Gain Staging to me is making sure that your audio levels are at the optimum level for every stage in the mixing process. Every stage is as follows: Audio is not too loud or soft on the track to start with. The level of the audio is good entering into every plugin especially plugins that emulate Analog hardware. The levels of combine tracks entering into a buss should be good and not clipping. A combination of busses and tracks entering into the final output buss should also be at a safe level and not clipping. Every step the audio takes through your software and/or hardware should be monitored to make sure the levels are good. You want the levels through every stage to not be too low in volume or too loud. Of course these rules can be broken if you want to get distortion by pushing the level of the audio through a plugin that emulates hardware. You want to know you are getting distortion deliberately and not be getting distortion because you aren't monitoring your levels/gain staging. Hope this makes sense.
Mafia Roma Thanks for the feedback. I use a very affordable ATR2100-USB/XLR Microphone. I tried other more recording style microphones before but they picked up too much noise and too much mouth noises etc. This microphone just seems to work well with my voice and it keeps out a lot of the room noise. I still use iZotope RX to do some clean up after the recording as well but it isn't required.
@@kdwmixingmastering If you're mixing "in the box" and the only recording you're doing is the vocals do you maybe just have to do gain staging on your vocal tracks? can I just adjust the volume with the channel fader on my VST channels?
The VU meter in this video is a part of the Slate Digital Console Emulation plugin. I have it on every track as it is adding the console emulation to every track. If I don't use this plugin then I don't normally put a VU on each track. Sometimes I will but only for the initial gain staging of the audio clip gain and then I would remove them.
Honestly, I have watched about 20 videos related to this. This one actually shows you what id does in relation to the VU meters in stages. Really good video. Can you make a video of 1 channel with the end to end process. Also another question would be, if you are making the song/beat inside the box not actually recording analog instruments, do I follow the same approach?
Sure I will look at doing a follow up video. Due to time constraints it might take me a little while to get it down but I will do one. As for the beat inside the box I would absolutely do this as well. I find that most Virtual Instruments are way to loud be default and have a tendency to start clipping. I believe that the creators of these instruments do it deliberately to try and make their instrument sound more impressive then the next (e.g. louder sounds better). I personally like to go the extra step and bounce my Midi tracks out to audio files and then import them into my mixing session. This way my entire project is all audio files and I am not tempted to make changes to the midi and I am only concerned with Mixing. I just find it easier to mix this way. Thanks for watching and the great feedback.
Thanks for the quick reply here. I appreciate it. I see what you say about bouncing the tracks. That makes sense. I'll be on the lookout for the video.
Hi, was going to do a video on a single channel but due to way mixing involves mixing everything together it isn't that clear. I have attempted to try and show in more detail the start to finish process and gain staging. Have a look at this video and see if it helps more. th-cam.com/video/Gh39BOTI5OA/w-d-xo.html
hey kevin! what's the next step I should do after i properly gain stage my project? I set all my faders to 0 db so when I'm mixing, i can make more precise adjustments when i need to. I also added a utility plug-in (before any other plug-ins) to adjust the gain before hitting the fader signal and so my plug-ins will receive a good signal. So my question is.. whats next? do i start adding my UAD plug-ins to add warmth to all of the instruments? or do I start adjusting the faders, and begin mixing my project? Also when I'm done gain staging and I bring up the volume with plug-ins.. What should the peak volume be before starting the master bus? I just want to make/mix/master the right way. Thanks!
The annoying answer is, there is no real right or wrong way to mix. For me personally after I have gain staged I will do a couple of passes listening to the entire song and adjust the faders to get a fairly balanced mix. After that then I will start adjusting at a finer level using EQ, Compression and effects plugins. Of course this depends on the plugins you are using. If you are going to place plugins on that only add analog warmth and do nothing else then place them on first and then do your rough mix. I use the Slate Digital VCC plugin and I have them pre-loaded on my tracks and busses. As for peak volume I am assuming you mean before mastering. For me I normally mix my songs separately from mastering and have it output fairly low around the -18dbfs roughly. I then take the song into Wavelab and Master it. If you are Mastering while mixing then just send the mix to the master bus at a low value that doesn't have any chance of clipping and then use mastering techniques to bring it up to the ceiling you like e.g. -1.0db or -0.3db. Apply as much compression and limiting to get it loud but still dynamic and not crushed (unless you are going for a crushed sound). If you still have questions or I didn't answer your question fully please feel free to ask more and I will try to answer as best I can.
