6 Gain Staging Mistakes That Everyone Makes (Are You?) | musicianonamission.com – Mix School #31
There’s a plug-in in every DAW that seems
useless but it’s actually essential, and without it your mixes would sound something
like this. That plug-in is the gain tool. Gain staging is commonly misunderstood, so
in this video you’re going to learn what the 6 biggest mistakes are that I see people
make over and over again. Because if you want to make music that sounds
professional you absolutely need to get this right, so keep watching and if you want the
quickest, easiest way to apply gain staging to your mixes you can download our free DAW
templates that would instantly fix the gain in your mixes. There’s a link in the description below
or you should see a link on the screen now. Let’s dive right in. Rob Mayzes here from musicianonamission.com
and first I want to show you one of my recent mixes. Pay attention to the first plug-in slot. Notice all those gain plug-ins. You’re about to learn why those plug-ins
are the difference between an amateur and a pro mixer. So, mistake number 1 is not truly understanding
what gain staging is. You go through this process every single time
you mix, so you need to understand it. Yet most people don’t actually understand
why gain staging is important and instead just blindly follow advice they hear online
like set every channel to minus 18 dBFS. We’ll come back to that later. Now, we can split gain staging into two realms;
recording and mixing. Now, gain staging is something you want to
think about through the whole process. At every point we want to make sure things
are at the right volume that’s basically is what gain staging is when we’re recording
we want to make sure we’re recording with the right gain so we got the right volume
when we’re mixing. Every time you load up a new plug-in you want
to adjust the output level, so that we’re maintaining the same volume throughout this
whole process. When you’re recording it’s crucial that
you don’t record hot. Recording hot is a remnant of the analog days. We don’t need to do that anymore with digital
gear. In fact, the closer you get to clipping which
is when you get to 0 dBFS the digital ceiling. As you approach that ceiling your preamp is
going to sound worse. So, instead we want to make sure we’re peaking
below minus 6 and we want to treat minus 6 dBFS, and you can just look at this in your
DAW when you’re metering and you’re setting the levels. We want to treat minus 6 as our ceiling for
recording and we want to aim to be around minus 18. That figure does exist for a reason. It is the sweet spot and we’ll come back
to that idea, but you want to be averaging around minus 18 just eye-ball it. You don’t need to be precise. Make sure you’re peaking below minus 6 that’s
the main thing. As we move into the mixing phase we just want
to maintain that same headroom, because now we’re just making sure that we don’t hit
zero on any of our channels. As long as we’re not hitting zero it’s
fine. Let me show you how quickly you can do this
at the beginning of a mix in the preparation phase. So, here we have some tracks ready for mixing. They’d been recorded, edited, bounced down,
and imported into a new project. Now, the first thing I would normally do is
go for and check all the names, label everything clearly and once we’ve done that I want
to check gain on everything. So, everything is set to zero and we just
want to have a quick look through. I’m just going to hit play and we’re going
to look for any channels that are really high on the meter or really low, and that’s pretty
much it. Okay, so this is a great example. Can you see how much we’re clipping on the
buss? I haven’t done anything yet just by importing
the tracks… We’re clipping by 13 decibels. This is why gain staging is so important. So, let’s find out what the guilty channels
are. Okay, so we’ve got some really obvious ones
here. So, we’re just going to go to the built-in
gain plug-in in Logic. It’s called Gain in Studio 1. It’s called Mix DAW everything has its own
name. So, now let’s just adjust this gain plug-in
until we start to see that the channel is sitting around minus 18 and we don’t need
to be precise. And let’s just go ahead and mute this, because
it sounds awful. So, now this is sitting around minus 18. We can do the same to the others, and because
we’ve already done it here we can just copy that across and there we go minus 18, minus
18 and this is what I tend to do is just copy these plug-ins. We don’t have to be exact. So, we’ve got a couple here in stereo so
we need to load up a new plug-in for those in stereo and get that in the right spot. So, I’m going to go for and do this on every
channel in the mix. So, I’ve done the bulk of the work. Now, let’s give it another shot. Let’s un-mute that buss. We’re still clipping, but now we can see
that all the channels themselves are fine. We’re not clipping on any of the channels. It’s just that all of these channels added
