Gain Staging Explained - 3 things you need to know - Warren Huart: Produce Like A Pro
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ค. 2024
- Here are 3 things you need to know about gain staging.
1. You don't have to print hot - 2:08
2. Don't clip your tracks - 3:05
3. Keep your faders at unity - 4:16
Gain staging is a very hotly debated topic around the internet!
When getting started in music, gain staging meant something completely differently than it does now. In Ye Olden Days we were concerned with signal to noise ratio and tape hiss. We were always trying to print a signal that was super hot so that we would be well above the noise floor of the console and the tape machine's hiss.
Later, when first switching to digital recording one of the pervasive theories was that you needed to have a hot signal because printing a quiet signal would produce a degradation in what was being recorded and converted into a digital audio file. Whether that is true or not really doesn't matter these days because modern convertors are more than capable of accurately reproducing the source that is being recorded! You also don't need to record a super hot signal, just a clean healthy signal that is above the noise floor! This brings us to our first tip.
Get Free Multitracks & Drum Samples: producelikeapro.lpages.co/pla...
Sign up here to get exclusive videos and content producelikeapro.com
Produce Like A Pro is a website which features great tips to help the beginning recordist make incredible sounding home recordings on a budget. - เพลง
Hi Friends, Gain staging is a very hotly debated topic around the internet! When I first got started in music, gain staging meant something completely differently than it does now. In Ye Olden Days (only a few years ago!) we were concerned with signal to noise ratio and tape hiss. We were always trying to print a signal that was super hot so that we would be well above the noise floor of the console and the tape machine's hiss. Today in the Digital world we don't face those issues in the ways we used to! I hope you enjoy the video and thank you for the great discussion!!
Wonderful information Warren!!
Thanks Apple!! Have a marvellous New Year!
Exactly!!!
i have a mixing Question when you gain stage are you turning you track faders down to lets say 10 1st the 2and turn your audio steams of those tracks down to -12db and your master fader at -6db before you put any plugins on? thank u and stay safe
@@GILLISH don't ever touch the master fader..keep it at 0.
For some reason, even though I've been mixing for a few years, I always treat myself as a beginner and listen to diffrent pieces of advice. Gain staging is no exception! There's always room for improvement. Always like hearing what you have to say, thanks a lot Warren!
That is amazing and means you will always learn something! I subscribe to exactly the same thing myself!! There's a lot of experts out there telling us we are wrong! I LOVE learning! You Rock my friend!
One thing I learned over the years is in the worst case scenario you can listen to an idiot teach you something and you at least learned what NOT to do! I agree..always listen to everyone and you will keep learning.
Oh wow. Probably the best simplest video on gainstaging I’ve watched and it just came up as a suggestion after me watching loads of them two weeks ago and still being baffled. Feeling a lot more confident about this “when you’re recording just watch your master bus/give yourself loads of headroom” ...So simple, thank you mate you’ve unpickled my head
I can't tell you how much I appreciate the work you do and the information you share.
What has occurred to me about the knowledge you pass along; is that you have the advantage of doing it the old way & the new so it provides a unique perspective that cannot be gained by only mixing 1 way!!!🙏🙏🙏
Great content as usual...have a beautiful day!
Have a beautiful day as well, have a marvellous time recording and mixing!
Love this Warren! Simple yet needed! Thanks for all you do!
Thanks ever so much Jerel!! Have a marvellous 2018!!
it sounds obvious but some of us, mainly me, take ten years more than others to understand basic stuff, and i'm thankfull i stumble upon this video, because i was making SO much mistakes and didn't even realize how simple the fix was! THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!
i love your channel :) it is simply helpful ... everytime
Thank you ever so much Lecker! I am so glad to be able to help!!
Great information! As always it's a pleasure watching and listening to your advice. You are so passionate with lots of energy which makes learning from you a blast. Thank you for your time to post this video
Lot's of great wisdom in Warren Huart's videos -- just found this little gem from a few years ago and it's spot on with what I needed to hear.
Many thanks for this! As someone who is hoping to get back into home recording for the first time in about 15 years, there were some seriously valuable information in here.
OMG, this was so helpful! I too grew up long ago and had this signal-to-noise ratio hard-coded in my music DNA. I never even considered that this was due to tape hiss. Glad to stumble on this.
Great as usual. God bless you for all the free info you are giving.
Aw shucks thanks ever so much!! Have a marvellous 2018 MrGuitarist9891!
These are such basic principles, but so important. Great job Warren. some of your older videos are really great (new ones too). Thank you mate.
