HOW LOUD SHOULD YOUR BEATS BE?

In this video, I show the best levels to set for your beats when uploading.
🔥 Get my kits here:
lifestyledidit...
#mastering

[@Inflightmuzik]

Let me tell ya, it's refreshing to finally see another youtuber in the producer community that actually understands the difference between headroom and dynamic range. The only thing that I do different is what I upload to beatstars. For me, only the trackouts are left at full dynamic range. The MP3 and WAV are exactly what they hear on beatstars. Typically anyone who is looking for the best quality possible is purchasing trackouts. Everyone else wants exactly what they hear on beatstars. In the rare instance that an artists complains about the MP3/WAV is simply an opportunity to up sell them on why it's important to get trackouts both for them and their engineer. I saw an engineer in the comments saying how they are frustrated with getting MP3/WAVs that are already mastered. I think most engineers are frustrated getting either of those files at all either way. They're better off educating them on the importance of trackouts instead of trying to convince them to buy more MP3s or WAVs. But definitely do what works for you and your business. But from my experience, giving out MP3/WAVs that aren't what people hear from your beat store causes more headache and devalues your trackouts. I also even included the master WAV/MP3 with the trackouts so that they have something to bump in the car.

[@JRegoMusic]

I upload mine in the same exact way bro...you get what you pay for...in trackouts I have two folders both wet and dry as well as a master wav and a NON-mastered wav for their engineer to either use untouched trackouts or an untouched song trackout or vice versa if they are happy with my effects and mix ect.

[@oa6551]

Sorry for asking but what a trackout?

[@JRegoMusic]

@@oa6551 a trackout is each instrument and sound broken down into it's own wav file, so that the artist or engineer can make any adjustments they wish to a beat from dropping out hihats during a certain part, or changing the way a kick hits...It also allows the engineer to mix the instrumental on their own, especially useful for when adding vocals to the instrumental. I send two folders, wet and dry... WET is WITH the eq and other master fx on the master track, DRY is WITHOUT any master fx...no master EQ compression ect.

[@sadcache806]

@@JRegoMusic wait so when u send them the trackout cant they just delete ur beat tag? Because hwen i sell beats i want my beat tag to still be on it

[@JRegoMusic]

@@sadcache806 yes they can remove your tag with trackouts

[@ClassEBeats]

Simple but much needed. Thanks mane!💯🙏🏾

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

ClassE Beats thanks for watching it bro!

[@jaypereira9696]

I'm a simple man, I see lifestyledidit I click and like without seeing the video #firstonetodoitfam

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Jay Pereira thank you so much jay!

[@25ondatrack61]

Yeeah it's true!

[@theJustScience]

Word

[@jaypereira9696]

@@LifeStyleDidIt bro you doing so much for the producers out here that you will only get more support my brother !!! bless up man

[@toreywilliams6760]

This dude makes it so simple for you to understand without holding back all he knows

[@bomb5994]

Damn blud dis the most useful video on beatmaking I've ever watched

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Thank you fr! Glad it could help

[@NikBeats2k]

Thanks man you always drop gems for producers 🔥🔥🔥

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Nikbeats production thank you!

[@BouchayBeats]

always providing the most useful content, chief !

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Bouchay Beats thanks for watching!

[@JaeWalkerMusic]

I literally just bought a mastering plugin yesterday to help out with this. Your uploads are always clutch 👌🏾

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Jae Walker Music thanks for watching bro!

[@MoeHoY]

which one bro?

[@JaeWalkerMusic]

ZnuteN Master Suite by InitialAudio

[@longarooni]

So in general: Beats or Online Platforms should be heard at: -14LUFS -1DB But for anybody wanting to use that beat: -6DB headroom (MP3, WAV/24Bit, Both Tagged and Untagged) and the mastered instrumental Right? I’m wondering so I can learn more about this, cause it’s fun making beats

[@BillyHoyle]

Great tutorial, man. I learned this the hard way by getting chewed out by a session engineer years back. Never messed up trackouts again after that tho 😂

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Billy Hoyle facts!😂😂

[@moonrocks]

Hey lifestyledidit, don't got much to say except your videos are great and your grind inspire me. Keep at it bro

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Munya thank you so much! You’re support is appreciated bro

[@TPOID]

This video helped me a lot, thank you so much! I was always a bit confused if its okay to have a bit of gain reduction when limiting to make the beat louder but this video helped clear it up. :)

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Glad it could help out!🔥🙏

[@adwes1937]

I swear i was just asking my good friend about this topic. You just cleared up all my questions 🐐

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Ad Wes lmao! Thanks for watching it

[@Leijamusic]

Most underrated channel in music production imo

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Elijah Johnson thank you so much!

