But I still don’t understand... when would you realistically use this method if you capture good mic levels and use the volume knob on a virtual instrument. The “trick” really only seems useful when fixing recordings... idk seems kinda pointless if you already have good levels to begin with...
Select all regions you'd like to gain stage, go to FUNCTIONS>NORMALIZE REGIONS and select PER TRACK before setting your desired dB (try -18 for some head room) no need for a gain plugin at all. Keep in mind this only changes the gain of your regions without being destructive in nature (like a regular gain plugin and unlike typical normalization). After this you need only to monitor the outputs on each of your plugins down your chain. Easy peasy. Will save you a good half hour.
@@cassetteo it is pointless IF you CHECK and your track IS in the sweet spot, but you will NOT know that unless you check, and that is what gain staging is. :-) You will find that some are too low or two hig and not in that sweet spot a lot.
Finally, a gain staging video that talks about how, when, and why to gain stage, and does it in practical terms that are easy to follow and remember. Thank you!
Clarifying the important difference between GAIN/VOLUME really did it for me. You are a master at instruction! Thank you for making this concept so accessible! Subbed!
I just redid a mix of mine from a year ago … it now has more clarity and punch becsuse I’ve gotten better at gain staging and EQing properly . It is a process
I must have watched over dozens of gain staging videos and still did not know a lick about gain staging. Not so with your video. I now FULLY understand what gain staging is and how to do it. Thanks so much for your time in explaining this the right way. Subscribed.
I’ve had a similar experience. Isn’t it amazing that all these mixing pros can’t seem to explain something so fundamental? I agree this is one of the best videos on the topic by a long shot.
Finally someone explains this topic clearly, thank you so much for this videos, I am a fan of musician on a mission, keep doing this videos, you are awesome!!!
I've been playing guitar and bass for well over three decades, played live plenty, and have been in professional studios numerous times, but I am new to home recording. This will help, thank you!
I am only at the 17 minute mark of this video, and I already have a much much better understanding of not only gain staging but of all the tools used to do it. I really do have a much better understanding on how the different meters relate to each other. Thankyou and well done on a subject that is a mystery to alot of people. This video is a must watch for all of us who are trying to get there head around all to do with recording. 👍👍
One of the best youtube-tutorials on gain staging. GS as it is. Proper explanation of the principles. I would advise it to all who want to understand this fundamental topic. Thnx from Kiev, Ukraine.
This is the most informative tutorial I have seen to date about gain staging. The tip about clip gain is key as I was using -3dB (normalised) but considering -6dB as the nominal waveform value. Thank you so much for the thorough answers here. Brilliant presentation. Subscribed.
@@electricfolk I think is important to encourage practices like this or when companies release free VST with pro-quality. Nowadays is harder and harder to stand out as an amateur. The required sound quality and skill have been increasing over the years, and I think the people behind Musician on a Mission know what are they doing, I think is not only safe but also good to recognize that. And sorry if you intended a joke, I'm not a person that recognizes sarcasm and such easily.
This is is definitely the best video/tutorial on Gain Staging I've come across, blows the Izotope one out the water (which is still a very good video to check out in regards to their Mix Assistant feature). Answered 99% of my questions I had coming into this video (sort of answered the final 1%). For me I arrange the entire song out from start to finish of all MIDI related tracks (with very little, if any at all, of effects). Reasoning is to just get the idea down as fast as possible, so I don't do any Gain Staging during that period. Once I've exhausted all my MIDI Instrument Ideas and have the song structure laid out, I'll bounce all MIDI to Audio and start adding the Audio Samples I'd like to use in the project. This is where I get stuck on whether to Gain Stage at this point or wait, because in this point of the process I'm also adding effects and manipulating a few of the tracks depending on the genre (Dubstep bass for example). I do use Izotope Relay and Imager in correlation with their Mix Assistant feature which I love. The problem is (and this is where the Izotope tutorial falls short) there is no clear idea on when is the exact right time to use it, Izotope shows it in relation to doing the mix for someone else and not as if you're doing a personal project. I feel like I should be gain staging at the point of bouncing all MIDI to Audio files, but at same time feel it should be in my 3rd stage (which is where I start to add Vocals) after I've got much clearer image of the song and all the pieces to the puzzle have been laid out ready for mixing. Sorry for the length, hope it makes a bit of sense. Thank for the info, definitely gonna help.
1 or 2 more question. Is it ok to to gain stage the same track multiple times while you perfect it before getting to the actual mixing? For example if you have to bounce the track several times because the number of plugins you have on currently are causing DSP problems, would you do the gain staging again after you bounce the track with previous plugins set in stone to the new audio tack but before doing any more effects/plugins? 2nd question. After setting the gain stage do you adjust the volume of the plugins that follow to ensure you stay in the relative "sweet spot"?
I mix virtual instruments with lots of plugins as I go along and wouldn't be able to listen to them gain staged evenly without going crazy, but it would make sense to set the few main elements to -18dBVU as a staring point. Thanks for the clear and instructive video.
