Making Music Fill Speakers

Optimize your system for ultimate performance.

Moderators: MattKingUSA, khz

User avatar
dednikko
Established Member
Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:47 am
Location: Dallas, TX
Contact:

Re: Making Music Fill Speakers

Post by dednikko »

Okay, let me help you here. There are three approaches I recommend, all of them depend on how much time and/or money you are willing to throw at this.

[Method 1] This is a bit of a quick and dirty method, but it WILL make your songs louder and prevent clipping.I'm going to assume you have two plugins installed. If you do not, go get them.

On your master output, place "Simple Amplifier", and then "Hard Limiter" in the upper region of your effects list. This means that they will come BEFORE the fader (very important to prevent clipping!)

Next, make sure your fader is set to -0.03db. Note, this is NEGATIVE zero point zero three decibels. If you leave it at exactly zero, some systems will still clip.

Now turn up the volume with the "Simple Amplifier" plugin. If you push too hard, it will dramatically damage your sound and make your mix sound completely different than it really is.

[Method 2] You will need Audacity, a separate program, for this.

Take your exported song from Ardour and import it to Audacity. This will actually let you look at the waveform of the file, so you can see what is causing your clipping issues. Judge what you think you can (again) use Hard Limiter on without damaging your song.Many tracks with excessive but short volume spikes will be okay with cutting off the top 3 decibels (Blasphemy!).

Again,this isn't perfect, but it is better than the last method.Next, use the "Normalize" effect, again setting the level to -0.03. Now compressor at default settings, then normalize. Repeat until you feel you've achieved the right level of sonic destruction.

[Method 3] Let a professional master it, or else you'll need to dedicate a few months (at least) to train your ears and learn JAMIn.

If you are feeling like you're not achieving the right effect, I'll help. No charge, obviously, I'm not a pro.
Think like a gun.
User avatar
Ricardus
Established Member
Posts: 64
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2013 11:29 pm
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Making Music Fill Speakers

Post by Ricardus »

Limiting will definitely make it louder.
Mastering/Mix Engineer
Available for hire
aeb105
Established Member
Posts: 196
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:38 pm

Re: Making Music Fill Speakers

Post by aeb105 »

Ricardus wrote:
aeb105 wrote:I have tried to open Ardour exported .wav 's of my mixed tracks and it doesn't see them in JAMin when I go to open nothing shows up. Is there a certain file I need to pull from Ardour? Like a special session file instead of the .wav?
Jamin is NOT a standalone app that can import audio on its own. It is a JACK app that you need to patch into another JACK aware app that CAN import and play audio files. Like ardour.

So you create a new session with Ardour, import the stereo mix into ardour, and you need to create an insert on the master bus and patch in Jamin. Then you use it kinda like a plugin.

So to use JAMin on previously recorded tracks in Ardour:

1. I open a new Ardour session.
2. I reimport an exported .wav of all the tracks or individual tracks from the previously recorded session.
3. Insert JAMin into the MASTER bus and then hit record again to an empty JAMin track??? This is where I am confused. I can open JAMin as a program as well. Shouldn't I just be able to import the tracks there.???
aeb105
Established Member
Posts: 196
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:38 pm

Re: Making Music Fill Speakers

Post by aeb105 »

dednikko wrote:Okay, let me help you here. There are three approaches I recommend, all of them depend on how much time and/or money you are willing to throw at this.

[Method 1] This is a bit of a quick and dirty method, but it WILL make your songs louder and prevent clipping.I'm going to assume you have two plugins installed. If you do not, go get them.

On your master output, place "Simple Amplifier", and then "Hard Limiter" in the upper region of your effects list. This means that they will come BEFORE the fader (very important to prevent clipping!)

Next, make sure your fader is set to -0.03db. Note, this is NEGATIVE zero point zero three decibels. If you leave it at exactly zero, some systems will still clip.

Now turn up the volume with the "Simple Amplifier" plugin. If you push too hard, it will dramatically damage your sound and make your mix sound completely different than it really is.

[Method 2] You will need Audacity, a separate program, for this.