[@JeriGayo]

i love the vibe of the beat you have on this tutorial.

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Beatz by Grey thanks!

[@JeriGayo]

@@LifeStyleDidIt no problem. hope you can also share a comment on my content.

[@philipsurpris]

It’s like you read our minds, great video ‼️

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Beloved Melodies 😂 thanks for watching

[@NemyaKK]

I actually never thought about it this way, thanks for the insight!

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Aymen KHAMLICHI welcome bro!

[@AshukaMadeIt]

Always throwing gems! Yes sir!

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Ashuka MadeIt thanks G!

[@jcyrius9459]

@LifeStyleDidIt U DA REAL MVP!!

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

J Cyrius thanks!

[@sfisothwala9077]

thanks once again bro!!!i wish rappers that come with "mastered" beats could just understand its a hassle tryna mix and master a song with an already "mastered" beat!😢

[@FonkedUpProductions]

G for real

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Sfiso Thwala thanks for watching!

[@sfisothwala9077]

@@LifeStyleDidIt thank you for giving us endless knowledge bro!✊

[@BR-vd2ux]

Is that not why they should go ahead and purchase the stems which should be sent with and without effects? If they hear a beat they like and purchase it but then don't actually receive that version is that not deceiving unless clarified at the point of sale?

[@sfisothwala9077]

@@BR-vd2ux but some download free beats of which are already mastered. that's the hassle.

[@vshy]

This is what I needed!

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

VSHY thanks for watching!

[@NOTBK666]

Exactly what I was looking for

[@jayfortherecord]

Good video man. People need to know this

[@julienepouhe9639]

Good to know! Thanks bro

[@chrisjennings5731]

Yo Lyfe, you dropped some knowledge! Much appreciated! 🙏

[@southsideboyz9463]

Thank you bro! God bless you for spreading knowledge!

[@GTheGenius]

Needed this. This has been my issue for sooo long.

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

GTG Beats thanks for watching bro!

[@mikedollabeats835]

Thanks for those tips. Keep posting

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

MikeDolla Beats thanks!

[@leavealegacymusic]

This is a really touchy subject, because I've always uploaded my beats to Beatstars mastered, then I started uploading beats with headroom because it made more sense but then rappers started contacting me after the purchase telling me to send them, I quote, "the loud version from the website, the volume here is low, I want what I paid for", and these are rappers who drop projects, albums etc not beginners 🤔

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Leave A Legacy that’s interesting, I never had that happen. Have you ever told them that it is better? And the benefits that come form Headroom haha? I’m sure the engineers would be mad

[@leavealegacymusic]

@@LifeStyleDidIt yeah, I've explained everything, but they simply wanted the loud version so I had to master the beat and manually send it to them 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Leave A Legacy 💀😂

[@Inflightmuzik]

Give them what they ask for. If they are truly interested in getting the best version, they will buy trackouts. When exporting, your individual stems won't have the limiting applied depending on how you setup your export, but the MP3 and WAV will. Anyone purchasing the MP3/WAV will absolutely be expecting to buy what they hear. You'll get less complaints the few times you do, if ever, you up sell them on why it's important to buy trackouts and just discount them the difference from what they previously purchased. You've pretty much already confirmed this yourself with your own experience. Do what's best for you. Same goes to lifestyle...keep doing what's working for your company.

[@leavealegacymusic]

@@Inflightmuzik Completely agree with you man, thank you for the detailed response! 🙏🏼

[@THWARRIOR-xi4ub]

Good looking out my brother for the info.

[@Buttersmoov]

Thanks man, now I finally know what to do

[@KreatorzStudios]

Good vid as always ! Stay Blessed 🙏

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Kreatorz Studios thank you!

[@syklotabeats1254]

*Amazing and precise tips*

[@AB-wl5oc]

yo in jst one video iv gained so much useful information lol thanks so much dude

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

A Baharin thank you

[@craigdaubbeats-rapinstrume9185]

Since I learned a few things the only thing I use the limiter for on the master channel is to raise the volume for the demo/tagged version. It isn't doing anything but raising the volume. This way I know when someone leases or buys a beat it'll sound exactly the same except for the sound reduction. I level and mix in mono without the limiter. Sometimes I forget to turn it off while I'm making the beat but I just turn it off before I start fine tuning everything the way I want it. I really don't even do much mixing anymore outside of some light EQ and maybe some sound design stuff. Everytime I try to dabble into some of those mixing plugins I just mess things up. Lol Still do sometimes. I've only been using FL a few months so I'm still learning.

