Make Your Track Louder by Using Multiple Limiters

Limiters are employed mainly for a single purpose: to limit the output of a signal in a way that prevents undesirable distortion and excessive peaks while, when used correctly, preserving the overall balance and color of a mix. This reduces the dynamic range of a signal, in turn making it possible to increase its loudness. In most cases, limiters will be found in the master bus at the very end of the mastering chain. In the following tutorial, we'll show you how to use multiple limiters to gain more control over your track and ultimately make it louder.

As usual, let's begin by listening to a short sequence created in SoundBridge: DAW. It contains most of the whole mix's elements, with an additional mastering effect chain.

The idea behind this technique is to use two limiters instead of one. It's similar to the concept of compressing in stages, but you're limiting. We will essentially be dividing up the limiting process into two steps. The first one will tame any rough transients popping out in the mix. Often, it will tame instruments like drums or synths. The second limiter, not having to deal with many rough transients, will give you more overall volume. Let's take a look at our effect chain on the master channel.

Limiters and Other Effects of the Mastering Chain

The Kramer PIE compressor by Waves Audio is the first effect, as shown in the picture above. It's essentially a "glue" compressor set to work with a slight gain reduction (one to two dBs). After the compressor, we can see the first limiter in our effect chain, FabFilter Pro L-2. As you can see, we've set the attack time to around 12 ms. This tames some of the heavier transients in the mix. We've also set the release time to a medium range and the output to -0.1 dB on the right. This limiter's gain reduction sits at +12 dB, which can seem shocking, but this mix still has a lot of headroom. Now, let's move to forward.

The following effect in our master chain is an EQ, where we have boosted mid-range frequencies by 4.5 dB. After that, as you can see, we've used the Fab Filter limiter again as the last effect on the chain. However, this one has an entirely different attack setting, much longer. It's worth mentioning that optimal settings for the attack depend on the tempo of your track, the genre of music, and the type of mix you're working on. The gain reduction here is around -6 dB, and we've achieved an overall loudness of around -8 LUFS (short-term).

If you liked this article on mixing, here are some more on the same subject:

• Essential Mastering Processes for Your Tracks
• Bring Back The Impact: Drum Mastering
• Stem Mastering and Mixing
• 3 Main Tips on How to Prepare Your Song for the Mastering Process