Volume of music in video

[rkstudio]

Hello, How high should the volume be with the music in a video? I want to make sure it can be heard without blowing out someone's eardrums.

[weaver]

This is not an easy question and there is no exact answer. It depends on the used music ( techno versus classic) and from from the scene. The music shall extend the visual content, therefore the soundtrack is always an issue what depends from the personality of the sound mixer and from the video. There are so many genres, it is always your selection what music you select and at what volume you add it to your video. It is always very good to listen to the music (soundtrack) on a standard television set and compare your video with the sound of the neighbore channel of your TV set to find the optimal volume. The computer monitor and sound system never gives you a correct judgement. It is always a challenge even in the professional world, you can see many TV programs and movies with very bad soundtracks.

[rkstudio]

Well I was just thinking that if I set it to 100%, it might be too loud on someone else's computer if they also have the volume of their computer at 100%. But if I set it to 25 or 50%, it might be too low and can only be slightly heard. I guess it does depend on a few factors since you can't assume what the volume setting is on someone else's device.

[weaver]

Yes, this is also a question. Also in VS and many other devices you will find an option to normalize the audio tracks. It tries to adjust the sound level to unity. (Unfortunately sometimes it creates also some distortion). This unity level should be the 100% modulation. Every device (computer, radio and TV etc.) is adjusted to the unity level (normal) in the factories. This adjustment shall control the listening level, ie you do not need to adjust the sound volume from TV program to TV program or from video to video. Unfortunately the measurement of the sound level (loudness) is not an easy task. Therefore there is no general method or unified instrument. The radio stations or TV stations use some kind of intelligent compressors to control the overall sound level but even in the recent time the politicians had to create new laws to control the loudness of the broadcasted audio tracks/services. For us ( makers of the originals) is still the best method to control the sound level of our videos is the comparison with other sources (DVDs,BRs, TV programs). Copy your video into an HDD, among other films or TV programs and watch them for a while on your TV. Jump between the videos. If you do not need to adjust the sound volume, the sound level is correct, especially it is critical when there are voice portions as well. For best understanding the voice level should be about 6 dB above the music.

[BrianCee]

Well I was just thinking that if I set it to 100%, it might be too loud on someone else's computer .

in which case can't they just turn their volume control down a bit ??? - I have never come across any device (computer/TV ) that did not have it's own inbuilt volume control - it is up to the viewer to set a level that suits them - and every one is probably different



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[weaver]

The question is rather the common level of the audio sources. What the people do not like at every audio source to adjust the sound (listening) level ( volume control).

[BrianCee]

Balance between original video sound - additional narration - background music - sound effects is indeed far more important than just volume.

Your task when editing 'rkstudio' is to BALANCE all the sounds - I would say keep the volume at least 100% - maybe even a bit higher - your viewers can always turn it down a bit - but turning up a low level may introduce distortion or 'noise' into the sound



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[rkstudio]

Ok, I think I have a better understanding of it now. I also realize that some people have better hearing than others. I was concerned because sometimes when I watch a few videos on youtube, etc., I adjusted the sound of one video, but then when the next one plays, it might be too loud or too quiet.
After reading the posts and thinking about it, I know why your saying there's not easy solution.
I think I'll just keep them all at 100%

Thank you all very much!