[@Pompejiii]

Yeah just turn the mix volume of that plugin down or it will change your sound way too much. Did this mistake too when I was new

[@justemusicme]

It takes years to learn just a little of what any DAW can actually do lol but mixing is extremely important and if you’ve only been doing it a few months then there’s a lot you should look into.

[@KioTheProducer]

Very helpful tutorial🙏 Thanks boss!👊

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Slim Chew Beats thanks bro

[@daaamn001]

Love! ❤️

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

JiménezTV 🙏

[@yoursgodly]

This is a pretty dope video man... Thanks a lot for the helpful information

[@mawkx4201]

Today only i was thinking that where's the new tutorial by my Senpai And here you are THANKS.....

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Badetheproducer thanks for watching bro!

[@outlndsh]

Thanks for this man I needed it I’m sitting on a lot of music getting it all ready I’m about to go all In but I wasn’t going to post the music like this I was wondering if I should just take the limiter off when tracking out the beat This cleared up a lot I appreciate this foreal.

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Outlndsh Beatz gotchu! Thanks for watching

[@SGMediaOfficial]

This! thanks g almost never mixed before watching this

[@austinterell5828]

Thanks Fam ALways Helpful

[@wesstendz]

Loud AF 🗣️

[@rayxmusic9310]

Good video man, fr, thank you

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

thanks for watching!

[@TAEOBEATS]

needed this thanks bro💯

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

TAEO 🙏

[@nateclassics513]

So basically, the musician singing or talking will not be heard that well if your mixes are at 0 or around that right? So this is why I should make sure that most of my tracks are hitting around -18 to -3? Is that right?

[@lucasdelabangery]

He will be heard well, but the overall track wont sound as good because u didnt leave headroom.😎

[@nateclassics513]

@@lucasdelabangery But headroom is specifically for an artist singing or rapping right?

[@lucasdelabangery]

@@nateclassics513 Yea but it can be used in any genre in order to have clean mix.

[@Mubu5Reborn]

Real quick, simple and incredibly useful video. Everything has been fully explained (except what they do on the engineering side to mix the beat; but far from the topic. Keep 'em coming!! Been wondering how loud I should make my beats!

[@melodyquick13]

Awesome vid! Def worth a subscribe

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

melodyquick thank you!

[@tmoney4782]

Much love

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Terry TheProducer 🙏

[@VClassBeatz]

Thanks Lifestyle

[@slowedtracks5951]

Loud enough that my neighbors can hear it

[@reio9490]

Thx for sharing

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Rishabh Raitka Music 🙏

[@roy3619]

The master level after mixing is -6db as you reccommend for headroom but it still sounds very quiet after exporting to an mp3 and wave. If you can help me please

[@definebeats718]

@roy it’s suppose to sound type quiet so the artist can hop on the track and have enough headroom to lay his vocals on . A artist can’t really rap or sing on a beat that has a lot of volume . Also if it’s to much volume . When recording vocals on that beat . The audio is going to leak from the headphones and it would be Hurd when the artist is recording in the booth . If anything the artist can ask the engineer to turn the headphones volume up or in the other hand tell them engineer to literally turn the beat up as well . Either or work . Hope this helps 💪🏽 I use to ask myself this question a lot of times but then I figured it out .

[@roy3619]

@@definebeats718 it really did Thanks allot much appreciated.

[@roy3619]

@@definebeats718 hi i also wanted to ask do you know how do we make our beats loud enough for listener's on streaming services like beatstars etc.

[@NVsionbeatz]

I was thinking this, I could just imagine a rapper/singer having to yell over a bricked waveform with lots of post-gain

[@idkbeats8821]

Helpful vid

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

idk beats thanks!

[@fishbonegaga]

Finally ! Thank you! But what about stems ? How much db? Pan or not? Leave effects on or not ? Etc... Beatstars shouldn't be so careless about this topic , it's litterally the MOST important thing , i mean they make videos about every single feature of their site but beat loudness... wtf man. Do your job Beatstars! Thanks dude for helping us !

