It's sometimes the case that the final stages of song production
are not entirely thought about when mixing and that there is another
stage to the process of getting your songs finished. With that in mind I
thought I'd do a quick post on headroom and why it's important.
What is headroom?
Headroom is essentially the difference between the peak of the signal and the absolute maximum that the audio system can handle. In the digital world the maximum any channel can take is 0dBFS. Anything above this will result in digital clipping (not good
).
Generally when headroom is talked about the reference is with regards to the master bus - although you still require headroom in individual tracks! otherwise you'd still get issues with clipping/distortion.
Why it's important?
If you're thinking of getting your songs mastered then you need to consider leaving headroom for the mastering engineer without it there's not a lot that can be done to finalise the track. It makes mastering the tracks that much harder and once you've eaten up that headroom - there is no way to recover it without going back to the mix. So give it some consideration the next time you're mixing and think about the next stage on from the mix process. Here are some pointers:
Don't use a limiter - think headroom
If you use a limiter to control the volume on the master bus because the output is too high and you want to control those peaks then you're instantly killing any headroom that you had on the bus. If you turn the volume down on all the individual channels going onto the master bus this will in turn lower the output on the master bus including the peaks whilst also increasing the headroom.
Use EQ to filter out the unwanted frequencies
Another killer of headroom is unwanted frequencies; especially that of midrange and low frequency build-up. Is everything in your mix sounding muddy? so to get around that you turn up the volume so that the individual elements can be heard in the mix? Along with the actual elements you're turning up you're also increasing a whole load of other 'mud' (or unwanted frequencies) around it which all adds to the overall mix bus and reduces the headroom - think about the EQ settings on the individual instruments and take out what isn't needed. Also remember to cut all the lows out of all instruments even on low end instruments!
What is headroom?
Headroom is essentially the difference between the peak of the signal and the absolute maximum that the audio system can handle. In the digital world the maximum any channel can take is 0dBFS. Anything above this will result in digital clipping (not good
).
Generally when headroom is talked about the reference is with regards to the master bus - although you still require headroom in individual tracks! otherwise you'd still get issues with clipping/distortion.
Why it's important?
If you're thinking of getting your songs mastered then you need to consider leaving headroom for the mastering engineer without it there's not a lot that can be done to finalise the track. It makes mastering the tracks that much harder and once you've eaten up that headroom - there is no way to recover it without going back to the mix. So give it some consideration the next time you're mixing and think about the next stage on from the mix process. Here are some pointers:
Don't use a limiter - think headroom
If you use a limiter to control the volume on the master bus because the output is too high and you want to control those peaks then you're instantly killing any headroom that you had on the bus. If you turn the volume down on all the individual channels going onto the master bus this will in turn lower the output on the master bus including the peaks whilst also increasing the headroom.
Use EQ to filter out the unwanted frequencies
Another killer of headroom is unwanted frequencies; especially that of midrange and low frequency build-up. Is everything in your mix sounding muddy? so to get around that you turn up the volume so that the individual elements can be heard in the mix? Along with the actual elements you're turning up you're also increasing a whole load of other 'mud' (or unwanted frequencies) around it which all adds to the overall mix bus and reduces the headroom - think about the EQ settings on the individual instruments and take out what isn't needed. Also remember to cut all the lows out of all instruments even on low end instruments!
I'm an online mixing/mastering engineer and freelance drummer.
I love what I do and I want to help you reach new heights with your music, whether it's adding drums to a track or enhancing your sounds through my production work. The internet enables me to offer my services globally, if there's anything you think I can help you with then please get in touch (mark@markmidwinter.com). I would love to hear from you.
I love what I do and I want to help you reach new heights with your music, whether it's adding drums to a track or enhancing your sounds through my production work. The internet enables me to offer my services globally, if there's anything you think I can help you with then please get in touch (mark@markmidwinter.com). I would love to hear from you.
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http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Midwinter
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