Recording louder, with headroom without clipping

Hmm... a complex question, therefore no easy answer.
Go to http://www.therecordingrevolution.com and learn about the art of proper eq'ing and compression techniques.
There are lots of great tutorials there.

Thanks for the link, Ingolf. Never seen that site. Cool!

Dennis, it's really worthwhile digging deep there, totally recommended!

Seconded. He also has an app with his videos categorized nicely.

Yeah, loud music without clipping is mostly about compressors, which can take some time to learn. Get practicing

What DAW you are using?
most DAW´s have free Plugins doing the same kind of compression/Maximizing/Limiting.

ProTools you could try Maxim
Logic Pro Adaptive Limiter
I´m sure other DAW´s have their own stock plugins doing this job.

Hold in mind these plugins usually used as the last in your signal chain, after you reached a balanced mix.
If your mix is not sounding right Loudness isn´t helping you.

Quote from Thomasyoung

Hi Guys,

I already know the way to go, is just a program that calls Waves, and the L2 or L3 UltraMaximizer (VST) makes what I want.
You can pay for it or you can try other way I already installed and works like a charm...

Enjoy
http://www.waves.com/plugins/l…and-l3-ll-multimaximizers

Well, using this you will get loud but overcompressed and boring mixes in the end.
Like I said above, using compression is an art that has to be learned. No plugin will take away the learning curve that goes with it.

Now I have a focusrite Forte, and cames with 2 VST midnight plugins from Focusrite the ISA110 equaliser and ISA130 compressor.
But I think and correct me if I´m wrong, that the ultramaximizer do not makes the same that ISA130 compressor does.

I use reaper to recording and run the VSTs[/quote]

Maximizer, Limiter, Compressor are all different Tools.
Each Tool is for a different approach.
You have to learn what each Plugin is for and how to use it.
As Ingolf said Dynamic Manipulation is a Art. I spend many years learning how to use dynamic plugins correctly. If you know what you do it´s powerful. If you don´t know what you´re doing with this kind of plugins you would not get a great sounding mix.

Ingolf gave you a link to therecordingrevolution.com
this is a powerful site with nice tipps and tricks and many many videos for free. Graham has a nice way to teach you.

Quote from Ingolf

Well, using this you will get loud but overcompressed and boring mixes in the end.
Like I said above, using compression is an art that has to be learned. No plugin will take away the learning curve that goes with it.

Sounds better than just using a normaliser. Any tips you'd care to share, Ingolf?

Quote from nightlight

Sounds better than just using a normaliser. Any tips you'd care to share, Ingolf?

Unfortunately no.
I have learnt (the hard way) that using compression presets almost never work.
The musical context makes it necessary to gently compress single tracks (sometimes busses will do as well, especially when you don't mind your drums a bit garage-y and rough ).
When properly compressed and EQ'd (again in musical context) mixing becomes much easier and then (only then) you can use an adaptive limiter in the sum (which again is only for private consumer purpose). For commercial use ALWAYS use a good mastering engineer (like @Robbue here on the forum).

I appreciate the kudos brother! Thank you!

Looking forward to Beat Crazy II : )

Quote from Ingolf

Unfortunately no.
I have learnt (the hard way) that using compression presets almost never work.
The musical context makes it necessary to gently compress single tracks (sometimes busses will do as well, especially when you don't mind your drums a bit garage-y and rough ).
When properly compressed and EQ'd (again in musical context) mixing becomes much easier and then (only then) you can use an adaptive limiter in the sum (which again is only for private consumer purpose). For commercial use ALWAYS use a good mastering engineer (like @Robbue here on the forum).

There is so much wisdom here. YOU should teach a course!

I've looked a little into that website and so far I've taken away pushing things towards the minimal to reduce choices and get on with music making. I've worked on doing this and I'm on board with agreeing with it.

As to "loud without clipping" there is a lot of learning how to set your levels on your units.
I'd go to the forums for your equipment and read about level setting for particular needs (bass, vocals, guitars) and piecing your Kemper, Preamp, Audio Interface, etc it will begin to make sense over time. TAKE NOTES so you can reproduce success when you find it with a particular instrument and settings!! <-- reread that (I use my phone to take pictures of my settings and put them into the project folder)

One of the reasons compression takes a long time to learn is that the effect can be hard to hear. There's a learning curve not only in the use of compression, but in the perception as well.

I always think of it in terms of "transient shaping" rather than just "loudness" or "volume leveling".

"To make my recordings louder" = Mastering

Mastering is a difficult and complex field, tools like L2, L3, Voxengo Elephant etc. will make your recordings louder, but they also will change the character of your recordings. If you're not careful enough, your music will be louder, but it could sound worse, too.

For "fast and easy" mastering I can recommend the Voxengo Elephant-plugin, the presets are great and it doesn't influence or change the sound that much like other plugins (f.e. Waves).

For serious mastering you should send your tracks to a professional mastering-studio, one of the best here in Germany is HP Mastering.