[@prodbynsa3412]

leave everything like you make it, just export it as stems

[@fishbonegaga]

@@prodbynsa3412 ok , thanks for your answer buddy , peace .

[@beastbas5845]

Everytime I do this I feel like my track is clipping like my speakers just start tripping even my headphones too

[@alvinvelasco3143]

How about the people who bought your beat but don’t know enough about headroom/don’t have an engineer to mix it for them?

[@billygbeatz2316]

Alvin Velasco I heard that somewhere else. But I’m curious myself on this one.

[@BR-vd2ux]

That's why I wouldn't follow this guidance necessarily. If they want to mess about with the beat too much then they have the option to buy the stems which should be sent dry and wet.

[@johnmick3559]

They should have an engineer for this

[@greatestsawes9712]

Hi champ, thanks for the video. QUESTION: Must we master the instrumental before re-mastering it along with the vocal, irrespective of the music genre? Or, is it better to do an instrumental, add the vocals (mix of course) before mastering them together? Thanks!!!

[@mukeshpathak7302]

@lifestyledidit I hope you answer this question, I've the same doubt 🙏🙏🙏 please guide

[@kintubeats]

Finally someone who knows their sh*t!!

[@yapha3284]

it's the little things

[@nicksantos4195]

@lifestyledidit So basically the beat people hear on your page can be mixed and mastered by you to make it sound loud and punchy, but the zip, wav, and mp3 should be at -6db for easy engineer edits and headroom?

[@Varillah]

Apart from the loudness amount. For the file that gets sent to the artist, Do you mix the instruments with compression, side chains, fancy vst plugins or do you do a simple mix to just level out the sounds & leave the artist’s engineer to mix the instruments again? Where as the one that gets upload for streaming do you mix and master the instruments with all the fancy stuff or is it you just mix the instruments once, but send one file without the limiter and the other one with the limiter?

[@apollospyrol7168]

Personally if they got a engineer i just send stems with just leveling if not you then add your own effects and send the whole instrumental or the stems with effects

[@apollospyrol7168]

And no limiter

[@HoveyTheHallowed]

hey Lifestyle, I really appreciate all your videos, you're a big inspiration to me, that's why I wanted to ask, what did you study? I'm bout to start my life at university and I really dunno what I wanna to study but sure as hell I wanna study something realted to music, thanks!

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

J for Judge what’s good! I did multiple years in studios and live sound (in theater) I learned a lot during this time, and every free second I would read audio books and online forums. Then KZbin channels like the recording revolution

[@afridifacebook]

nice!

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Afridi Hassan thanks!

[@barrowtoussaint4842]

Hey man nice video thanks for sharing this. Can you do a video on showing how to upload the mastered track and the track that has head room?

[@SofoniBeats]

Yes...I was taught you want to go no pass 6 db....but I learned sometimes you may need to go 5 db

[@soccerman127]

Before sending your beats to a mix engineer, should you send the individual stems? And if "yes", should you take off all your effects you've put on it (eg. EQ's, saturation, compression, reverb etc) so the engineer can apply their own effects?

[@Ian.Craycroft]

Depends. You could send wet and dry stems. Only if you wanna put in that extra work.

[@A_Class216]

Most engineers do prefer stems without any effects. Speaking from a bit of experience. Using dry stems just makes the mixing process a bit easier and sometimes we have our "secret" sauce that we like use.

[@jamieshorter7093]

Appreciate that.....Just listening to different opinions.....

[@Pompejiii]

Beats under -8 LUFS maybe hitting (besides kick) but the quality gets worse and worse as you put it louder. Better go for -11 LUFS and it's perfectly balanced. Loudness game is over my friends. It's the exact thing for youtube. quality > loudness

[@Ninja-pc3gd]

-14 LUFS is the standard of all major Streaming Platform. Yes, dynamics are more important than loudness war.

[@trehloonthebeat5264]

Thanks bro this helped a lot

[@33tek25]

Crazy beat btw

[@DOLi0N]

oooo I needed this! thanks for these videos Dx

[@ArtistShawnTv]

Nice 👍🏽

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Xv Beats thank you!

[@bizzsays]

Good Vid, my G! #Headphones

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Bizz Says lmao😂😂

[@frgttnthrt5997]

Nice video like always, I have a question though, do you aim for certain RMS when limiting the beat or just gain reduction?