Take your exported song from Ardour and import it to Audacity. This will actually let you look at the waveform of the file, so you can see what is causing your clipping issues. Judge what you think you can (again) use Hard Limiter on without damaging your song.Many tracks with excessive but short volume spikes will be okay with cutting off the top 3 decibels (Blasphemy!).

Again,this isn't perfect, but it is better than the last method.Next, use the "Normalize" effect, again setting the level to -0.03. Now compressor at default settings, then normalize. Repeat until you feel you've achieved the right level of sonic destruction.

[Method 3] Let a professional master it, or else you'll need to dedicate a few months (at least) to train your ears and learn JAMIn.

If you are feeling like you're not achieving the right effect, I'll help. No charge, obviously, I'm not a pro.

Thanks for all your input. I will try this both 1 and 2. But I would like to start learning JAMin as well. I think I have good stuff its just frustrating not knowing the next step. I would love to get my stuff out there and then credit the Open Source community and Linux, Tango Studio which I am using for giving me the tools. Give a what to all those MACsters and Windows snobs, he he. Can anyone answer those questions I put above as to JAMin in my last post?
User avatar
Ricardus
Established Member
Posts: 64
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2013 11:29 pm
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Making Music Fill Speakers

Post by Ricardus »

aeb105 wrote:So to use JAMin on previously recorded tracks in Ardour:

1. I open a new Ardour session.
2. I reimport an exported .wav of all the tracks or individual tracks from the previously recorded session.
3. Insert JAMin into the MASTER bus and then hit record again to an empty JAMin track??? This is where I am confused. I can open JAMin as a program as well. Shouldn't I just be able to import the tracks there.???
No.

What I do is I take my finished stereo mix, and import it as a stereo track into a new Ardour session.

Then I right click on the master bus, and insert a pre-fader insert (make sure Jamin is running, also). Then you have to patch the ins and outs of the insert and Jamin using some sort of JACK patching tool. You can do it with ardour, but I use Jack Patchbay from LinuxDSP.

Then you just run the session, and set Jamin the way you want, and when you are ready, you export the session to a new file like you would when you're mixing.
Mastering/Mix Engineer
Available for hire
aeb105
Established Member
Posts: 196
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:38 pm

Re: Making Music Fill Speakers

Post by aeb105 »

So you export to a .wav file of all your tracks combined like Ardour usually does. When you choose Import, how do you specify it to be a Stereo file? And when u click on the Masterbus to insert a Fader, do you go to Automation and then Fader? I am going to use Patchbay as well. I guess I would patch JAMin as an Input and then leave System as the Output?

And what do you mean by run it? Like I would expect once you plug JAMin in you would record your new mastered stuff to a new file, much like you use Hydrogen or Qsynth. Sorry for all the questions.
Last edited by aeb105 on Wed May 01, 2013 2:35 am, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Ricardus
Established Member
Posts: 64
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2013 11:29 pm
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Making Music Fill Speakers

Post by Ricardus »

Yes. You just record it to a new file, THROUGH Jamin, exporting a new file just like you do when you're mixing.
Mastering/Mix Engineer
Available for hire
Pablo
Established Member
Posts: 1274
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:57 pm
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: Making Music Fill Speakers

Post by Pablo »

how do you specify it to be a Stereo file?
Just import the file as a new track and the track will be stereo.
And when u click on the Masterbus to insert a Fader, do you go to Automation and then Fader?
You don't insert a fader. You right-click on the black gap above "Fader" (not the fader itself) and select "New Insert".

Think of Jamin as a FX box. It accepts a stereo audio signal and it outputs a processed stereo audio signal. It doesn't store anything and it can't export anything.