You can but if you are talking a single hit it might be a bit fast for it and it might not be very accurate. Even a regular pattern can sometimes give results that may not be great but I do it and I am happy with the results I get. Just watch for the clip light as well. I have had times where the 0VU reading should be good but I see the clip light come on. In that case I will back it off a little.
@@kdwmixingmastering Cool man. When you do eq to each track do you gain stage each track straight after you make the eq adjustments? I saw something on another site musician on a mission where they sort of do that after each track is eqd but how does that work if you are just using channel style eq - like a simple bass mid and treble and not a parametric?
@@richardpress9551 If I am using a plugin I always like to gain match so that when I bypass a plugin it doesn't change the volume of the track. As you stated if you are using the inbuilt channel strips then this is not that easy and some plugins don't make it easy either. Unless you are doing big cuts or boost I wouldn't stress over it too much. It is good practice to gain stage but you don't need to go over the top. Just makes sure things are in the ballpark and not clipping and you should be fine. If you find that an EQ adjustment has changed the volume of a track then just raise or lower the fader a little and you should be fine. Also, make sure you are not making the whole mixing experience unenjoyable by analyzing all the little things too much. Follow good practices but also make sure you are having fun and that the music sounds good. There is a saying that if it sounds good then it is good. I hope that helps.
Hi Kev, one thing you fail to mention here is when you are targetting -18db on the VU meter is it -18 PEAK value or RMS? Are the Cubase and Slate meters Peak meters?
Good point. I target around -18 RMS but I also make sure it doesn't peak into the red. Generally VU style meters are RMS because they are too slow to really show peak details.
what is gain staing? can you please explain?
Gain Staging to me is making sure that your audio levels are at the optimum level for every stage in the mixing process. Every stage is as follows: Audio is not too loud or soft on the track to start with. The level of the audio is good entering into every plugin especially plugins that emulate Analog hardware. The levels of combine tracks entering into a buss should be good and not clipping. A combination of busses and tracks entering into the final output buss should also be at a safe level and not clipping. Every step the audio takes through your software and/or hardware should be monitored to make sure the levels are good. You want the levels through every stage to not be too low in volume or too loud. Of course these rules can be broken if you want to get distortion by pushing the level of the audio through a plugin that emulates hardware. You want to know you are getting distortion deliberately and not be getting distortion because you aren't monitoring your levels/gain staging. Hope this makes sense.
@@kdwmixingmastering bro what microphone you use and thx
Mafia Roma Thanks for the feedback. I use a very affordable ATR2100-USB/XLR Microphone. I tried other more recording style microphones before but they picked up too much noise and too much mouth noises etc. This microphone just seems to work well with my voice and it keeps out a lot of the room noise. I still use iZotope RX to do some clean up after the recording as well but it isn't required.
@@kdwmixingmastering thx very much bro good quality and helpful subject
@@kdwmixingmastering If you're mixing "in the box" and the only recording you're doing is the vocals do you maybe just have to do gain staging on your vocal tracks? can I just adjust the volume with the channel fader on my VST channels?
Really good video.
Thanks!
Great video & well explained - thanks!
Question: I see you have a VU meter on ALL tracks. Why not on only the Master Track like most engineers do?
The VU meter in this video is a part of the Slate Digital Console Emulation plugin. I have it on every track as it is adding the console emulation to every track. If I don't use this plugin then I don't normally put a VU on each track. Sometimes I will but only for the initial gain staging of the audio clip gain and then I would remove them.
Honestly, I have watched about 20 videos related to this. This one actually shows you what id does in relation to the VU meters in stages. Really good video. Can you make a video of 1 channel with the end to end process. Also another question would be, if you are making the song/beat inside the box not actually recording analog instruments, do I follow the same approach?