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Ekz Beatz if I am mixing / mastering an actual song, yes. But if it’s a beat for my site and I’m just trying to get it up to average volume for auditioning purposes, I don’t pay too much mind. In my case, the customer will get a copy with headroom, so I’m just pushing my tagged mp3 that will play on my site

[@nikhilthakur4048]

Best

[@kidconnitv9774]

Gems (x)

[@mattyshredz1071]

Thanks bro!!

[@DesmondMason]

I always leave 6db of headroom.

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Desmond Mason good rule of thumb!

[@not_unsxgned]

Thanks for the vid man! Really useful 😄

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

Unsigned Beats glad you liked it!

[@MTCLVA]

i like your vids , :) help alot

[@andrewlelii-merlo4865]

So should I not put fruity soft clipper and fruity limiter on my beats?

[@andrewlelii-merlo4865]

Even though it’s not hitting 0 db

[@amandalaquemanda_]

Thank u👍🏼👍🏼

[@chrisjennings5731]

Yo Life, mucho gracias! We definitely getting up one day!

[@benjig7085]

Will I have good results adding rap vocals over the "boosted" beat that has the limiter applied or no and just go with the stemmed version & have it mastered so I still preserve the dynamic range?

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

best bet is to always get something with headroom. Stems are always gonna be the best because you can mix the song as a whole since you have control over each part of the beat, but if you go with a WAV master file, I would ask the producer to re send it with headroom!

[@n8classics175]

Why would you send a tagged version too? So you mean when an artist buys your beat, they can go in and change up things like the effects, volumes, etc on that beat, and which one is that and why? Thanks man, I'm just learning about this process, and I have a million questions that I still need answered, but I just want to make sure that I get tgis thing right.

[@DeRPahert]

So it doesn't matter how much headroom at first because you can gain it back down right? as long as a limiter/clipper wasn't originally used you can save the track to allow headroom?

[@victoriousakadiceproductions]

This is a great tutorial ! Shoutout to @LifestyleDidIt I used one of the the free Scream kit that I downloaded from lifestyledidit.com. I used LS-Vox7, here is the demo beat I created and added the free Scream kit to it. Here it is if you want to check it out. soundcloud.com/vic-45/in-the-shade Thank you to @LifeStyleDidIt!!!!

[@CerebroLDN]

Am I the only one whos mixing ridiculously low? Like my melodies are like -18db and then I have to bring the whole thing up when I render it, I struggle to mix it when the volumes high

[@Ninja-pc3gd]

You are in the right direction. Many of the VST plugin emulates real hardware and they have a sweet spot around -12 and -18db.

[@prodfuuutsy]

He lowkey looks like thomas shelby from peaky blinder😭😭😭

[@soccerman127]

Google comedian Matt Rife

[@andrewmckenzie7679]

Hey LifeStyleDidIt. Do you take off the Master buss compressor off too or just the limiter for the track being sent to the artist?

[@prodlivewre]

Yeah I wanna know this too

[@prodlivewre]

I always leave the compressor on idk if I should or not

[@LiroElQBrega]

Dang bro I always wondered about this when uploading beats to all socials and then the beat the artist gets, I give them a light version of mastering with landr is that okay though?

[@youngadminvove2491]

👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@ShiftnoteProductions]

is it okay to just have the melody a bit under 0 db and just jack the kick over 0 sb and add a soft clipper to level it back and clip the kick?

[@jayhammond7776]

best free clipper that shows gain reduction??

[@Raidenofficial]

t-racks classic clipper

[@oa6551]

Hey lifestyle, geat video but i'm still confused. If I send a beat out to an artist, can it be fully mixed with exception to pushing the limiting ceiling? Is that okay? e.g. track is mixed and final stage is to bring up threshold. I disable that on the master channel and just send it out just like that. Thank you!

[@kidnxtdoor7966]

Does this only apply for trackouts or also for mp3 and wav files where you just have the whole beat in one not tracked out?

[@LifeStyleDidIt]

KidnxtDoor anything that goes to the customer!

[@amiluvvv]

Can you do a tutorial on how to trackout with a mastering chain on master since it doesn’t let you trackout with master effects on

[@LMarquee]

What about if you use a mastering suite like Izotope Ozone or plugins in general (EQ, stereo widening, etc.) on the master bus? Should you also bypass those on the version that gets sent to artists or just bypass the limiter?

[@BR-vd2ux]

I feel like the artist should get what they heard when they purchased the beat. If they wanted to mix it up too much is that not why the stems are offered at an extra price which should be sent both with and without the effects?