How to get more volume

[Rick Derer]

I am recording pretty much at full volume but my final tracks are nowhere near as loud as commercial tracks. Is this where mastering comes in?

[rsinger]

1 hour ago, Rick Derer said:

I am recording pretty much at full volume but my final tracks are nowhere near as loud as commercial tracks. Is this where mastering comes in?

Yes. I'm not a recording engineer so I don't know the correct terms, but you need to consider loudness in terms or RMS or an average over time. You can have a peak that goes up to 0 dB, but the average volume over a second might be -12 dB. This is one area where compressors and limiters are used. I use both compressors and limiters when I master.

[Nigel Mackay]

Use a loudness meter. Compare your readings with recorded stuff. Maybe you need compression, maybe you need less quiet/softer bits.

Here is a good free one Youlean Loudness Meter

[chuckebaby]

21 hours ago, Rick Derer said:

I am recording pretty much at full volume

What is full volume ? 

To get a commercially sounding song your best bet is to export a mix from -3 to -6 db and then bring that file back in to Cakewalk and master it to 0.1 or as close as possible. Use compression and limiting to control your signal. this changes the perceived loudness.

[user 905133]

Several years ago I watched a batch of Youtube videos on Mastering.  There are many that are horrible (IMO), some that are sort of ok, and a few that had gems of wisdom in them.  What I found as gems might not be the same as what anyone else would see as gems. They are more of the personal "Aha! Moment" experiences--for me things I didn't know, things that were simple and easy to implement once you see/hear them.

One of my personal favorites had to do with the psychological aspects of loudness--overall loudness v. the presence of instruments in the audio spectrum so they could be perceived without being muddied by everything else.

I am not a recording engineer either professionally or as a home studio hobbyist, but maybe this distinction between loudness and clarity might be helpful to you.  In any case, I do recommend watching mastering tutorials (and skipping the ones that within the first 3 minutes don't match your listening/watching/learning style).