Sure I will look at doing a follow up video. Due to time constraints it might take me a little while to get it down but I will do one. As for the beat inside the box I would absolutely do this as well. I find that most Virtual Instruments are way to loud be default and have a tendency to start clipping. I believe that the creators of these instruments do it deliberately to try and make their instrument sound more impressive then the next (e.g. louder sounds better). I personally like to go the extra step and bounce my Midi tracks out to audio files and then import them into my mixing session. This way my entire project is all audio files and I am not tempted to make changes to the midi and I am only concerned with Mixing. I just find it easier to mix this way. Thanks for watching and the great feedback.
Thanks for the quick reply here. I appreciate it. I see what you say about bouncing the tracks. That makes sense. I'll be on the lookout for the video.
Hi, was going to do a video on a single channel but due to way mixing involves mixing everything together it isn't that clear. I have attempted to try and show in more detail the start to finish process and gain staging. Have a look at this video and see if it helps more. th-cam.com/video/Gh39BOTI5OA/w-d-xo.html
hey kevin! what's the next step I should do after i properly gain stage my project? I set all my faders to 0 db so when I'm mixing, i can make more precise adjustments when i need to.
I also added a utility plug-in (before any other plug-ins) to adjust the gain before hitting the fader signal and so my plug-ins will receive a good signal.
So my question is.. whats next? do i start adding my UAD plug-ins to add warmth to all of the instruments? or do I start adjusting the faders, and begin mixing my project? Also when I'm done gain staging and I bring up the volume with plug-ins.. What should the peak volume be before starting the master bus? I just want to make/mix/master the right way. Thanks!
The annoying answer is, there is no real right or wrong way to mix. For me personally after I have gain staged I will do a couple of passes listening to the entire song and adjust the faders to get a fairly balanced mix. After that then I will start adjusting at a finer level using EQ, Compression and effects plugins. Of course this depends on the plugins you are using. If you are going to place plugins on that only add analog warmth and do nothing else then place them on first and then do your rough mix. I use the Slate Digital VCC plugin and I have them pre-loaded on my tracks and busses.
As for peak volume I am assuming you mean before mastering. For me I normally mix my songs separately from mastering and have it output fairly low around the -18dbfs roughly. I then take the song into Wavelab and Master it. If you are Mastering while mixing then just send the mix to the master bus at a low value that doesn't have any chance of clipping and then use mastering techniques to bring it up to the ceiling you like e.g. -1.0db or -0.3db. Apply as much compression and limiting to get it loud but still dynamic and not crushed (unless you are going for a crushed sound).
If you still have questions or I didn't answer your question fully please feel free to ask more and I will try to answer as best I can.
Good one!
Hi, can I use a vu meter to gain stage fast transient sounds like a clap, hat, or short kick? Thanks!
You can but if you are talking a single hit it might be a bit fast for it and it might not be very accurate. Even a regular pattern can sometimes give results that may not be great but I do it and I am happy with the results I get. Just watch for the clip light as well. I have had times where the 0VU reading should be good but I see the clip light come on. In that case I will back it off a little.
Good video
Thanks
@@kdwmixingmastering Cool man. When you do eq to each track do you gain stage each track straight after you make the eq adjustments? I saw something on another site musician on a mission where they sort of do that after each track is eqd but how does that work if you are just using channel style eq - like a simple bass mid and treble and not a parametric?
@@richardpress9551 If I am using a plugin I always like to gain match so that when I bypass a plugin it doesn't change the volume of the track. As you stated if you are using the inbuilt channel strips then this is not that easy and some plugins don't make it easy either. Unless you are doing big cuts or boost I wouldn't stress over it too much. It is good practice to gain stage but you don't need to go over the top. Just makes sure things are in the ballpark and not clipping and you should be fine. If you find that an EQ adjustment has changed the volume of a track then just raise or lower the fader a little and you should be fine.
Also, make sure you are not making the whole mixing experience unenjoyable by analyzing all the little things too much. Follow good practices but also make sure you are having fun and that the music sounds good. There is a saying that if it sounds good then it is good. I hope that helps.
@@kdwmixingmastering Thanks a lot for taking the time out to answer that. Appreciated.
Hi Kev, one thing you fail to mention here is when you are targetting -18db on the VU meter is it -18 PEAK value or RMS? Are the Cubase and Slate meters Peak meters?
Good point. I target around -18 RMS but I also make sure it doesn't peak into the red. Generally VU style meters are RMS because they are too slow to really show peak details.