Signal pushing speakers too hard?

[tommytime555]

Pardon my ignorance in advance.

I feel like I have a solid mix, created a master fader to assure I am staying well below zero but on export my song is still playing way too hot (especially in the car). I can pretty much say with certainty that it's the kick drum but I have no idea what to do about it... Per each kick it basically pushes all the other sound back for a second, like a throbbing. I don't know the correct terminology for this but there's obviously something I'm doing way wrong. In the past, as long as I was below zero on the master fader my exports were totally fine... Not now..

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

T

[Bookerv12]

Sounds like you have a limiter on the master fader.

[Darryl Ramm]

Is your sound system output calibrated to a listening level/SPL? Tested playing back similar commercial music that you know?

Find the track the kick drum is on an turn that down in the mix... experiment, listen with you ears, don't pay too much attention to where meters are.

Your car sound system may have resonant frequencies around that kick drum frequency (many do) and may or may not be a good reference for your music/intended audience.

And yes, if you are crushing the life out of this with a compressor/limiter then its likely to 'sound loud' if its anywhere near close to 0dbFS.

[tommytime555]

Thank you both.

@Bookerv12 // My master definitely does not have a limiter on it. It's totally clean & clear.

@Darryl // The system I was using is the factory stereo in a Ford Focus. All other music references sound fine.... I'll definitely try turning the kick track down but if it was going to have this effect in the car, wouldn't it also do the same thing under the mixing-headphones?

Thanks a lot!

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by tommytime555

@Darryl // The system I was using is the factory stereo in a Ford Focus. All other music references sound fine.... I'll definitely try turning the kick track down but if it was going to have this effect in the car, wouldn't it also do the same thing under the mixing-headphones?

Uh no. Car systems frequently have nasty resonances. Headphones? Not comparable, most people's heads are not hollow and even if they are they don't have resonant frequencies around that of a kick drum.

[Darryl Ramm]

You want to see how non-flat/resonant the car is... you likely have all you need. Play back a slow swept sine wave tone from Pro Tools signal gen into the car radio system, however you are getting stuff there now. And record that into Pro Tools with a mic with good low-frequency response. Car doors closed, mic at ear positions.

[albee1952]

What speakers are you mixing on? How well is your mixing space treated with bass traps?. What does the mix sound like in decent headphones? The bottom octaves are the toughest to get right because the vast majority of project/home studios have serious inaccuracies in the 50-175Hz range(which is where most of the bass drum and bass guitar "meat" lies)

[Drew Mazurek]

Originally Posted by tommytime555

I feel like I have a solid mix

To put it bluntly, you don't.

If you did of course, it would sound like all the other music you listen to in the car.

What you're describing sounds like a pumping buss compressor. The impact of the kick induces so much compression that it pulls the whole mix "down" with it.

[tommytime555]

Thanks Drew!

When you say "buss compressor", not totally following you.... As of right now, I don't have any compression on the drums, nor are the drums going through a buss. It's a simple .wav stereo mix I dropped into my session/track and it's clean, there are no effects, compression or patches on this track....... Question - is there a possibility the guys that recorded/exported this drum track put too much compression on kick and it's causing my whole mix to throb?

Just for reference, here is the drum track (stereo): https://www.dropbox.com/s/v4540xdrq2...0Dust.wav?dl=0

Thanks so much!

T

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by tommytime555

Thanks Drew!

When you say "buss compressor", not totally following you.... As of right now, I don't have any compression on the drums, nor are the drums going through a buss. It's a simple .wav stereo mix I dropped into my session/track and it's clean, there are no effects, compression or patches on this track....... Question - is there a possibility the guys that recorded/exported this drum track put too much compression on kick and it's causing my whole mix to throb?

Just for reference, here is the drum track (stereo): https://www.dropbox.com/s/v4540xdrq2...0Dust.wav?dl=0

Thanks so much!

T

You always have a bus, if only the final output bus, Drew is likely assuming you have a compressor limiter there affecting the whole mix. If the drums were separately compressed and you do not have a compressor/limiter on the output or similar bus then nothing should cause the whole mix to pump, if there was a compressor on the drum track, then sure it could pump that. (Uh but maybe be careful of any stupid automatic output level controls in the car sound system, again you have to understand your monitoring system). Do you hear that happening elsewhere or just the car? It sounds like the car was your concern... If so its likely not in the mix and its an issue with the car audio, wether that really matters or not is uh....

You are dealing with low-frequency issues, which as said, is difficult, you need a well set up room, experience listening in that room with reference music, and you need experience in the car or similar listening to references as well. That a particular car audio might sound boomy/have low frequency resonances is not even interesting news....

Is this just a prerecorded commercial jam track? Or an actual performance from a band? If the later and you are expected to mix this then you should be working from the raw audio tracks. If somebody else is cleaning up/premixing the drums, they ideally should deliver those to you as a Pro Tools session, not a stereo mix down.