my best to explain it to the best of my ability. So as of right now, I have Logic Pro opened and I’m currently creating a song. I have 2 tracks made.
1 for the beat & 1 for my main vocal.
And down below in my mixer, I have 6 mixer tracks being shown.
1. The Beat 2. My main vocal 3. My Reverb Send Track 4. My Noise Gate Send Track and then 5. The Stereo Out Track with #6 being the Master Slot Track.
Inside of my main vocal track (Audio FX Slots) I have a Channel EQ, DeEsser 2, Compressor and Auto-Tune.
Mind you, my vocal track is completely empty…Without anything being recorded under the vocal track, For some odd reason (inside of my headphones) Me actively singing with (Input monitoring) on, the left side of my headphones where my Input Sound is being played back through is noticeably a lot louder then the right side. So long story short, with everything I describe of my studio session right now, the left side of my headphone speaker is a lot louder than the right side and it’s not my headphones themselves, I’ve checked. It’s literally just the track itself, I noticed it would simultaneously fade over as I added each (Audio FX) to my (Audio Effect Slot)…Any Answer on why this is happening and the best solution of how to fix it without messing anything up?
Hi. There are several reasons why this might be happening, so this one is tough to diagnose via text! But, my best guess is that it sounds as though the Audio Track you're using to record your vocals is a stereo track and that your microphone is plugged into Input 1 (ie the left side of that stereo track), which means that the left channel is loud and the right channel is quiet(er). If you're recording vocals with a single microphone (which is how most vocal recordings are made), remove all of the Insert Effects on your current vocal Audio track and then click the button to the left of the Input routing at the top of the channel strip for your Vocal channel so that it's a mono track, which looks like a single circle.
If that doesn't fix the problem, bypass all of the effects channels and make a recording of your voice. Play this back, solo'd, and check whether, on playback, the sound is biased to the left. If it's not, turn on the first Insert effect you're using and see if this biases it towards the left. Keep repeating this process with each subsequent plug-in to see if any of them are introducing a treatment which is biased to the left-hand side. But my best guess is that you're working with a stereo track which, for vocals, you don't need to be.
I hope that helps.
Good timing! Something I've been struggling with recently.
Telepathy! Glad it was helpful.
I find that the more tracks I have, the more likely a mix is to clip, and yet the overall LUFS are pretty low. I'm so confused about why this happens or how to fix it.
Sorry you’re having that problem. This is something I’ll happily revisit in future episodes. Remember that there are a lot of ways of measuring volume, some of which are transitory and others of which are averaged over a long period of time, including the entire length of a track. So it’s absolutely possible to have temporary spikes which clip at the same time as a relatively low average LUFS reading. A range of dynamics tools exist for regulating volume (alongside volume Automation itself), which can help tame spikes.
Trim Automation excellent, had similar problems once on the stereo out of distortion, I use a VU meter last in the chain on the stereo out to check the mix as I build, not sure if this is a good idea but thought id mention, cheers for all the vids
Absolutely, monitoring output levels as you go is always a great idea.
Could you trim from the Automation page all of them at the same time? Also what I used to do is create a VCA for all the tracks except reverb for the reason you mentioned. But we have to be careful because if our sends are pre-fader then this stantement is not true.
Hi Jean-Phillipe. Strangely, you can't easily selected several tracks to Trim their Automation simultaneously. However, if you assign all of the tracks you want to Trim to a Group, you can do exactly that. Select them, create a Group and then Trim any of them from a Volume Automation perspective and they'll all drop by that amount. You can then 'un-Group' them if you want to. I hope that helps.
Question- I notice that some of your channel strips hit yellow . Aren’t channels like kick and bass supposed to be around -10. And all channels to be in the green to leave room for mastering?.
Hi. Great question. There are no ‘absolute hard-and-fast’ rules about output volume for mastering. Some mastering engineers will say that they like somewhere around 3dB of headroom to play with, whereas others will prefer a little more. The principal considerations are ensuring that your output level isn’t so hot that it’s overloading and introducing digital artefacts. And - at the other extreme - that you’re not compromising resolution by printing mixes quiet enough that the signal-to-noise ratio is compromised as Gain needs to be boosted a lot at the mastering stage. Remember that individual track volumes within a mix are less of a consideration, so long as each one isn’t overloading/introducing artefacts. I’ve never worked with a mastering engineer who has expressed dissatisfaction with pre-mastered mixes printed to peak around the -3dB or -4dB mark. These days, we measure digital output level in a number of different ways, depending on whether you’re making masters for CD or for streaming services. But that’s a whole other topic of discussion! I hope that helps a little.
Yes, the automation trim is lovely. Saves the messing around selecting the automation points and fiddling with the dragging up and down.
Question: I do volume automation as the very last thing in my workflow and I try to get my master volume around -6db. Am I on the right track (pun intended ) here with this rough volume db target?
Hi John. The short answer is yes, -6B should be fine. The slightly longer answer is that it slightly depends on the bit depth at which you're working. If you're printing a mix at -6dB and you're going to have it mastered, it's highly likely that part of the mastering process will seek to bring levels up overall (how hard the mastering engineer will work to achieve inflated output volume will depend on the genre of music and your instructions as to how 'loud' you want the track to sound). As levels are boosted, the noise floor and 'artefacts' in your mix will also be raised, so there is an advantage to looking to print mixes closer to -3dB (or so) to ensure there isn't a resolution loss as mastering takes place. If you were working at 8-bit (I'm sure you're not, I'm just using it as an example!), the noise floor boost would be pretty apparent as mastering levels bring volume up. At 16-bit, it would be much less apparent and at 24-bit, it's not really an issue.
@@jonobuchananmusic Thanks Jono, great answer.
Jono, this is a masterclass gem! Helpful, clear, so well presented; and a set of skills that are great to add to my Logic toolbox. Much appreciated. -Jimmy
You’re so welcome, Jimmy. Delighted to hear it was helpful.
Excellent video. Very helpful. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful! Thank you.
Thanks Jono for another really helpful video. On a slightly unrelated subject can you use the Logic Remote control for iPad to write in automation as well as say control the mixer? As I have a Korg nanokontrol which is pretty temperamental! Thanks!
You can indeed select Automation modes and draw Automation from Logic Remote, though there are some limitations in terms of parameters and it's much less capable (than the mouse and the Main Page) when it comes to anything third-party plug-in related. I'm very happy to make a video exploring its strengths and weaknesses for the series.
@@jonobuchananmusic that would be great if you have the time? Many thanks Jono! Paddy
I’ve had a weird phenomenon happen where a single vst was spiking apparently at 30db or higher when I would play something on my keyboard with it, but the output volume (basic send with 0 plugins/limiters) was still saying something like -9db. I would expect using a limiter would make this happen but it was peculiar to see this happen without any explanation or prior experience on my end
This does happen sometimes with 3rd Party plug-ins. Put it down as a glitch as there's no rational explanation that I've found!
Great video! Is there a target pre-master level you should aim for when mixing?
Not sure about what Jono sets aim for...but when working with my mastering engineer, it's usually -6db
Hi Lachy. Yes, I'd aim for the summed mix peaking at around -3dB at the Stereo Buss stage, with the Master (VCA) Fader set at 0dB (as recommended in this video). That's a good target and allows for a dB or so in either direction. You can then create a processing chain of plug-ins to control dynamics and output level thereafter. Video on that very subject coming soon.
Always follow the advice of a mix or mastering engineer, so I'm happy to be over-ruled! But be careful that the overall output level isn't printed low enough for resolution to be compromised, or that the noise floor comes up through the mastering process.
Amazing teacher as always, thank you!
Thank you so much!
Hi Jono. That problem’s been occupying me quite a bit, so thanks v much for the video. Can I ask, would it also be legitimate to lower the gain on the individual track inputs? I’ve noticed a lot of loops come in very hot. I guess this feeds in to the contentious topic of Logic gain staging? Looking forward to following your new channel. Pete
Hi Pete. You're welcome and great to have you here. Lowering the Gain on the track inputs would certainly help manage volume further down the line but be careful. If you lower input gain (at the top of a channel strip) having already configured a Compressor solution for that track on a subsequent plug-in, the Compressor will behave differently as a result of receiving a lower input level, potentially changing your mix considerably. So if your starting point for gain reduction is to lower the Gain of a loop at the point you drag it into the project as a first step, absolutely this will help you. But if you decide to do that further into the process, because gain structure is getting out of hand, just be careful to ensure things are still sounding as they should.
@@jonobuchananmusic Thanks, Jono. I’ll bear all that in mind. Pete
Hi Jono! Thank you very much for the video, I found it quite helpful. But I have one question: the peaks seem to be standing still, does that mean they are showing the maximum? How can peaks be measured correctly and accurately?
Thanks!!
Hello! Glad the video was helpful. For true level measurements, I'd recommend putting Logic's Level Meter (in the Metering folder) plug-in on the Master Output fader at the very end of the chain. This will let you check RMS and/or Peak levels, giving you an accurate 'live' level check at playback. Hope that helps.
@@jonobuchananmusic Thank you, Jono! I wish you well!
What song is that? Is it on Spotify or somewhere online? It sounds amazing!
It's one of Logic's Live Loops sessions - I think it's called Solaris. All yours to go and have a play with!
Yup, exactly was my issue. Can't believe how timely this is. Appreciate 🙏
Fantastic! Really glad to be able to help.
Brilliant video, really helpful advice on stuff I've been struggling with lately.. Thanks Jono I'm learning so much from your channel
Hi Ed. That's great to hear and many thanks. Part 2 on this topic will arrive on Wednesday.
Very helpful indeed. Thanks !
You're welcome! Thanks Jimmy.
Thank you Jono :)
My pleasure! Glad it was helpful.
Another (and easier) way would be to use a vca-fader for all tracks. No need to change volume-automation in this case.
Hi Jan. Absolutely, VCA Faders are great and, in fact, a video comparing the ways in which Volume can be managed is upcoming. It's useful to have a number of techniques at your disposal, as sometimes Volume is an issue on just one track (in which case Volume Automation management is effective) and other times, the issue is across a whole mix.
That was truly great Jono. I have one question though. You emphasised placing the gain plugin in the first slot on the stereo out. I was wondering why not the last? I'm guessing the in the first slot it is adjusting gain while in the last slot it is adjusting volume and it would be simpler to just turn down the stereo out fader. Am I correct? Would love to hear your explanation for this.
Thanks Warren. Ideally, you don't want to touch the Stereo Output fader OR the Master VCA fader but rather to use each track's volume faders to ensure that the level reaching the Stereo Output is controlled. If it's within 1 or 2dB of where you want it to be, a cheeky Gain plug-in at the top of the Stereo Out channel can offset level to set you up for the stereo processing you might then go on to do on the Stereo Output Buss (EQ, Compression, Stereo Width, Loudness Maximising etc...). So think of the Gain plug-in as an initial volume regulator, rather than as a final volume control for your overall output level. I can see how this might be confusing, so do look out for next week's video, which I hope will help!
@@jonobuchananmusic Thank you for that comprehensive reply Jono. Waiting eagerly for next week's video. Wish I could give you more than 1 like.