HI, and greetings to all!
I'm composing some new-age solo piano music for a project. The velocities are all quite low (and need to stay that way). As the overall desired level (and my performance) is really soft and meditative, the signal level in the wav file is rather low.
In this context, Is it a good idea to 'normalize' the final wav file or to leave it as is? Or maybe just increase the overall track volume?
I'm using Ivory 2.5, so 'noise' is not a problem.
Thank you!
(I know you asked something very specific so you can ignore most of this if you want - I just thought I would talk about all my WAV files.)
I normally leave my stuff alone since when I hand off my WAV file to the sound editor, they will mix it in any way they want. So for the 'handoff', all I currently personally care about is that it gets up above -10 db (they normally mix it at -6 db lately), that I can hear true stereo split on the two channels both on studio speakers and my headphones, and that the scenes I get to score have dialog in the center (unless there is a really good reason to do otherwise). I normally ask them to mix in the sound effects/foley first especially if they are not in the center so I can insure if the score is also playing that it is has the correct mix with the other sound.
Since I am mainly into shorts (and perhaps low budget features), the final WAV output for me is always stereo. None of the filmmakers I have worked with so far have budget or the need for 5.1 or 7.1. Though my local mentor local composer friend does Dolby mixes - but he has more audio engineering experience/talent that I have (and the correct tools/software).
For those tracks that I post on Soundcloud and elsewhere, I normally make them louder usually by passing it through Audacity which has many different options. I don't like to overwork the process so I often just 'amplify' the loudest to 0 db or -4 db.I have only mastered one track/WAV file in my 20 years and it was my first in studio vocal duet track. Had I published a complete album such as a soundtrack, I might have considered mastering further.
Thank you for your input, Joel. Mastering is still something I'm trying to get to grips with, for sure. Another useful tool to have under one's belt!
I use FabFilter Pro-L2, with a target LUFS of -14 for streaming. https://youtu.be/RSQoMiZkuGI But for a softer track, I'm good with -20 LUFS.
Also, here's a very useful site that will show you how the different streaming platforms will alter your track's volume: https://www.loudnesspenalty.com/