As always Warren is the best at helping all levels understand the art of modern day recording techniques💯
Great stuff! I feel like this is usually the first thing you need to worry about but most people overlook it especially in live settings. Love the quick simple steps of getting a better sound! Excited for 2018! Thanks
Thanks ever so much Andrew for your great comment! Have a marvellous 2018 Andrew!
Thanks Warren, this is definitely one of the better explanations ive come across to understanding this process.
Great vid. Lots o useful info. I would consider using clip gain to reduce volume if things are too hot instead of faders so that you aren't slamming your plug ins causing them to distort.
Absolutely Peter! Great comment!! Have a marvellous 2018
Wow I love the new style of video editing! Great as always, Warren!
Thanks so much Scott! We have a lot of great stuff planned for this new year! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing.
Thank you so much Warren for the tip .Yes from the school of tape.All your videos very helpful .Have a great day. Cheers!
You're very welcome!! Have a marvellous 2018
This is what i needed! Been watching several videos about this subject and they are all to long and complicated things! Thank you for sharing!
Amin Ostovari you’re very welcome my friend!!
legend. subscribed for sure . always great to hear from a professional who has worked with 90s tape recorders. thank you for information
The most best explanation on the subject!
This might be a concept that is a little beyond a beginners experience but should be discussed. Turning down the signal that is too hot is entirely right however the signal is best turned down pre fader via a gain plugin rather than the fader itself. Turning down a hot signal from the fader doesn't lower the signal strength, it lowers the output volume of the signal. For example if your fader is clipping and you turn the signal down at the fader you are still left with a clipping track, just quieter. This is something that cleaned up my mixes dramatically once I understood the concept and would love to hear thoughts on the tactic.
Hi Patrick, thanks for the great comment! Yes if it signal is clipping at 0db then definitely turn it down! My advice is based on the fader sending heavily compressed signals to the master bus and distorting it there! But yes, I specifically remember that technique being used a lot by both Dave Jerden and Bryan Carlstrom before 32 bit floating, the sound going into the SSL was quite noticeably different when controlled as you suggested! Have a marvellous 2018!
that is absolutely true.
Thank you for making this. Watched alot of videos where people are trying to explain this like rocket science. Thanks for explaining it way simpler and better to understand.
You and Rick are the best : ) Thank you for super advice : )
Those “obvious” suggestions are all ones i am guilty of doing. Thanks so much for this explanation of process and intention! Big help.
yep. still learning more here than I did in school. ty sir
This was needed info for me . Thanks.
Great! Thanks ever so much! So glad to be able to help!! Have a marvellous 2018!
Great video!! Very informative! Being self taught, to me these videos are priceless! I'm learning something new with every video! My mixing has gone to a whole new level and much better! Thanks for doing these videos Warren. I hope you are having a marvellous day too!
Thanks ever so much Joseph!! Have a marvellous 2018!! You rock!!
Extremely helpful info presented supremely well!
Thank you ever so much Darlene!! Have a marvellous New Year!
Thanks Warren, i heard so much crazy stuff about something so straight foward...
best practical advice on gain staging
I needed this RIGHT NOW! :D
Thanks Warren great advice.
I LOVE this new intro... It's so Pro!
Haha thanks ever so much Dave!!
Hi Warren, I'm doing marvelous, thank you! First of all: great and useful video about gain staging. You make these video's very understandable and simple. That's the way it should be. And second: I have great respect for your skills about music producing. I've signed up to your site a while ago. And I follow this TH-cam channel. I'm looking forward to see a new and great video from you! Have a fantastic day! Friendly regards, Emiel
Great vid... One of my my solution i used to get an a nice polish sound here at home. Is when i am happy with the song and the way it sounds , I will compressed to a wave as a finished product......... Then i reload it back into my daw and duplicate the track ....Locked them together and turn down to 20 and turn one to right side and one to left .... Then start compressing it up ...You be surprise how full and solid it will be.... And i accidentally discovered this and have been using this method ever since... Daws are all the same you just got to learn how to master the one u used .... Just wanted to share not saying this is right but I have come up with some awesome mixes doing this...Happy mixing its a learning process for sure takes time ...
Great explanation
I believe in you because you've lived 80's and have much experience.. Glad you are still doin the thang.. 😳✌
Great! Love your videos!
Thank you ever so much!!
Great Video thank you ... I like your monitoring system
Wow! - This is great! I've been wondering about gain staging lately after watching a few videos! I like how you included the stats in the pop outs on the side!
I'm glad you both liked it and found it helpful. We have a lot more content like this planned for this year! Thanks ever so much for your insight!
What email address would it be from Rage By Nightfall? I get 400-500 emails a day! God bless it!