together are now clipping on the mix buss, but it doesn’t matter we can just add a
gain plug-in there. Now, that all our channels are fine we can
just add a gain plug-in to the actual master fader itself and now let’s adjust this until
we’re peaking at around minus 6. Cool, so now I’m ready to mix. Now, back to this idea of the minus 18 dBFS
sweet spot that sweet spot only exists only if you’re with analog modeling plug-ins
or amp simulators, anything where the incoming level is going to vary the tone of how that
plug-in works. If you’re just using a compressor and EQ
anything like that it doesn’t matter. It’s just 1s and 0s it’s digital, so as
long as we’re not clipping it’s fine but when you are using analog modeling plug-ins,
saturation, amp simulators it’s good to be in that minus 18 sweet spot. So, treat that as a target, but don’t obsess
over it. It’s a guideline not a rule. I’ve mentioned this sweet spot in an article
in the past and everyone started to obsessively making sure every single channel was exactly
minus 18 dBFS all the time. And that’s mistake number 2 obsessing over
gain staging. It should only take 2 or 3 minutes if that
at the beginning of the preparation phase. You just saw me do that that’s all you need
to do. Now, moving on quickly to mistake number 3
which is clipping on the busses. Just because you’ve set every channel individually
to around minus 18 but not obsessing over it, right? You could still be clipping on your mix buss
or on your group busses if you have all the guitars for example, going to one channel
it could be clipping there. So, don’t forget to check those and if you
find you’re nearing zero and you need some headroom and you want to be again minus 6
the absolute ceiling here just add a gain plug-in on the group or on the mix busses. Fine, that’s all you need to do, but just
don’t forget about them. Mistake number 4 is not level matching plug-ins. Like I said this is something you need to
think about throughout the whole production process when you’re recording, when you’re
mixing. Every time you load up a plug-in you want
to try and make sure the output is about the same. So, when you boost loads on an EQ just cut
the output a little bit. When you’re using a compressor bypass-engage,
bypass-engage and check and compare until you can adjust the gain and the volume is
the same with the compressor or roughly the same as it is before the compressor. Do this with every plug-in. If you have a plug-in that adds loads of volume,
but doesn’t have an output control you’re going to have to add another gain plug-in
afterwards. Mistake number 5 is spending money on gain
staging. You might be tempted to go out there and buy
Waves New Level plug-in or there’s a VU Meter plug-in that you want to get. You don’t need it just do it with your eyeballs. Use the gain tool that comes with your DAW. Every DAW will have some mind of gain plug-in. It might not be called gain. It might be called Mix Tool like in Studio
1. It might be called Gain like in Logic, but
find that plug-in where you can just adjust the gain, adjust the level using one simple
plug-in that’s all you need, and then you can just eyeball it on the channel meter. You don’t need to spend money on a dedicated
VU Meter just to do gain staging. Finally, mistake number 6 is low fader syndrome. Sometimes you find after balancing your mix
that some faders are really low. Maybe it’s a percussion part that’s just
really low in the mix, so you’ve got the fader way down at the bottom but the problem
is the closer you get to the bottom of the fader the less resolution you have. One tiny movement could be a change of 10
decibels, whereas when we’re at zero a tiny movement will be less than 1 decibel. It’s not a linear scale it’s algorithmic,
so we want to make sure we’ve got all of our faders sitting around zero after we’ve
done our initial mix. Again don’t obsess over this just if you
notice if any faders that are really, really low add a gain plug-in, cut it with gain instead
so you can bring up the fader to zero and it’s that easy. So, those are 6 biggest gain staging mistakes. But how do you avoid all of these mistakes
at once without spending too much time and energy on the gain staging process and getting
distracted from the stuff that really matters. Well, I put together a gain staging DAW template
that would instantly fix you mixes. If you want a fast and easy way to apply everything
you’ve learned here so your mixes can sound professional and radio ready and not distorted
and like bedroom demos go grab the templates. They’re completely free. There’s a link in the description below
and you should see a link on the screen now. Now, I want to hear from you. Which of these mistakes have you made in the
past? Leave a comment below and let me know. That’s all from me. Rob here from musicianonamission.com. I’ll see you next time and remember create
regardless.