Because it is not a plugin but a jack-aware standalone app, an insert is the right way for integrating it into ardour.
I guess I would patch JAMin as an Input and then leave System as the Output?
No. The insert concept means send-return in the same point, in the prefader ardour master bus, this is.
aeb105
Established Member
Posts: 196
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:38 pm

Re: Making Music Fill Speakers

Post by aeb105 »

Pablo wrote:
I guess I would patch JAMin as an Input and then leave System as the Output?
No. The insert concept means send-return in the same point, in the prefader ardour master bus, this is.
[/quote]

So at the Insert gui, do I click on Jamin L and R and Jamin01 L and R to inject them into the inputs? What about System? Do I send anything to outputs? Thanks
Attachments
JaminInsert.1.png
JaminInsert.1.png (38.11 KiB) Viewed 1288 times
User avatar
Ricardus
Established Member
Posts: 64
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2013 11:29 pm
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Making Music Fill Speakers

Post by Ricardus »

aeb105 wrote:So at the Insert gui, do I click on Jamin L and R and Jamin01 L and R to inject them into the inputs? What about System? Do I send anything to outputs? Thanks
I forgot how Ardour labels the inserts, but it would be something like:

Ardour Insert 1-1 and insert 1-2 OUTPUT. You patch those to Jamin input 1,2 or L,R, however they label them, then you take Jamin 1,2 or L,R outputs, and patch them to Ardour Insert 1-1 and Insert 1-2 INPUTS.
Mastering/Mix Engineer
Available for hire
aeb105
Established Member
Posts: 196
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:38 pm

Re: Making Music Fill Speakers

Post by aeb105 »

Ricardus wrote:
aeb105 wrote:So at the Insert gui, do I click on Jamin L and R and Jamin01 L and R to inject them into the inputs? What about System? Do I send anything to outputs? Thanks
I forgot how Ardour labels the inserts, but it would be something like:

Ardour Insert 1-1 and insert 1-2 OUTPUT. You patch those to Jamin input 1,2 or L,R, however they label them, then you take Jamin 1,2 or L,R outputs, and patch them to Ardour Insert 1-1 and Insert 1-2 INPUTS.

I attached that graphic above of what I am working with. What about Jamin01. And looking at the image I attached I can do the first with Ardour inserting to OUTPUT. But I don't understand the rest. Please see if this attachment has it right
Attachments
Jamin3.png
Jamin3.png (138.59 KiB) Viewed 1286 times
Pablo
Established Member
Posts: 1274
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:57 pm
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: Making Music Fill Speakers

Post by Pablo »

You are running two instances of jamin. This is why there are "jamin" and "jamin-01". You need one, not two.

It is easier than it seems. See attached image.

Don't worry about system playbacks. As always, jamin or not jamin, Ardour master must be connected to the system playbacks. You just insert jamin in the middle. This way you can hear the effect of jamin as well as export the stereo mix trough jamin.

Don't forget to activate the insert. You want to see the word "insert" without parenthesis in the ardour Mixer. Just right-click and activate.

Once is all up and running and next time you launch this session I recommend you launch jamin before ardour, so the connections to and from jamin are made automatically.
Attachments
pantallazo001.png
pantallazo001.png (66.12 KiB) Viewed 1286 times
aeb105
Established Member
Posts: 196
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:38 pm

Re: Making Music Fill Speakers

Post by aeb105 »

Pablo wrote:You are running two instances of jamin. This is why there are "jamin" and "jamin-01". You need one, not two.

It is easier than it seems. See attached image.

Don't worry about system playbacks. As always, jamin or not jamin, Ardour master must be connected to the system playbacks. You just insert jamin in the middle. This way you can hear the effect of jamin as well as export the stereo mix trough jamin.

Don't forget to activate the insert. You want to see the word "insert" without parenthesis in the ardour Mixer. Just right-click and activate.

Once is all up and running and next time you launch this session I recommend you launch jamin before ardour, so the connections to and from jamin are made automatically.

Thanks Pablo! I notice alot of static that wasn't there before doing all this. I have JAMin open as you can see in the below screen shot and that is my imported .wav.
Attachments
Screenshot-1.png
Screenshot-1.png (176.14 KiB) Viewed 1282 times
Pablo
Established Member
Posts: 1274
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:57 pm
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: Making Music Fill Speakers

Post by Pablo »

Sorry, my mixing and mastering knowledge is very limited. I am glad I helped you on how to connect jamin but Ricardus and others can help you much better than me at this point.

Cheers! Pablo
aeb105
Established Member
Posts: 196
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:38 pm

Re: Making Music Fill Speakers

Post by aeb105 »

Thanks. Can anybody tell me why I am hearing alot of static when I play the song thru JAMin?
Post Reply