re[2]: Overloading Output Levels when layering sounds

[Dean Stiglitz <deknow@deknow.com>]

am i missing something, or is this just a basic dynamic level problem...if 
you turn up at the soft parts, the loud parts become too loud.  adding a 
compressor, expander, or limiter, seems to me, will only increase the 
noise floor at low volumes (before you add loops live), and compress your 
dynamics at louder parts.

your dynamic range IS WHAT IT IS ...from the softest thing you can hear to 
the overload of the mixer.  again, i might be missing something, but i 
don't think this is a PROBLEM, per se, more the nature of the audio 
beast....if your soft (pre-live looping) parts are turned up to be loud, 
then your loud (post-live looping) parts will be too loud, unless you turn 
the volume down on some of the pre-existing tracks (or, overdub them with 
a smaller feedback level).

this will continue to be a problem, even using a "non-liniar" setup if you 
insist on having the soft parts as loud as the loud parts...yes, a 
compressor will help keep you from clipping the mixer, but your loud parts 
will get no louder (the sound guy's turning up and down the faders is 
equivilent to having a compressor on the house mix)....you might be better 
off working to fit your loops within a usable dynamic range (ie, your soft 
parts are too soft if the house engineer has to turn you up at those 
points...you have a mixer right on the repeater, and you know how the 
music should sound, so your music would be better served if you worked out 
with the engineer a working level, and you controll the dynamics from 
stage).

deknow

>>  Hi Per,

 >>  Thanks for your help.  As I said in my first message, its not Repeater
 >>  that is overloading, it is my final output that is.  If I play through
 >>  my setup without adding any loops to the mix, my gain structure and the
 >>  final output seems fine with no distortion or apparent overloading.  
 >But
 >>  if I add even a single repeating loop to the mix while I am playing
 >>  along, the system overloads and eventually distorts.  This gain
 >>  structure with the loop created sounds in the mix is what I am trying 
 >to
 >>  solve, not something that Repeater is doing.  This is something that I
 >>  think would just as easily happen with the EDP.  If I bring my initial
 >>  gain structure down enough to accommodate the addition of looped sound
 >>  layers to the mix output, then my volume level being too low creates
 >>  problems for the house mix (who have to turn them up) and also my gain
 >>  structure risks being too close to the noise floor.  But, if I bring my
 >>  non-looped gain structure up to a good level for the house and the 
 >noise
 >>  floor, when I begin adding in loops to the mix, the volume level output
 >>  goes up (causing the house engineer to have to back off on my fader) 
 >and
 >>  my output begins to distort.  So, what is the best way to get my rig
 >>  structured properly so that I no longer have this problem.

 >>  Thanks,
 >>  Steve