Dynamic Loudness Explained
Today, we have plenty of tools at our disposal now to make our music loud, but that's not always a good thing. It's very easy, for example, to do more harm than good to your mix if you don't know what you're doing. In this dynamic loudness video tutorial series, studio guru Larry Holcombe teaches you how to generate loudness in your tracks without losing the dynamics that give it so much life in the first place! You'll learn several techniques throughout the course that you can use individually or in concert to maintain and even enhance that critical component in your tracks, even as the loudness increases. These dynamic loudness videos are for those new to the concept of loudness.
Videos
• Introduction & Loudness Metering (13:17) - This first video discusses the concept behind the series and also explains how we measure loudness.
• Composing for Loudness (12:15) - Next, Larry discusses the importance of composing an idea with a sense of depth and contrast and how this relates to our dynamics processors. This will help you create ideas that are easier to get loud whilst retaining clarity and depth.
• Sound Selection (09:55) - Discover how to choose harmonically rich sounds that have "baked in loudness." This will make your job of creating loud productions much easier as the rich harmonics will increase the perceived loudness.
• Mono Compatibility (12:35) - We discuss creating a solid mono-compatible foundation for our track next. Testing your sounds for mono compatibility using a correlation meter is also discussed.
• Layering Sounds (11:41) - Explore the idea of layering sounds to increase their richness, making up for any deficiencies in the sound's frequency spectrum.
• Side-chaining for Headroom (16:58) - Another way to save headroom is to side-chain the high energy low sounds that eat up lots of headroom. This is covered in this video, along with some fairly advanced concepts relating to side-chaining the kick and bass. We also change the kick level when the snare plays to again manage our dynamic range more effectively.
• Micro-dynamic Processing (17:04) - This video concentrates on the importance of controlling dynamic range to create a tight, punchy, and loud master. We use compression to accentuate the transient of the kick drum to make it better prepared to be squashed further down the line.
• Saturation Pt. 1 (15:47) - Saturation should be an important part of any mixer's toolbox, as it allows you to increase richness while also musically rounding off transients. We introduce these concepts on the bass in the example track.
• Saturation Pt. 2 (09:16) - Next up, we investigate other areas we can introduce saturation into our track, using the examples of the electric piano and the hi hat.
• Creating Depth & Separation (14:21) - In this video, we start off creating space by making sounds more narrow or wide to bring them forward and back in the front/back perspective. We then continue with EQ to work on the top down frequency distribution across the mix. Finally, we use compression to create groove and also push and pull sounds forward and back.
• Spatial Effects (09:24) - Learn how to use early reflections and reverb to fill up some of the space we have created next. This gives a nice sense of depth and also momentum to the track?s groove.
• Digital Clipping (16:01) - In this video, we use apply hard clipping to individual sounds and busses with KClip 3 to manage peaks, making the job easier for our master plugins downstream. This will lead to a more effortlessly loud master.
• Stereo Bus (11:42) - In this video, we use mid/side compression to solidify the midrange while leaving the bottom and tops grooving and smooth. We also work on the tonal balance of the track to bring out sone high-end sheen.
• Master Bus (14:07) - Learn how the use of multistage limiting and clipping can bring the track up to a competitive level while keeping the mix sounding punchy and open.
• Managing Macro Dynamics for Impact (13:21) - Finally, we cover the technique of automating a limiter's gain input to reduce the amount of RMS level between sections, especially before a loud drop. This allows the contrast between sections to be maximized, leading to an increased perception of macro-dynamics within the arrangement.