5 Essential Tips for Increasing the Loudness of Your Mix

Loudness, by definition, is a subjective perception of volume. Since the 1980s, the concept of "Loudness Wars" has been raging. Record labels have pressured engineers to make louder and louder masters. On the other hand, because of several factors, the experience of loudness varies from person to person. Therefore, creating a loud-sounding mix is not just about volume or mastering plugins.

As some of you probably know, digital recordings have a volume limit of 0 dBFS. Levels above this result in mostly unpleasant and undesirable digital distortion. It differs from analog distortion, which can sound pleasant to the human ear. Therefore, in the digital world, it's all about using tools to maximize loudness while staying within the range below 0 dbFS. The following tutorial will review five key things you should consider when finalizing your mix to achieve ideal loudness.

EQ for Loudness

Here, it's about cutting rather than boosting. The perfect example of this would be the low frequencies of your mix. We all enjoy fat low-end. However, this is where elements like the kick drum and bassline produce the most problems and become obstacles to achieving louder mixes.

Sometimes, content from these instruments is so low on the frequency spectrum it becomes inaudible but still eats lots of headroom. This doesn't allow other elements of the mix to cut through. One of the most straightforward solutions is to apply a low-cut filter and cut everything below 40 Hz. You can do this on individual tracks that can do without the low end, as well, such as hi-hats.

Panning

Panning is largely overlooked regarding loudness, but it's essential. Low-end elements such as kick drums, basslines, and low percussion sounds should be placed in the center to maximize impact and loudness. Other aspects, like hi-hats, synth sequences, SFX, etc., could be panned in order to create space. Holding an equivalent number of similar elements on both sides is a good rule of thumb. Try to see the mix in pairs and match elements to one another. This also contributes to loudness perception.

Harmonic Saturation

Saturation is another way to enhance a whole mix of instruments, increasing perceived loudness. This process adds distortion, which translates into additional harmonic content. It works like compression, decreasing the signal's dynamic range and boosting its average level. You can use harmonic distortion to pleasantly enrich the overall mix's frequencies. It also works like a charm on almost any sound. 

Compression for Loudness

As mentioned above, by lowering the overall dynamic range, compressors can make the quiet parts of a mix or waveform louder and the louder parts quieter. Applying make-up gain to get the average level as high as before compressing will increase the perceived loudness.

Compression is very versatile, and different settings can give wildly different results, so something to be conscious about is how you'd like to use compression on a particular case. Generally, when we try to preserve loudness and impact, a good approach is to use multiple compressors with two to three dB gain reduction instead of getting ten dB reduction from just one. By doing this, you avoid squashing the transients of an instrument or mix. The impact would still be there with the added benefit of average-level control. 

Clipping

Deliberate clipping may often increase the loudness by raising the overall signal frequency and introducing distortion and harmonics. It must be used cautiously since it may quickly wreck an otherwise great recording. You could use clipping for sounds like cymbals, handclaps, snare drums, etc. since they are pretty noisy-like. On the other hand, pianos, guitars, and vocals have solid and specific harmonic characters. Using digital clipping can quickly result in an artificial and unpleasant sound. The same thing goes for a full mix.