Bedroom Producer’s Guide to Limiting | How to Improve your Mixes by 500%
Okay, imagine this. You’ve been working on a new track for the past week, tweaking it and tweaking it until you’ve fallen in love with it, only to have it sounding really thin and quiet.
Every time you listen to a professionally mixed song, you love how loud and punchy it sounds.
Well, what if I told you, there is actually only one simple thing you have to do to get your tracks to sound f&%king professional in no time? I’m talking going from bedroom producer to your friends being like “when did you start making such good songs?”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is called LIMITING.
Using a limiter is a lot like using a hedge trimmer.
You’re reducing the peaks (significant volume spikes in your track) above a certain threshold, so the hedge can grow fuller and more luscious.
If you didn’t understand my poorly executed metaphor, allow me to explain.
You set a threshold, and the limiter reduces all audio above that threshold, making the track more “even.” The audio’s perceived loudness increases as it slams into the threshold, and the average volume is increased, but the maximum amplitude is blocked from climbing any higher, which prevents your track from sounding distorted. It’s notably similar to a compressor with a high ratio.
Most limiters also have a gain setting, which I recommend you increase until you start to hear distortion, but be mindful of the recommended LUFS values for the most commonly used streaming services. That way, your master can sound good everywhere.
The Basics of Limiting
Most limiters have similar features. One difference is that some limiters have an adjustable threshold and others have a knob to control the input gain. These basically perform the same function. To attenuate transients and increase the overall level of a track, adjust the threshold or input gain until some gain reduction occurs. 1dB — 3dB of gain reduction is common for transparent limiting. More aggressive settings will be needed for certain styles of music, like EDM and techno.
Ceiling
The ceiling determines the absolute maximum level that the limiter will output. On a mastering chain, this will generally be set at 0 or -0.1db to avoid clipping.
When used on an instrument channel, you can set the ceiling to any level that suits your needs. The important thing to remember is that the limiter will only be activated whenever sound peaks above that ceiling.
Gain
This controls the volume of input going into the limiter. An increase in loudness can be achieved by pushing the gain up while keeping a ceiling on the output.
Printing to audio is a great way to see how your sound is being processed. Below you can see how the initial signal (green) is first limited to -6db (orange) and then increased in perceived volume through a gain increase of +6db (blue).
Attack
Measured in milliseconds. This controls how quickly the limiter responds to the input signal and limits it.
In Ableton, this function is called lookahead, and plays a similar role to an attack knob in a compressor.
Release
Measured in milliseconds. This determines how long the limiter will take to stop affecting the signal once the input level is no longer above the ceiling.
FINAL NOTES
A limiter's attack and release settings can have a LARGE impact on the sound. Limiters are used to reduce the highest transient peaks and have much faster attack times than a typical compressor. Use a fast attack time to control the transients in a quick, transparent manner. Adjust the attack until the transients are reduced without becoming overly boring.
Fast release settings will cause the limiter to stop reacting very quickly. This can cause pumping and distortion artifacts. Slow release settings will cause the song to lose dynamics and become lifeless and dull. Instead, be moderate with release times when using limiters. This will reduce any audible effects of compression while keeping the transients in check. Using these tips, you can maximize the level of your recordings without diminishing the quality.
I hope each of you learned something useful from this article, and I look forward to seeing you in my other articles where I demystify the art of electronic music production.
Remember, you don’t need fancy diplomas to become a good producer!
