| Basic Music Mixing Channel (Track) Level Setting Techniques | | Print | |
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This is a basic article on setting channel levels when mixing. Our advanced articles will get into more detail on this subject. Basic Fader Function Each channel (track) on a mixer board, whether it be a physical one or on a computer screen, has faders whose primary purpose is to control the volume of the channel. The higher up you slide the fader, the louder the channel volume gets. Somewhere around 25% from the top of the fader slot, there will be a notch or line which represents 0 level. When the fader is in the 0 level position, the incoming signal to the fader is unaffected. When the fader is moved above the 0 level, the incoming signal is boosted and made louder. When moved below the 0 level, the signal is cut and made quieter. Boosting Past Level 0 One important factor on channel levels is that whenever you boost a signal above 0 level, you're adding gain to it which sometimes could add noise. I'd rather lower (cut) the level on surrounding tracks, than raise a channel's level above the 0 level. There's no chance that I'm adding noise to a track if I never go over 0 level, so I don't. Channel Level Meter Each channel has a meter that also has a 0 level. Anything over that 0 level turns red and the output of that channel could clip (distort). This is another area that's just not worth going over the 0 level. There's no need too. The only exception are fast hits like a cymbal or a drum. These instruments could jump past 0 level to +2 clip range, and still not distort because they're only in that range for less than a second at a time. Always let your ears be the judge. Where To Start When setting channel levels, with most songs, I start with the kick drum, then bass guitar. Then I add in everything else one by one, in relation to the two initial bass tracks. Final Tips Always let your ears tell you how the mix sounds. Visually using meters won't always tell you the whole story. It seems real simple to set volume levels of channels, anyone can do it! But when you have 4-5 instruments and 3-4 vocal channels playing all at once, an amateur mixer will not create space and it will sound like a mess. Making a specific channel louder, many times doesn't mean you'll be able to hear it better in the song. Sometimes you're just creating more noise. You need to create space for each channel. We'll discuss this in detail in our advanced mixing section. Related Articles
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