Which mistake have you made? Leave a comment!
Pre fader monitoring and clip gain is all you need
I've Made all of these mistakes 😛
Considering what you’ve said, I’d love to know how you feel about the loudness war
Great video. One gain staging mistake that wasn't mentioned is that you don't just want to use any plugin for it. Unless the plugin is very carefully written, gain changes effect the audio signal. If the gain plugin multiplies or divides the signal by 1.0, it could put the result into the same floating point level of resolution as the 1.0, which causes degradation. You're not going to hear a difference on one channel, but it's a cumulative effect that can become noticeable. The best plugin to use is Airwindows' Purestgain which was carefully written to avoid this problem. And it's donationware. According to the author (who is a sound genius like you wouldn't believe) "It’s the plugin equivalent of using switched attenuators with precision resistors in a mastering console, rather than potentiometers".
You can get his whole library of plugins for Mac, Windows, and Linux for free, and his DeEss took over FabFilter Pro-DS as my go to De-Esser. Give the guy at least a couple of bucks, though, so he can keep writing them for us! Here's the link to his video on it.
https://www.airwindows.com/purestgain-vst/
Wonderfull
Thanks that helps alot
-6 with faders on 0
Is very good
OK, so when does balance come into play?At what point do we begin to take priority of what instruments you want at the front or which ones will take priority over others?
Thank you!
This is so basic..
very good channel
Not sure I can subscribe to using the gain plug in the master bus… or any bus for that matter. Get the channels staged the way you want them, then use the faders to stage your busses. Jmo.
i can’t control my peaking what should i do i set my kick to -6db what is the loudest part of my mix but when i add a clap every 2th punch of a kick it goes above -6 what should i do
What is the name of the song you're mixing in this video?
Go for -6 sure ruin your dynamic range at the very start of the process >.<
I dont get why they just dont put a gain knob above every channel. Just like a real console
How does the gain plugin not lose resolution? How is it any different then a virtual fader?
Hey guys I have a question.. instead of using a trim plugin can't I just use the volume on the synth interface to lower the volume till I hit that -18db mark?? And keep the fader at 0.
Absolutely amazing! Thank you. You explain extremely well! I will check your website out. Thank you.
Gain plug on the bus Master ?! Seriously ?!
Positively valuable info, thank you! Glad this was recommended on my feed. Subbed
So just to be sure. When I'm gain staging, I'm making sure that at the begining of the mix all my channels are at a reasonable level (enough headspace) which I adjust with the gain knob on my DAW and also the fader should be sitting at around 0 on every channel, before I start mixing, correct? but after I start mixing the fader can be very low if I needed to be low? or should I be aiming to have my faders near 0 even at the end of my mix?
Someone want to tell me why the fader doesn’t do the same thing? Can I ask what the difference would be if I set the fader to -6 instead of implementing a gain plugin and setting it to -6?
So when do you balance the volume of your mix? If I set every track around -18DB (not precise!) everything will be the same volume. Do I then use the faders after? The template didn't help me because it just set the gain -10 without looking at the actual dbfs of the track.
i don't understand what the point of the plug in is. Why can't you just turn down the gain?
