Taming those Steel Guitar peaks at home with your DAW.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

Here are two simple tips I use to help tame those Steel Guitar volume pedal nuances while recording at home. Obviously there are other methods but these are simple and easy to apply to a track that you are very satisfied with the performance but perhaps there is some annoying or noticeable volume UP and DOWN going on.

I am using two options available in the DAW that I use, Normalization and Compressor/limiter. Hopefully your DAW has them both .

Normalize in RMS mode , highlight the entire track, execute the Normalize feature in RMS mode which is more of a PERCEIVED LOUDNESS leveler, set the level low, down around -20 DB, this is a very small amount with the purpose to bring up those very low swells. Don't be afraid to use different levels and see what it does to the peak and level, then use UNDO to get back to sanity !

Then add a Compressor / Limiter found in your effects bin. You can select a default then edit it to your liking. Don't forget to SAVE IT with a new name for future use. Here we will reduce the HI peaks which will allow a more even "total level". My numbers are not absolute, they could change with each track. The one referenced here is pretty dramatic, on purpose. Knee at 8, Ratio , 20:1 set hi which allows the compressor to act more like a Limiter, Gain, 3 DB, or so, Threshold 17 to 20 db. As you are listening back with the C/L in place , don't be afraid to make adjustments to the Ratio or Thresholds, make severe adjustments so you can hear whats going on, then come back to something more suitable. The best way to learn what a compressor does is to listen to what its doing, one KNOB at a time.

I use these two actions for the Steel for every track now, the numbers change but the process is the same. It's the end result that matters, your ears. Both of these actions take about 1 minute or less to execute.

Obviously others( Home and Pro's) have other processes they use , this is just one method to tame some of those volume pedal nuances which more than likely are present.

Plus if your DAW has these features embedded, take advantage of them. They are not there to just take up hard drive space !

and of course here is a track with both processes applied.

https://soundcloud.com/rumbleroomaudio/emmons-push-pull-pedal-steel
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years

CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

Good info, Tony.

My DAW (Sonar Platinum) has those plus others. But, I start with my recording interface unit - a Roland Studio-Capture - as it has available limiting. I can use the Studio-Capture's limiter setup and don't have to worry about the volume level getting out of hand.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

Jack, great response , my primary preamp these days is a DBX 376 Channel Strip which also has an in line compressor, but in my case, I prefer to keep that one ever so slight, if not off completely. I find too much limiting while recording throws me off and I don't need that !

Laughing

Many ways to get to the same end result...
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years

CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website

Bob Hoffnar · From: Austin, Tx

Great idea Tony ! I would like to add a small warning to people that are just getting started using compression. Be careful ! Compression is like bacon. It makes everything better..to a point..
Keep that undo button handy or copy the session and experiment like crazy .
_________________
Bob

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

Tony, I rarely hit the point where the Limiter kicks in. Thus there is no "dynamics" lost.

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