I use it. Do you?

When, where, and why?


https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/normalize-dirty-word/

I know there are those who say this function shouldn’t even exist. I use it when the music level needs it.

I use it all the time when I'm recording non-musical audio, since often when I'm doing that I can't predict the volume of what I'm recording and I don't want the recording to clip. Normalizing brings it up to the loudest it can go without clipping or creating other audio artifacts.

I export the BIAB RealTracks to .wav. Pull them into Reaper then normalise all tracks to -12db. This gives me a point to start mixing without being too hot. The tracks combined will be somewhere near -6db (but it does vary depending on the style used) which is plenty of headroom to mix and “master”.

From there some tracks may need to come up, some down but I do have a consistent place to start.

Tony

Normalize is a poor description for what it really does which it to bring the loudest peak only to the maximum level. If the rest of the track is low by comparison, normalization doesn't fix that.

Since all of my projects during lockdown fly in tracks from other studios, it depends if I'll use it or not.


For pop music, that's not a bad approach.

Yea, that's just silly.

I can see how those who haven't a clue will apply it to every track then wonder why their mixes are distorted and horrible. Normalize is a tool like anything else.

Craig's article is really good for the person who takes the time to digest it fully and understand everything he's trying to say.

Too often, Sweetwater articles are written by manufacturer's reps or so-called "sales engineers" (ha!) who haven't a clue.

Here's a little side note about Craig Anderton, did you know he is presently the President of the MIDI Association? See the bottom of +++ THIS +++ webpage. I am a huge fan of Craig and the body of work he has produced.

Yes, I've been following him since his How to… articles on building your own effects boxes in the '70s.

I've been following him since his band Mandrake Memorial played The Electric Factory in Philly in the 60's. Great band.


Regards,

Bob

ive got one of craigs circuit building books around here somewhere...electronics projects for musicians if i remember.
now i think they are on the net.

best
om

I never use Normalize, because I completely loose control of my tracks in the mix - basically it's like adding an Adaptive Limiter on each track, which mean that all tracks will shout out loudest possible - which in my experience is like listening to a political conversation where all the participants shout at each other - probably interesting but very hard to focus on what being said.

No. When you use normalize, you set the target level. It doesn’t have to be a shouting 100%. You can simply boost the whole song by 3db, for example.

It’s an essential tool to have in some situations,

I do not use normalise to lift the tracks. I set all individual tracks to -12db as a point to start. It gives a base point that then allows me to make the shifts I want in the mix from a common base. Everything is at the same low volume then adding eq, compression or other effects can make the changes I want on each track. Then set each track where I want it in the stereo field and volume to have all levels where I want. (Where I feel they are best placed). Maybe use some reverb to move the track back a bit (or forward). Once I have the mixed tracks where I want them I use iZotopes Maximiser (limiter) as the last step to lift the tracks. (For most of my songs there is actual very little limiting involved. ). The levels are checked via iZotope Insight 2 as is the stereo field and phasing.

To me it makes the process easier to normalise everything at the start of the process. This can be achieved using other tools such as gain adjustments or amplification but I find “normalisation” the easiest and quickest way.

Tony

When I discovered Izotope’s Ozone with its Maximize function about twenty years ago, that made the difference in producing tracks with the same energy as commercial tracks. Waves also made a tool for this.

However, there are still occasions where I use Normalize. It’s just a tool. Use it where it’s needed.

I only use maximizers when I master (I'm a great fan of Ozone) - never in the mix phase. Typically my final mixes neves exceed -6db measured from the Master fader, which mean that each track is as low as the -12 db as described by Teunis.

When I want to yank up the total volume, the first thing is a very lite compressor to glue the mix together, after that I use a Tape-emulator to crank part of the base volume up and add some tape saturation, then I add a Maximizer and in the end an Adaptive Limiter to take care of tiny spikes that clips and perhaps a final EQ if needed, but I try to avoid EQ'ing when mastering. I'm not say this is the only and correct way, but it works for me - the hardest part is to make sure, that I do not add unwanted dynamics or over do the saturation - it typically takes a few attempts per song to get it the way I want it.

I just tried to Normalize one of my songs instead of using my mastering chain - the final result is quite different from using my mastering method. I fully acknowledge, that everything comes down to the ears listening, time consumed in this stage of making music and last but not least personal preference/taste.

Exactly.



It's absolutely not basically like that at all.




Normalize does not take the place of any of this.


It's ok not to know how to use this tool. Craig's article can help you with this. If you're not going to use it, however, it helps to understand what it does and how it works, first.

Thank you Mike - I will have a look at Craig's article, but I doubt very much that it'll change my approach

It doesn't matter. You should at least understand what it does and how it works. Ya never know when that comes in handy.

If you got in some of the tracks I see, you'd know why it's an important tool and nothing can take its place. Too bad that screen shots are a pia to post in these threads or I'd add a couple to demonstrate when it's needed. Perhaps tomorrow.

I "normalize" masters in Audacity all the time.

I am quite familiar with all the terminology in Craig's article and I own his trusty old "Big Book" for Sonar.

In the past, I really over-used tools like Ozone and I don't know why. Maybe I stopped trusting my ears and felt I had to. But I stopped. (I do trust meters though. Meters never lie.)

Most of the time now, I find that if I am careful with plugins in the mixing stage I get the exact sound I want before exporting.

At that point, all I want to do is get the "peak" where I want it, and I will often "trim whiskers" in Audacity by hand. I know, I know, I could use maximizing software, but I do not want to. It most often throws off the dynamic range I worked so hard to create and it all sounds too "metallic."

That is JUST ME though. I am sure everyone has their own way of doing it.

If you do get a chance to do this, I think we'd all appreciate seeing your approach.

One very important thing I didn't know was the use of normalization to -3 or -6 db - at that point it started to make sense to me. Before this posting I only dealt with normalization to 0 db having results that completely crashed the mix balance and most of the dynamic.

I am going to play around with it on the work I do at the moment, and see what it does.

Yes, I cited that above. Depending on the software, you can raise everything by the same amount with the target being 0 ( as loud as it can be without distortion); -3dB (for example) to leave a little room; or a percentage of full (0) such as 97%.

I use Logic Pro X for production I have never really been a big fan of normalize for what I read most people are not but this may apply to only Logic Pro x community, not sure. But I usually get my levels right, my thoughts are If I do that no need for the software to mess with my mix.

I doubt anyone would argue that they need normalizing when the levels are right. But anyone who always gets all the levels right has a magic touch I don't have.

Normalizing is just one tool. Use it when it's appropriate.