Can you make one for Cakewalk sonar ?thanks
Well done these rules apply in live sound mixing as well. You are exactly right it is the difference between a good mix and a great mix
that's my song in the beginning 😥
I was confused before installing the VU meter in Studio One.
now it's helped by your explanation. thank you
Being an amateur doesn't mean you suck at mixing, it means you don't make money out of it. I know producers who do excellent mixing but got regular jobs. So they're still amateur producers. Music isn't based on how good you are.. It's an art
Which gain plugins are there in fl Studio 20
I'm a newbie at audio but will say one thing that makes it difficult to understand is how backwards it comes across. Such as why do they call it Gain if it Reduces? I'm not trying to be a wise guy, I just (in my current audio ignorant state) don't understand the -5,-4,-3,-2,-1,0. Why work up to zero rather than start at zero? There are a plethora of these things that I currently find abnormal and why trying to understand it is so painful. It just seems to defy logic. It even feels opposite being that it feels like I'm an old guy trying to understand the new generations slang, but it's not the case since the slang is much older than I, hahaha. It's currently an enigma all wrapped up in a conundrum.
Thanks for the videos. I think I will return when I get a better understanding and will now research DB. 😉
how do you copy the plug ins
All, at some stage! Gained knowledge the hard way. I'm a Dad – I'm allowed,
Man, I can’t thank you enough for this advice. As someone who records for fun with friends, this solves so many of our current issues. Really really appreciate the awesome content you’ve put out!
I did not just see mans using his gain plugin on the master 🤦
I’m humbled by the gain knob. I was just turning all the other faders down 🙄
I was also curious about your audio signal chain for recording these demos. I’m struggling to get my Mac to record constant internal audio for things like this while I’m starting and stopping my DAW when making similar videos. Thanks for your help!
Your tutorials are all I needed, but do I need to first bounce my audio instruments into tracks in order to start my mixing
All 😄🙈
Nice video! I've definitely experienced "low fader syndrome" before. DERP! 🙂
GREAT VIDEO
this is amazing … I learned an insane amount thank you!!
Not an ableton one. But its all good.
In pro tools, wouldn't this eat up mad ram and power to gain stage plug in every track, especially when I have like 75 tracks per mix
Informative but abit condescending.
So glad I have discovered your channel … not only is the content great … you're ability to communicate the message is EXCELLENT!! … thank you again … 🙂
Did you reset all of your faders to 0 before bouncing and started adding the gain plugins like in your video or did you just export the tracks as they were with the volume you set while composing? I am asking because the mix sounds so bad when you opened your project. It looked like you reset the faders to 0 before bouncing the stems.
I believe I do what you call the low fader syndrome…. so what your saying is, is to turn up the fader to 0 db but then drop the gain down to where the fader was originally to get the same output level? Im not mixing stems either
When gain staging I notice your not using the Pre-Fader option. Should we be gain staging with pre or post fader? Thanks so much
Hijueputa tan lento
what to do if i lowered the gain for a track but in the chorus it gets too loud and i can't lower it too much because it will sound well in the chorus but it will almost disappear in the verse
Is there a reason you can't just turn up and down the fader?
Really helpful, thank you
Can I gain stage a mix by using normalization? I usually put a mix tool in a track (I use Studio One) but I've realized that with normalization you can balance the volume of a specific track, is it a viable option or normalizing has a different use? Great video, cheers.
Why use the gain plugin rather than just turn the fader down?
Great tips. I recently found the FreeG plugins (stereo & mono) by Sonalksis and it's great for gain and metering at the same time. Best of all, it's free.
If i keep all my tracks on -18..,wont it sound too low.?!🤔
i just made my first mix ever
point was to have vocals seperated and above everything and to do nice job with paning
did everything write but screwed hard with gain
If you are using a fairly current version of Cubase using the pre-gain dial will give you exactly what you need. No need for an extra plugin or anything else.
are u saying to match the plugin level that u need to match the volume as soon as u put the plugin on or after u have used the plugin?
dude, this helped a ton! thanks! (and ive been in the music industry for a few decades!!)
hey do you have a Gain staging template for Ableton Live??
