# Spitfire volume question



## elfman (Sep 9, 2018)

There's a general volume setting in every Spitfire patch. My question is, why do some libraries default at -6 (winds, brass, strings) and others default at 0 (percussion, piano, harp)?

I realize that the latter three are not part of the same 'series' as the first three which could explain this minor difference, but what would be the reason for this?


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## jacobthestupendous (Oct 1, 2018)

I suspect the orchestral instruments are designed to be loaded up and to be decently well balanced without much modification. A chamber viola section is simply not that loud compared to the rest of the orchestra, so -6 probably makes sense. I imagine if you have five string parts, five or six brass parts, and five or six wind parts loaded and all playing, -6 across the board is probably not a problem.

I suspect too the answer may have something to do with the dynamic range they're targeting. For music to have a high dynamic range, it has to have quiet parts.

Also, I've heard that when you're in the composing and mixing phases of music making, you should target an end output that peaks around -6 to -10 dB; this leaves some headroom for the mastering step to do it's work.

All of that to say, I don't know the answer to your question, but it has occasionally bothered me as well when I pull up a patch and I can't hear the output.


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Oct 1, 2018)

I always have to adjust volumes of everything on an individual basis all the time anyway.


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## Chris Richter (Oct 1, 2018)

@jacobthestupendous From experience: No, they aren‘t balanced. Especially not articulation wise


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