Ok, will do later! Thanks Rage By Nightfall!
The 2017 uploads were all over the map. I tried them all. Learned that those hot ones clip on different playback situations. The -3s sound good, a bit raspy on cheaper TVs. The -6s can be cranked. I like -6 because you can push the playback most everywhere and it sounds better on the worst of situations. The second part of my learning's was low end information and how much of that disappears situationally. I had to adjust my ears to hear more mids and try to pronounce those specifically. Most of that, Warren was doing videos and I would listen deep to his words when he would be studio touring and discussing gear usage. I have yet to succeed, but I think I am better prepared to listen.
Thanks for the sight! Yes, it remains to be seen where we end up! Speaking to Gavin Lurssen (who has been in many meetings regarding this) there doesn't seem to be an agreed upon standard! Let's hope the power that be come to healthy consensus!
Great info!
Lot of thanks, Mr. warren
Great video, mate! :D
This is gold. Thank you!
Thanks ever so much
Great video! well presented and concise! I hope to see more of these quick informational videos from your channel.
Thank you both Worship Music Wednesday! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing.
Thanks ever so much Rage By Nightfall for the wonderful comment!! You Rock!
Digging the new intro music Warren... If you ever want some SRV / Albert King style riffs over the top... drop me a line :-)... It's funny, I just saw a video in my feeds the other day from Graham on gain staging as well. I never realised it was that big of an issue for people. However, for anyone out there that doesn't already use it, waves came out with a really nice, extremely light weight VU meter that you can throw on each channel and your stereo buss etc... that will give you a much better visual reference. Leave the VU set to stock (-18dbfs) and then use 0db to +3db on your VU meter like we did back in the day of tape... that way you'll always be in the general area... and your vintage plug-ins will love you for it! Keep up the great work Warren! Cheers!!!
HI Danny, thanks for the wonderful tip! Glad you name checked Stevie and Albert King! Great references!! Have a marvellous 2018 Danny!
Hey Warren! I’ve been busy the last couple of months (new place and stuff), so i haven’t seen much of your new videos lately. But may i say it is looking sleek, sir! :) Thank you so much for your awesome content and your sharing of experience! All the best and have a wonderful day! :)
Greetings from Holland,
Nick
Hi Henk, greetings in the Netherlands! I love it over there! I have family there, beautiful country fall of super smart people creating great music!! Thanks for the wonderful comment!
Not to imply that you've misspoken, but I just wanted to clarify the difference between 32-bit and 24-bit as they're colloquially referred to in the recording industry.
"32-bit" is not technically any higher precision than "24-bit" with respect to sample resolution because there's a difference in how samples are represented between the two formats. A "32-bit" sample is represented as an IEEE floating point number whereas a "24-bit" (and "16-bit" and "8-bit") sample is represented as a signed integer.
A 24-bit signed integer uses 23 bits to represent an integer value with an extra bit used to indicate sign, positive or negative. We treat this value as having the range -(2^23)..(2^23)-1.
A 32-bit floating point number uses 23 bits to represent an integer value (multiplied by 2^-23) while 8 bits encode an exponent that the value is raised to and finally a sign bit for positive or negative (23+8+1=32). You still only get 23 bits of sample resolution; the other 8 bits are there to allow representation of samples outside of the -1..1 range so that they do not have to be digitally clipped as in the 24-bit signed integer case.
The bottom line is that it's just a change in representation of samples and doesn't offer additional sample resolution. The benefit of 32-bit floating point is to allow the *representation* of samples outside of the normal -1..1 range. Representation space is increased, resolution is not.
Thanks ever so much for that amazing insight and clarification! I really appreciate it! It's great to have wonderful people like you who can help educate us! Have a marvellous 2018 Jim!!
Thanks. That was amazing.
Never disappoints...I like the way Warren delivers the info. I've been a clip gain guy since it was implemented in Logic. I leave the faders set at unity as long as I can...for last minute finer level tuning...is it micro mixing? ..I'm pretty loose with the terminology...anyway it's another great video.
Super, thank you!!
Good stuff Warren.
3:49 Thank you for saying this. A lot of the gatekeeping elitists out there will vehemently berate digital at every turn and say that it isn't "real" unless it's all vintage and all analogue.I have one bit of outboard gear, but apart from that I mix in the box, so it's refreshing to hear someone who worked in the vintage era praise digital.
Excellent video! I believe we just talked about tape and noise floor. I remember recording to reel to reel four track tape in the early 80's. I've too have been guilty of cooking the master bus in the digital realm ALL thru the late 90's and some of the early 2000's. Thanks to you, and a few others, my mix game has really come up! Well past what I ever expected! Thank you very much Warren!
