Mike, you may or may not be right about the individual RealTracks having some processing but I don't think the question applies for the way you're using them and your comment about uneven song levels. You may need to look at each of your audio files in a different way and make some adjustments based on what you see and hear.

Normalizing adjusts the overall gain of a file to a preset gain level but doesn't change the overall dynamics within a file much at all. A quiet lullaby stills sounds quiet (low energy) while a heavy metal file will sound like ... heavy metal (high energy). The apparent loudness of the heavy metal file over the lullaby file is due to many factors but the most important factor in this case is the rms value, or energy level, within the two files.

Normalizing works on peak levels. Most gain meters also display peak values. A rms meter calculates the energy level inside a waveform. Try using a rms meter across your stereo master. Play a song that you know is recorded at the level you want then play another song that is quieter than you want. Watch the levels for each and use your ears to lower the gain for the first or raise the gain of the second until both sound like they are at a similar sound level. It's pretty normal to have to change the gain between songs or even between different sections of a song until they are properly mixed and mastered.

The cymbal crashes may require multiple solutions. You could need to lower the overall volume level of the drums for that bar, use a low pass filter to remove some of the higher frequencies of the cymbals or edit out the cymbal crashes altogether.

Welcome to the wonderful worlds of mixing and mastering.

Jim Fogle - 2025 BiaB (Build 1128) RB (Build 5) - Ultra+ PAK
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