No more use for gain plug ins in studio one version 4.5. Input gain knob on every channel so much easier to bring down signals and place faders at zero. No more placing a mix tool or gain vst on every channel or a need for a template lol. Big game changer!! Low fader syndrome definitely on loud percussion parts causing you to loose dynamics, but studio one makes it so easy with input gain on every channel.
I did all this,thank you,now i wont
This seems pretty long-winded for such a simple concept! 👎
Thank u💥💥💥
what if you have completed the mix and and just use the master fader to bring down the volume by -6db for some headroom?
I've been adjusting the volume of the sample or VST to gain stage. I've been using my Ableton Utility for all it's other abilities and not ever as my "first" plugin to gain stage; I'm open minded to better techniques with rationales as to why. I got to trying to find out how the science of production is affected in both techniques or if it's just different ways of doing the same thing. 🙂
Give thanks 🙏🏽💯⭐🇻🇮👉🏽✅👑
The more plugins on a channel strip the more confusing I get trying to figure whats doing what to what. With analog modeling plugs, overdriving an inputs can part of its sound palette and with a bunch of plugs happening whose outputs are feeding the next, well….
My peaks are usually at -18 dbfs for recording
I have absolutely no idea why should I use some gain plugin and not just set the actual fader lower.
Show
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9IGahjFWx6rMx6QUH6INrw
If a bus is clipping before any effects are added to it, then the clipping happens GOING INTO the bus, right (caps for emphasis….not yelling).
If that's the case, a gain plugin wouldn't solve that. It would just make an already clipped signal quieter. Right? Seems like you would need to adjust the levels of whatever is going into the bus. Or am I misunderstanding something?
Thanks for this video.please do a neutron video.CAn neutron 3 help me not sound so bad?God do I need help
Danny
Words and lead guitars
Borderline Delusion band
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtj_90xCmJuxo6RJTex4Tg_JuhlnZtvrE
Was
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtj_90xCmJuwdyqKDkK1bmrn5SUhIhRug
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCcl41EK_yI1kc14xN6OEfIUacHmCNpPk
Holy cow! I learned so much thank u! I used to (attempt) mixing using just the faders, and had no idea about gain staging wow
I have a question about live audio mixing? We have these Sennheiser radio mics and on the microphones we have a pad of – 0 – 10- 20 -40 it's a switch on the actual radio microphones. My question is when gain staging from the receivers which we can turn up to number 10 and then PFL the channel to get the gain knob setting the correct position do you set the pad on the actual microphone depending on how powerful the singer is? Also how does this affect feedback? If you want less feedback do you want to put a pad on the microphones and then put the gain up on the desk? Or does it not really matter?
luv this channel 🖤
I mainly use Studio One when I Mix.
I created a Macro button that allows me to Normalize the audio region and then pull it down to -12dbfs. I just highlight all of my regions and click the button. Instant calibration. This leaves me with roughly -8dbfs on my Master channel Meter.
I use Pro Tools when I record a full band. I try to get every input channel to hit just bellow the yellow meter segment on my input meter… roughly -9dbfs. With exception to any track that is a foundation rhythm (Kick, Snare, bass…) i will let those inputs hit the first yellow segment on my input meter. I found that setting my input gains on the interface at a safe and conservative level, I don’t need to gain stage when I get ready to mix, because it’s already quiet enough.
When I’m adding any production tracks like software instruments, I will always have to bring the main volume down on then plugin, to get the levels where they need to be. Pretty much every Software instrument is created to be as loud as possible, in order to impress you when flipping thru presets plugin loudness wars, lol). Same goes for pretty much every sample loop or one-shot. They’ve been normalized and are going to be way too loud individually, let alone as layers in a project. I might use the “Gain” plugin once or twice in a project.
Kind of misleading. Not everyone one makes these mistakes. I’m just saying. Video should have been called “6 Gain Staging Mistakes to Avoid.”
Great video! Very clear and really helpful. Thanks, Rob!
