Originally Posted By: Guitarhacker
I never use any sort of a fade up at the beginnings to the songs. If it hits too hard, you should go back and fix it in the tracks, not there in the finalizing stages.

No matter how it starts, it should always sound like a normal start. You can hit hard and go from there.


What I would consider doing on a song that does hit the ground running.... rather than simply starting it cold..... insert a nice snare smack on "4" and it will work better and sound more natural.


I agree with you 100% in the context that if something is 'wrong' with the mix, the final mix stage or mastering stage is not the place to 'fix' it. Go back to tracking and fix it there.

That is not what I'm addressing. I'm talking about a mix where there is nothing 'wrong'. I'm polishing a song so the dynamics are how I want the song to sound.

The fade in is a tweak to soften the intro. In Audacity, the length of the area selection effects how much or how little the track is changed. I work on the selected area's length until I do not hear a fade in of the beginning of the song but the harshness of the abrupt start is diminished to my satisfaction. You have to A/B between the effect and no effect to have a perception of it even being used. Very much like a slight EQ tweak or small compression change. It is an adjustment based on what you hear, not what the waveform looks like. It will still sound like a normal start. It is still abrupt and loud. Just the harshness is removed. It is a minor volume adjustment and volume adjustments and edits are part of the overall mastering process in my workflow.

Besides, you may be working on a mix for an artist that doesn't want a snare smack on "4" -

Last edited by Charlie Fogle; 04/13/16 03:01 AM.
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