Keeping master volumes consistent throughout performance

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1nfinitezer0
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Keeping master volumes consistent throughout performance

Post by 1nfinitezer0 »

Okay, I'm hoping to get some help on this because it seems to keep returning as a challenge for me. It's kinda embarrassing to admit, but maybe it's connected to this weird hearing issue that I seem to have (which seems to be how I mentally separate sounds more than any missing accuracy or hearing loss).

I just can't seem to keep the master volumes consistent throughout performances. And I don't mean running it into the red, on the contrary, I have a propensity to play too quiet. If I record a DJ or live performance and listen back to it, I usually have to adjust the volumes over its length before sharing it on SC or whatever. I dunno if I subconsciously like the ebb and flow of the dancefloor energy with changing volume levels, but as I get to play on bigger and bigger systems I'd like to be a bit more consistent. Since it's been an issue that I've known about, I try to watch my levels and keep coming back to the target, but I noticed it last night during my liveset because I was trying to do too many things and lost track of the master volume. Plus it was way louder on stage than in the audience (the stage being downtown and outdoors had limits).

Is this something that anyone else has ever struggled with?

Any recommendations? Some ear training exercises? Habits that you've found helped with this? Better heads up to the sound engineers to let them know I'm a spazz? :P An external volume meter to flash in my face so that I cannot ignore it?

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dubdub
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Re: Keeping master volumes consistent throughout performance

Post by dubdub »

How much fluctuation are we talking? I dunno about live sets but it's perfectly normal for a DJ to fluctuate a few dbs in volume during a set. With vinyl it's actually almost impossible to not fluctuate since tracks on vinyl vary a lot in how loud they are cut and they lose frequency information towards the center of the record. A lot of clubs have db meters in the booth, which is helpful but even that only tells half of the story. The actual perceived volume in the club is also depended on the format played, the way the tracks are produced and how many people are in the room (humans are an incredibly efficient sound absorbant). A track that's produced very loud and harsh in an empty club will sound waaaay louder than a warm, dynamic track played in a full room, even though the output meter may read the same. So if you'd play every track at the same output volume the set wouldn't actually sound completely consistent either since some tracks need to be played louder than others, depending on the moment, it all comes down to experience I guess. And of course, listening to a completely flat set volume wise would be incredibly boring and probably very annoying to listen to. Many experienced DJs will even consciously fluctuate the volume to create movements of energy, a big track played loud will be much more impactful if you bring the volume down a bit beforehand. All of this is hard to measure with a recording since you're not hearing it in the same volume and in the same physical space. I've heard many sets live that didn't have any jarring volume fluctuations but looking at the waveform of the recording, you'd think it was a giant rollercoaster ride since all the context is missing.

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Lost to the Void
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Re: Keeping master volumes consistent throughout performance

Post by Lost to the Void »

It's just something you learn with experience.
On a large rig, mix through your feet.
You can judge your loudness in your PA by feeling the vibrations in the floor.
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terly
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Re: Keeping master volumes consistent throughout performance

Post by terly »

A bit of dynamic variation is fine. Even very consistent, hard-hitting sets can vary by a few db. If you are doing something more experimental, you could even have 10db variation between sections and still have it all come through. I am assuming you are talking about playing beats though. It might depend a bit on what gear you are using, what your metering is like. Remember that on pioneer mixers, you can see a bunch of yellow bars above 0db and still not be clipping, depending on how it's set up. But in general, you won't actually clip until you see that final red light. On a big rig though, I like to play at 0db as leaving more headroom usually sounds better to me (no need to be aggressively loud)

Unless you are abysmally off the mark, playing a bit quieter usually sounds better

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Mattias
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Re: Keeping master volumes consistent throughout performance

Post by Mattias »

Learning by doing mate. It can take many years. Clearly it requires monitoring; vibrations / headphones / stage monitors.
The trick is always to adjust gain and EQ balance while playing and knowing the tracks well. Even so there WILL be variations. This is why you see many deejays (as long as we talk about DJ sets) constantly flip and hit the EQ knobs. They are not hot.
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ZenoSupreme
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Re: Keeping master volumes consistent throughout performance

Post by ZenoSupreme »

keep track of your meters and know your track. there are a couple of tracks I own that I have to drive into the red until it's the right percieved loudness. At the same time I have to be carefulll not to overdo it, cuz then it will just sound distorted. These are the exceptions. Most of the tracks show me what I need to know through the meters. And you should Always prelisten your track through the headphones (with and without the playing track), this way you can adjust the gain if you need to before you bring the track in.

terly
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Re: Keeping master volumes consistent throughout performance

Post by terly »

ZenoSupreme wrote:keep track of your meters and know your track. there are a couple of tracks I own that I have to drive into the red until it's the right percieved loudness.
a lot of people do this, but if you are playing on a big system, it's likely the engineer will turn you down if you redline, and in a small club with enough power, it will likely sound bad on the floor. Much better idea to leave headroom for yourself so you can turn those tracks up without redlining - usually I find it's possible to make them come through with a bit of eq boost depending on what is lacking


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