Quick Mixing Question! ( good levels.. )

[DjRio]

Just a quick question!

Im trying to make sure that my final mixes aren't going into the 'red' on the Master fader in Pro Tools....
( so that i can send it off to be Mastered )...

If i have EVERYTHING sounding exactly like i want it to...
and its just going into the red on the master at some points....
is it ok to select all the instrument faders and bring them down a notch so that the whole mix doesnt peak?
Will this suddenly change the overall sound of each instrument and cause me to remix everything?

Or will this keep everything consistant...

Thanks in advance!

[juniorhifikit]

If you are in ProTools, you can pull the master fader down a little. It's the exact same math as trimming all channels - just a lot easier.

[jeronimo]

Hey, how sure are you about the "same math" thing?
I could be wrong, I'm no specialist on this, but, if things are overloading the bus, lowering the master fader won't make things better....

[karl]

This subject is quite confusing. You are thinking of an analog mixer when you have to think in terms of digital summing. There are loads of threads on this to be read on the digidesign forum. You'll find phrases like "it's impossible to overload the mixbuss". Just do a search. Try pulling the master fader down in the meantime, because it does work.

[bassmac]

Originally posted by jeronimo
...if things are overloading the bus, lowering the master fader won't make things better....

ThatÕs true, but it soundÕs like itÕs just the output thatÕs being clipped.

Overloading the buss and clipping the output are two separate issues.

ÒBussÓ has to do with the headroom of the internal mixer.

Lot's of peeps think theyÕre overloading the buss when theyÕre really just clipping the output (red light).

According to Digi, it's near impossible to overload the HD buss.

It is however very easy to clip to output - esp. if you start with your kick at 0db!

Lowering the master fader to prevent the output from clipping is the same math as lowering all the track faders.

At least thatÕs the way I understand it.

[Extreme Mixing]

Lowering the master fader is the best way to get rid of overs on the master output bus. I think it is actually more accurate than grouping all of the faders and pulling them down.

The one thing you have to watch out for is that pulling the fader down (or pushing it up) will change what you are sending to the inserts on the master fader. All of these inserts are post fader. So if you have compression there, you should check to make sure it is responding the same as before by readjusting the threshold.

Steve

[jeronimo]

Maaaan... I'm just lost now...
Will someone that really knows what goes inside PTs mixing bus drop in and tell us what's going on?

[chriscavell]

http://www.digidesign.com/digizine/a...ay04/techtalk/

LE systems are a little bit different...b/c of the 32 bit floating point instead of fixed 48 bit, but the master fader still functions pretty much the same way. The master fader functions like a bit range selector for the output of the summing bus moving up and down along the range of available bits at the summing bus. (moving the master fader down moves the range up, moving the master fader up moves the selected ouput range down)

It is important to note that the master fader "channel strip" is a bit different than audio track "channel strips" in pro tools. On a master fader, the signal flow is as follows:

fader -> plugins/inserts -> meter display

there are a couple of sessions on my website for download in the tips section that demonstrate the function of a master fader in PT under extreme conditions: www.cavellstudios.com

-Chris

[jeronimo]

Hey Chris, that was a nice read.
I just get scared to know it came from Digi
Maybe we all are deaf, or we're all to used to analog.
I don't know, I know they say there is no difference on moving track faders or master fader... on the TDM bus... but I use LE... what should I expect? Anyone?