Hi Tisbonus, agreed! I hear you loud and clear! There has to be common sense when applying a lot of these ideas! So glad your mixing has been improving!
I sooo appreciate this subject.....I need to improve gain staging, pre mix on my songs...I will watch this 73!! times...:) :)
Thanks ever so much Patrik!! You Rock!
Thank you for the video Warren! Love
Marvellous!! Thank you ever so much Siane!!
amazing video warren !!
Thanks Apple! You Rock! Have a marvellous New Year!
Been in an educational lull. This gets straight to the point: make full use of headroom and, my takeaway, save final levels for mastering.
Thanks ever so much! Truly Marvellous!!
Thank you. This was a good one!
Thanks ever so much David!!
Thanks for that.
Gain staging is an essential concept to understand. With contemporary digital audio recording and mixing, it's fairly straightforward, and this video addresses it beautifully. Understanding gain staging in the analog world (say a guitar into a tube amp with a few gain pedals before that), can become more complex and I have a hard time explaining it to my fellow guitar players who struggle with their tone and their levels in a live context... Maybe a topic for another video? Anyway, great video. Thanks Warren!
Hi noisesoundtonevibe, thanks ever so much for your wonderful comment! I really appreciate you joining in with the conversation and adding great advice! Yes, getting great guitar tones is a wonderful subject! I hope you're having a marvellous New Year my friend!
Thank you much God bless your work
Thanks very much!
Yeah Warren has some great ideas and understands the big picture!
You really are great, Warren.Thank you for your time and talent !
Wow! Thanks ever so much
Wow! Thanks ever so much
Great guy!
I needed this advice on my last project! Now to apply it on the next ones!
Thanks ever so much Edmi! So glad to be able to help!
I asked you on facebook a few months ago to try to make a gain staging video, THANK YOU!! :D
You're quite welcome! I'm glad you found it helpful! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing!
Great video as usual...!!!
Thank you ever so much!!
Nice intro and outro music Warren!!!!
Thanks ever so much!! Have a marvellous New Year!
Thanks Warren!
Thank you Audrey!! Have a marvellous New Year!
Your voice sounds more warm and transparent than usual .... Marv!
It's actually more compressed.
Nicholas Dentato - i can hear the CLA 76 Blue on the voice. And the Scheps 73 eq boosted at 12 k
Is it? I'm not sure! You might be right! Haha
Haha nice!! You must have golden ears creative media!! Have a marvellous new year!
Produce Like A Pro 😂 Marvelous indeed!
so i am trying this out i see when i use the vu meter on each track and get it to 0 the track db is about -6 however i am gain staging a live snr and when i do before even touch anything the vu meter is at 0 but the track db is at 0 and sometimes goes over. if i gain control it to -6 then the vu meter will be way low so what should i do here?
The best thing about 32bit floating and even more with 48bit mix consoles (like pro tools have) is you can use digital gain (either clip gain or with a plugin like bluecat gain). In the analog domain (before you hit your converters) make sure you have decent signal from your source so that you dont need to push your mic gain and add hiss but because digital has so much headroom you don't need to crank your preamps that high. Basically in the analog world try and stay around 0dbvu, in the digital stay around - 12-18dbfs (total on the output) to give you headroom. If you feel you need to put your faders in stupid positions to get the volume (too loud or too quiet) use clip gain or a plugin like I mention to get it sitting right. A good way too start a mix is go through and get the mix roughly where it makes sense with the faders at 0 and leaves you with headroom on the master bus before you add plugins this way itll be easier to gain stage compressor and emulating plugins and till have unity afterwards.
Hi JimijaymesGuitarist thanks very much for your great insight! I really appreciate it the additional information! It really helps everyone here in the community! You Rock! Great points and very well explained
Useful tip: send all your tracks to a mixbuss, and only then to the general masterbuss. That way, if you are using too high levels at the individual tracks, you can turn the whole mix down before it hits the masterbuss, allowing you to use your usual masterbuss plugins and control the level coming in. Of course, it also applies the other way around, using the mixbuss to turn up the whole mix volume to hit appropriately the masterbuss.
Great tip! Yes, many guys I know have a separate 'music bus' spirit from 'vocal bus' etc!. Have a marvellous New Year!
Thanks so much, you are like yoda, a real master of this art
Wow thanks Felipe! That is very kind of you my friend!!
Great vid
Thanks ever so much
Hey Warren- I have a mix that I’m a ways into that has automation, etc, and at some point started to hit the master bus a bit too hard. As a “fix” I put a trim plug-in first in line on the stereo bus to “create” more head room for master bus processing. Is this a reasonable work around? Thanks!