4:03 Jesus man, how the f&ck are people getting that many channels playing?? there was like 50 channels playing!!! and like 8 synthesizers!!!??? and it sounding like nothing… Jesus what am i missing
ok wow this is confusing… we want all the faders to be around zero???… what?… so if we obviously have tracks that sound good at different levels, ie track balancing, then instead setting the balance of tracks with the faders we are what, supposed to do it in plugins or gain plugins before fader?… so that the daw channel faders are around zero?… then why even have faders or a mixer in the daw?… or is this tip the point right BEFORE we begin adjusting track balance?
I watch a lot of music production video but never comment. This video deserves re-shooting with an apology for delving such bad advice. How can anyone mix a song using lots of individual gain plugins, while keeping the faders at 0. There isnt a problem with using the faders to mix. Also, no one starts at -18 ! -6 or -12 would give you enough headroom as a starting point! Surely a proper tutorial on gain staging would make the suggestion to send groups of tracks to busses, which can then be manipulated collectively!
I need help… I apply the gain reduction on the channel of audio tracks in Cubase, this of course on the pre section, but the signal keeps showing me is clipping, however, it gets reduced on the master buss. Hard to tell what’s happening because the reduction on the channel shows exactly the same, but it changes on the main output. The faders are set to show input levels, not post fader. So it seems I’m doing the right thing. Audio gets reduced and all but the individual channel still shows higher levels than those on the master and visually, no changes. Anyone can help?
Hi Man, what are You doing in 5:30?????? aren't You just lowering the already peaked mix buss signal? this is just lowering -9db already clipped wave. You should lower all the faders of the tracks, not just lower the clipped sound, only to see the dB display works nice. the signal is already clipped.
Okay I must be missing something, why do we use a gain plugin rather than turning the fader down?
Instead of [email protected]#ing around with the gain Plugin one could use the normalize function in LUFS Mode. That Just takes a few Seconds and makes everything comparable in Volume which actually this exercise ist for
Why wouldn't you simply select ALL the clips (stems, tracks…) and lower them by 13.5 db?
Nice video m8 👍🏻👍🏻
Why do you use a gain plugin? Can't you just lower the faders a little bit? Thanks!
gain plug in on the master? that's not the best option
This just helped me out a lot. Everything I didnt matter I was still clipping. I use amp sims and drum sims for my tracks and could never get enough head room until I tried this thank you! I’m a rookie to recording and working in a DAW I’m glad I came across this video in my early stages.
32 bit Floating point summing…?! However this is good advice in general… Thanks for making the video!
Yikes. Very unnecessary. Save your plugin space and use clip gain instead (select an audio region and set the gain in the left sidebar). For tracks with a lot of dynamics, like vocals, you can split the vocal by word, phrase, etc. and independently set the gain for each region. It can save you a bit of time even if some additional fine-tuned gain automation is needed. I mainly just use the gain plugin to invert phase or force mono.
Don't put any gain plugins on your master bro. Thats what all the other faders are for…
Hello ROB, this is a great tutorial! I have just watched it ahahahah so late!
I just wanted to ask you when you bounce down all the parts for the mixing stage at which volume you export them? I downloaded your template!
I've really been enjoying your videos which I just discovered. One thing has me baffled though: why you use a gain plugin on every track instead of simply adjusting the fader. Is it simply to avoid "Low Fader Syndrome"? Is it because that way you are adjusting the volume pre-FX (my guess)? Would adjusting the individual media items volume do the same thing? What about normalizing to a specific volume or RMS?
05:30 I wouldn't say merely putting a gain reduction on master to avoid clipping is a good idea. Surely more gain staging would be beneficial to achieve that organically (-6db). Which leaves actual headroom!
I don't understand a couple things:
1. Why bounce all tracks to a new project? Why not mix in the same project as you recorded into?
2. What is the difference between using the gain plugin to control levels vs. using the fader on each track? Do the fader and the gain staging plugin control different things?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks <3