Step 2: Set Ratios Lower and Thresholds Higher. Record and mix with good, natural dynamic range. Audacity: Trim Peaks to Boost Loudness (Without Clipping) Step 1: Open Audio. Step 3: Adjust Attack … If I try to keep the volume low to avoid clipping my overall audio is too quiet. You have to be careful not to totally squash your transients and dynamics though. It sounds like you don't have any processing on your master track yet? Here's a funsperiment for everyone: Put your entire mix through an overblown compressor/saturator/limiter, maybe even a guitar amp plugin. Most plugins nowadays have an input and output gain, but if you don't have the option within a plugin used, be sure to match input and output gain after any processing you apply. EQ - cut lows and make a nice even mix that isn't too boomy (or even a mix that SOUNDS like it needs more lows - they're going to be there, trust me.). The obvious answers is: Every track has to be treated differently, so there's no hidden "Button X" to make a track sound loud. i like to clone tracks if something is too quiet if i want to maintain the dynamics. When you are EQing tracks, listen carefully, and do your best to make it sound natural. Don't worry about that. Step 2: Envelope Tool. I've invested a little over a year in serious music production and always run into this problem. Audacity: Sliding Time Scale / Pitch Shift (Windows 7), Audacity: Trim Peaks to Boost Loudness (Without Clipping), Audacity: Delay for Multiple Echo Effect (Windows 7). Turn your speakers down. A brickwall limiter in particular. Use compressors mostly, limiters sparingly (on master bus). Learning this was a turning point for me. Setting normalization to -1dB will set the highest peak to -1dB and the rest of the audio will increase accordingly. of course it means that you'll have to lower the volume of both tracks a little (and i might end up grouping them and putting a limiter on just to be sure it doesn't clip) but it ends up sounding louder without being compressed to hell. Don't smash it, but around 3db of attenuation should be sufficient. compression. automation. Compression, limiting and saturation are your friends here. if you send your tracks to a mastering engineer, they will no doubt use a brickwall limiter to get the songs up to a competitive volume. You can play with more plugins in your chain like saturators or reverbs, but this is my starting point. Odds are high you have too much bass in the mix.A real mastering engineer will tell you what's going on with your mixes.Saturation is one way to get more volume.Comparative EQ is another.Careful bass control is most of it. You probably have to look into Equalizers, Compressors (as well as Limiters in this regard) and generally get a grasp on how volume perception works. The simplest answer is sometimes the right one, so don’t over-complicate it if you don’t have to. Using limiters or compressors kills the transients that give your audio space, depth, and clarity. This tool will create a "brickwall" where the audio will not be allowed to go past no matter what. The word 'perception' is the key word here! Learn compression first, the other two are very intuative and limiting is a derivative of compression anyway c: EQ. Focus on making it sound good. each in the right amounts in the right spots. Turn it Up In my opinion compression and limiting on the master bus is necessary. Can you still hear all of the instruments distinctly? A nice little trick I like to use when ITB mastering is a four-plugin process. Compression Trick That Boosts Loudness Without Destroying Your Music. (Your Mileage May Vary). Serious answer: You have a volume knob on your interface. I've invested a little over a year in serious music production. not all clipping is problematic. Step 1: Add at Least Two Compressors. Read up on dBFS, dBTP, LUFS, and volume normalization versus peak normalization. And if you want it "louder", turn up your playback volume. Hit the thing relatively hard. experience. Is there anything else I should be doing? it's often the most transparent way to gain loudness. most A-list mastering engineers clip their converters on a regular basis. and a deep understanding of perceived volume vs. actual volume. Log in, Listen to the original, un-edited audio seen above. Most people will just slap a limiter or a compressor and limiter combo on their master bus and just bump the input gain to make it loud; what they don't realize is the loudest frequencies (usually the lows of the kick drum or the mids of the guitar) are hitting the compressor FIRST and compressing the entire track before it gets a chance to breathe- which isn't bad for some styles like EDM, but for sheer, clean loudness you need to bring those factors down before you compress and adjust to the loudness of your choice. That of course is only part of what they do, but try throwing a brickwall limiter like the waves L2 on your master and you'll be surprised how quickly you can get your track louder. limiting. If not, your balance is probably off. Read up on dBFS, dBTP, LUFS, and volume normalization versus peak normalization. That is precisely the tool that gets used to increase the "loudness" of something without clipping.