Topic by vdm

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  • vdm
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  • Registered: 17-03-2011
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Topic: Burn a CD using PianoTeq

Dear Forum,

I would like to burn a CD from my PianoTeq playings. I saved all my recordings in midi-format to be able to adjust the piano sound. When I felt happy with the final result I exported the songs to wav-format.
However, I observed that the volume of the wav-files is pretty low (when I play them over the PC or stereo). I am unsure whether this has negative consequences for the final quality of the CD, as one should turn the volume pretty loud...
Do you have similar experiences, and how may I solve this problem? Any ideas or hints are most welcome.

Best regards,
vdm

Reply by olepro

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  • olepro
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  • From: Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Registered: 22-06-2007
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Re: Burn a CD using PianoTeq

Well, it's called mastering.
All records is being mastered before going to be burned to CD.
This is done to have an even volume and sound (frequenzy balance) between all tracks on the record/CD so the consumer can put it on the player and have an even music experience when listening with out adjusting volume from track to track.

The first thing you should do is to load your music/wav file into an audio editing program and bring the sound  to zero db. This will bring the music up to the highest level with out doing anything to the sound other than get it to play so loud it can with out digital clipping.

To go further you need some experience to make a (professionel) mastering of your music.

If you want/dare i will master it for you so you can here what can be done.

If the answer is yes you may upload the audio somehow or better, send me the midifiles and the Pianoteq settings for every song so i can render it myself and make the audio mastering for you.

Kind regards
Ole

olepro's Website

Reply by Jake Johnson

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  • Jake Johnson
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  • Registered: 04-05-2007
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Re: Burn a CD using PianoTeq

In addition, I would also suggest that once you record and save the midi file, you take the obvious step of raising the volume a bit in PT before rendering the file. My impression is that, sitting at the piano, we hear the sound as being loud enough when it's at the volume we would hear while playing, but when listening, we expect the volume to be higher. The use of headphones, for me, may increase the sense of a loss of volume after a rendering--playing while wearing headphones, I have my ears pressed against the speakers, but the sound has to travel through air when played back through monitors\speakers.

(Maybe this goes without saying, but just in case: I always try to remember to save the midi file so that if I later hear something off in  the rendering, I can go back and adjust parameters, including the volume, in PT and then render it again, and still have the chance to also make changes later in the audio file, as in olepro's suggestions about mastering.)