Music reviews
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helpful information about recording and mixing techniques. Posts written by professional engineers and musicians.
Learn about the inside secrets that engineers at Shine On Studio use in their sessions. Become a mixmaster and impress the world with your knowledge of audio production.
Gain Staging
Advice on how to make good use of the meters in your DAW and learn how to properly read them.
Getting the right levels in your mix is the very first part of the recording process. Paying attention to your input levels can pay dividends when it comes to the mixing process. Proper levels will yield a much more streamlined workflow when it comes to sitting down to mix.
So you maybe asking yourself, “What are the proper levels that I should be trying to achieve?“
The answer to this question can vary. You have to have a vision for the end result. If you don’t have that vision, then you should focus on getting levels that optimize your A/D converters. Most interfaces are calibrated for a sweet spot around -20dBFS to -16dBFS. Hitting this area as your target RMS level will almost always give you ideal tracks to mix.
Now if you’re sitting there scratching your head and not quite sure what all that means, don’t worry. Here’s a good rule of thumb to follow. Most meters in DAWs have a color coded display. Typically green is at the bottom followed by yellow, orange, and red. If you get your average level to hover right around where the green and yellow meet, then you’re in the ballpark. This means the middle point between your peak levels and your noise floor is close to that point where the meter changes colors.
Now of course it depends on what you’re recording. Different types of sound sources are going to give you different levels. Drums are going to have very sharp attacks that will yield higher peaks. Where as a vocal that isn’t too dynamic may just hover in the same area with little movement. One of the biggest problems that I see other engineers make is the level of their monitoring. Having your monitors up too loud or down to quiet will not truly give you a representation of the signal level. This is why you have to trust the meters and your DAW and let them show you what is actually happening with you levels. These are just pretty lights for you to look at while you’re working on your tracks. These are useful tools that can mean the difference between a good or bad mix.
It’s always a good idea to leave yourself some headroom when you’re tracking. You will want to have some space to mix and that is virtually impossible when your input levels hit -3dBFS or higher. Just be reasonable when you set your levels and keep in mind that you will be blending multiple tracks to mix down to your final print track.
Vocal Mixing | Reverb EQ Secret
There are some great secrets that have been used by engineers over the years. Dialing in your reverb with the mix has always been a challenge for many young and aspiring producers. Here are some tips from the engineers at Abbey Road studios on how to get a tighter and balanced reverb level into your mixes.
Vocals love reverb to some degree. Sometimes just a touch of reverb helps the vocals find a pocket in the mix that is just the right spot. Other times, it's cool to drown the vocals in reverb for an emotional effect. Either way, it's always a good idea to treat your Reverb bus with a little EQ.
Abbey Road studios has a great way of making their reverb tracks sit just right into the mix. It has to do with how you EQ the reverb.
If you have a nice EQ, find the pocket where the vocals have a little bit of a nasal range and scoop it out. This is usually somewhere in the low mid range between 300 Hz and 500 Hz. Sweep around in the EQ spectrum until you find the frequency that doesn't seem to just sit right with your ear. If there are multiple frequencies that don't seem to work not to both of them out or as many as you need.
This will create a more open and natural reverb sound to your mix without having to boost the signal. Give it a shot and send us your feedback.