Recording at -6db question

[Jaimie]

Hi,

So I've got my songs recorded as drafts in Pro tools (no mixing no eq nothing literally just panning at most) because im a musician not a producer. I'm sending all the stems to the producer soon.

He tells me I need to record in 24bit depth and don't go past -6db. With the 24bit depth how can I check this is the case? When I press "save session copy" in PT 10HD by default the box is checked at 24 so I assume that's what the session is already in.

Secondly the -6db, how can I see where 6db is, on each fader when I click on it I can slide each track to -6db but yet I can still turn my amp up loud and make it go to red and clip. I don't get it. (noob detected) Also, how can I "lock" this at -6db so it doesn't go over? I have recently used a compressor plugin (the inbuilt one), turned attack to minimum (like the 0.010s or whatever the lowest value is, same thing for release, put thresh at -6, ratio to full and that makes a horizontal line/brickwall, I think that means it won't go over that value?

Huge noob alert, please don't slay me!

J

[JFreak]

Fader is a tool to change gain levels of a signal. What they mean about "don't go over -6dB" is that the signal shouldn't be louder than that, if possible. Right next to the fader you should see a level meter and if that jumping colourful meter does not reach -6 (the scale should be right next to it) everything should be fine.

Also, in the setup menu there is a "session" setup where you can check whether you have a 24 bit session or something else. It should default to 24bit and you need to change it yourself if you want 16bit or 32bit.

[Drew Mazurek]

FYI, the term you're looking for is multitrack not stem.

Stems are sub mixes created from the multitrack. For example a drum stem is usually a stereo track or stem made up of 8, 10, etc original tracks.

[albee1952]

PT11 has much better metering. With older versions, just into the yellow is a good level. There is another option that I will offer, but I would likely NOT use it myself. That would be to normalize the tracks to -6(Audiosuite>Normalize). I also don't get so hung up on levels these days for a couple of reasons; 1-with 24 bit, you have a LOT of headroom, and 2-with digital, you don't need to record hot as you have no tape noise(hiss) to stay above

[Jaimie]

Originally Posted by albee1952

PT11 has much better metering. With older versions, just into the yellow is a good level. There is another option that I will offer, but I would likely NOT use it myself. That would be to normalize the tracks to -6(Audiosuite>Normalize). I also don't get so hung up on levels these days for a couple of reasons; 1-with 24 bit, you have a LOT of headroom, and 2-with digital, you don't need to record hot as you have no tape noise(hiss) to stay above

Hi albee,
thanks for this insight :)

If i want to "lock" it so i can't go over -6db no matter how loud my guitar amp/inputs are what can i do? I have no idea how to do this :L

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Jaimie

If i want to "lock" it so i can't go over -6db no matter how loud my guitar amp/inputs are what can i do? I have no idea how to do this

You insert a limiter somewhere, that's the way to limit things. Now let me talk to you like my 5-year-old daughter, because you seem to not understand the big picture.

Your guitar plays "some signal at some level" and it's fine. You record it to some track and you need to make sure you don't go over, so record between -20dBFS (decibels full scale) and -10dBFS and if the peaks go over -10 just turn the damn thing down.

You have a monitor controller -- or a volume knob -- somewhere, don't you? If you feel like the levels are too low, just turn the monitoring (speaker) volume up and be happy.

DO NOT TAKE A LOOK AT THE WAVEFORMS, because properly recorded stuff generally looks like the levels are too low. There is a zoom feature, but the waveforms default to looking wimpy when things are allright.

Once you have this sorted out, insert a limiter to your master fader. Set its threshold to unity gain (zero) and output level to -6dB or whatever is required. Then just take a look at it and make sure the limiter won't do any gain reduction. Then you're safe.

And once you're happy with the results, just bounce it out and that should be the end of story.

[albee1952]

Have to agree with Mr. Freak^^ When I record DI guitar(using amp simulation plugins) the waveform looks positively puny. But it sounds good, and the amp plugin responds well. Remember, with digital, there is no tape hiss to bury, so its better to err on the side of too low, than too high(because there are several ways to bring up a soft track, but NO way to eliminate clipping in a digital recording).

I myself am guilty of mixing too hot(most of my bounced files hit -0 or very close), so I often remind myself to turn the monitors UP and bring down the track faders

[Jaimie]

Originally Posted by JFreak

You insert a limiter somewhere, that's the way to limit things. Now let me talk to you like my 5-year-old daughter, because you seem to not understand the big picture.

Your guitar plays "some signal at some level" and it's fine. You record it to some track and you need to make sure you don't go over, so record between -20dBFS (decibels full scale) and -10dBFS and if the peaks go over -10 just turn the damn thing down.

You have a monitor controller -- or a volume knob -- somewhere, don't you? If you feel like the levels are too low, just turn the monitoring (speaker) volume up and be happy.

DO NOT TAKE A LOOK AT THE WAVEFORMS, because properly recorded stuff generally looks like the levels are too low. There is a zoom feature, but the waveforms default to looking wimpy when things are allright.

Once you have this sorted out, insert a limiter to your master fader. Set its threshold to unity gain (zero) and output level to -6dB or whatever is required. Then just take a look at it and make sure the limiter won't do any gain reduction. Then you're safe.

And once you're happy with the results, just bounce it out and that should be the end of story.

Thanks very much for your help!

[Benny_Cha_Cha]

I agree with all of the above advice. A quick way to check where your hottest peaks are is to use the "strip silence" window. Cmd-U on a Mac, I believe. Just select the clip you need to check and set the window to -6 or whatever you need.