Thanks for the tips Warren!
Btw, nice to see that you're now compressing your voice, in the past it was hard to hear some words.
Ok great! Thanks! That's not my doing, that's Matt who edited this! I'll let him know! Have a marvellous New Year!
Thanks again Warren for a brilliant video! I really appreciate you giving so much info for free on youtube, it's more than some of the paid courses i've bought... Now to wait until I can afford your premium stuff aswell!
Thanks ever so much Allu!! Have a marvellous New Year! So glad to be able to help!!
Thumbs up! When recording vocals in Pro Tools.. Should i gain stage my backing track to ODBVU record in pre fader metering with all my faders at unity gain? Thank you.
Hi, can I use a vu meter to gain stage fast transient sounds like a clap, hat, or short kick? Thanks!
you're a legend
I've been really relying on my digital vu meter here lately and it has helped me out tremendously
That's great to hear!! Have a marvellous New Year!
Produce Like A Pro Thanks man, you too!
Excellent thanks for being a great part of our community Ryan!
ITB gain staging in Ableton Live is remarkably easy. As long as a channel's plugin chain is not grouped, Live shows meters between plugs. This is invaluable IMHO, I don't like to clip anything at all if I can help it (save for colouration / effect within a plugin). I just wish Live would keep these inter-plugin meters with grouped plugins. Another superb video Warren, many thanks.
Thank you so much for watching, glad you found it superb! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing!
Honestly this is elementary stuff for me, but I feel it's wise for us to revisit the basics occasionally. :)
Absolutely Blake! I love reminding myself of the basics! I don't believe their are real experts, just self appointed ones! Haha
I was hoping to hear a little about if you use any meters before your plugins to see how hot you are going into them. I’ve read a lot about how -18 is the sweet spot for most plugins to “behave” as designed. Thanks for all the great vids. I finally finished my first mix of an original and used many of the things I’ve learned from you. It sounds great.
Awesome stuff yes sir I've been doing that my fist mix was a disaster because I did everything I wasn't supposed to do lol. Cheers mate
We’ve all been there!
If the mixbus is clipping but I don't want to adjust the faders (lower them), can I use a gain plugin on the mixbus as first insert to bring input signal into the mixbus down? And after that use my mixbus plugins to shape the whole mix?
You're my man Warren
SpaceOrbison thanks ever so much!!
Yes! The Dennis Dunaway book in the back!
Is there a range my signal should be in when I am recording DI guitars that amp sims will be applied to? Specifically is there a best range for signal to noise ratio??Sorry if this is a dumb question. I have been playing guitar for a loooooong time, but am just now getting to try my hand at recording original music. The home recording learning curve is real....
Thanks Warren. My faders (Cubase) aren't linear, so I use the gain adjust to tame recorded levels to keep my fader where it has a finer resolution. Cheers. Michael
Thanks ever so much for the info on Cubase!! I'm sure it will help others!! Thanks for being a great part of our community! Have a marvellous New Year!
Hey Mike, how do you make sure that the instrument hits the sweet spot? Let`s say -10 dbfs? do you load a plugin, thanks.
This is great practical advice, but I think it shouldn't be taken as a fact within the digital audio world. S/N ratio is what it is. So, in theory, the hotter the signal, the better. As long as your highest sample value is 0 dBFS, you're fine. After recording you can even clip every damn track inside your daw. As long you don't clip your bounce, you're safe. DAWs work in 64 bit float. DAWs don't ever clip. I know this is another topic, but still good to know (seeing red lights all around your DAW doesn't mean anything). Thanks for making excellent content!!
Is it better to control input volume on invidual tracks with a gain knob or ggain plugin and keep all the faders at 0db ? This gives more room to the faders AND the Master bus. I thought it was the way to go. Also, with a gain plugin you control how much signal you give to your plugins as for faders the signal has already passed through the plugin. Does it make sense ?
hi mate, thank you so much, great content as always !! just wanting to confirm, should i just start faders at -12 and play around with the preamp's gain knobs on my clarett ?
No don’t teach ur fader
is there a way to give myself headroom, if i mixed the track and i forgot to give myself any headroom, for example mixing a track fully and then noticing that its peaking at -0.6 or whatever, i usually run all my tracks into busses, to i have instruments / drums / lead / bgvs into seperate busses, so if i take those seperate aux's and bring them all down is it affecting the relation between the tracks or will the mix sounds the same but just with less volume, cause the aux's im gonna be bringing down usually dont have plugins on them
Is there a problem if an instrument channel is clipping high but it sounds good on the mix and the master output is not clipping?