Ah! What a relief to finally find a real complete guide on Gain Staging. I'm amazed to watch how efficiently all the minute details have been covered on the subject. Bravo! This is by far the best informative video on Gain Staging ❤❤❤
I must have tried out about ten other videos on gain staging but this is by far the easiest to understand and apply. Wonderful explanation and helped me a lot with my mixing. Thank you!
agreed! The first gain staging video was a game changer for me, and this FAQ really drives the concept home and clears up some confusion (particularly around how/why to use a vu meter)
Awesome! I dont know the technical side but it would be great if modern audio interfaces had a visual VU meter built in so you could gain stage whilst tracking
Changed my mixing skills and they’re literally 10 times better now. Lol what was I doing before!?!?!? Knowledge is power. Amazing channel and truly life changing that allows me to create And Enjoy mixing. Thanks again brother
In Logic, I usually do control my gain by using the input control of an EQ or compressor at the top of the plugin chain. The gain gets adjusted by the plugin input, and its output will be correct.
Sweet! Glad I could help! Releasing the "sequel" to this vid (which covers gain automation) later this week, so be sure to check that out to wrap up your gain staging education. 👍
There’s an advanced setting where in the mixer you have prefader and post fader views. This is where I gain stage. You’ll know when you’re in prefader mode because the vu meter will be on the left of the fader. Hope this helps.
@@iainmcguire7190 ok troll, a vu meter can represent different scales of voltage measure. And to switch to prefader mode is just one button click away. I’m just presenting another option, it’s up to user on how they want to proceed. Your workflow is only one of many, and I’m pretty sure you didn’t consider users with dual monitor or more setups.
@@ThirdLadderEnt Have you watched the video? He spends a fair bit of time talking about the difference between VU meters and the dbfs meter in your daw. I'm not trolling you, you've missed one of the points he spends quite some time making in the video. And putting the meter into prefader still shows you the value after it passes through all the plugins. The vid is about gain staging to provide a certain level TO those plugins
Yes!!Happened to see this video on YT the other day while looking for something else and saved the link to check out-was I glad to hear Jake's voice-now I know I'm going to be learning a lot as I invariably do w/his excellent tutorials....
Thanks for the video. I hope you won’t mind me offering a different view. Your method doesn’t take into account that most producers will arrive at a mix with a balance that they have already worked hard on and won’t want to lose. I would advise that preferable to individual gain adjustment, you select ALL the tracks and during the loudest part of the song apply a single gain adjustment to them all at the same time. I personally aim for around -18 LUFs overallto start, knowing that by the time I get to the end of the mix it will go up and be close to my final -14 LUFs destination. Thanks for all of the great content
Thanks a lot for the video! IMO it made more sence in the old days when you'd mix on an analogue console and had to make sure it doesn't clip too hard or oversaturate. Nowadays it seems a bit redundant because you can saturate/limit/distort each track individually during recording or sound designing. BTW different plugins start distorting the signal at different input values as they are calibrated differently. So instead it would make more sense to me to quickly adjust the input gain of the first plugin on each track, be it channel strip, compressor etc. If your plugin distorts the input signal too much, lower the input gain until it doesn't. That's it. Make sure it sunds nice to you and don't bother too much about the meters on individual tracks. In regards to this topic I strongly recommend watching Mix With The Masters' Inside The Track 39 with Jaycen Joshua in which he literally says "Never look at the meters".
Great video! Finally someone who explains this clearly and in a way that is easily understandable. Question: Once we start to add other plugins to each track do we just adjust the gain on the track further or does each individual plugin have to be adjusted? Also can any of the stock meter plugins in Logic Pro X be used for this method?
After having watched a few dozen videos about gain staging, this one is by far the best one! The information is thorough, detailed and the examples spot on! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I love it!
I enjoy this for speaking to gain staging for individual channels, and their relationship to plugins. But I’d love to see a follow up that addresses the issues that will come from stacking so much channels with that much gain. Your aux busses and 2 buss would certainly clip with cumulative levels adding up. Any chance we see the follow up? Thanks for what you do!
Correct. This video has some good info but I advise not using a VU meter calibrated to -18. Just use the dBFS meter. I set my initial levels using pink noise and all is great. At the end I’m usually having to push a compressor to get to -6 on my 2-bus. Unless someone has a measurable, scientific definition of what “sweet spot” is then it’s just nebulous language that gained a life of its own.
whuuuuuut???? ive been subscribed to moam for years, but it is just now that everything is clear to me. i guess some lessons requires experience and failure to finally understand it. and yep MoaM's teaching structure have always been top notch.
Finally someone who talks about drums! I was losing my mind the past few days trying to gain stage my drum recordings with a VU-Meter ;-) I guess I had done everything right then because I used to have my drums peak at -6db as well. But the normalization function is a great idea for saving some time!
The only question I'm left with is: am I best gain staging my tracks as I go along or once I've created my track removing all my plug ins and starting again? I've always processed and mixed as I create the track. It's the way I was taught in college and everyone I have ever worked with has also done this
This is fantastic information! Thank you for explaining it in a way that also I who‘s just started out to produce music can understand it. Great job, just subscribed to the channel and looking forward to more great content.
This is a fantastic video among so many effective videos on your channel. I have tough digital media for 20 years at the college level and I see the SAGE in you... you are a great teacher and communicator. I wish you the best as you share our passion. Keep up the inspiring work.
Excellent video. I’ve been running audio and gain staging levels for decades, and have never seen a video describing in such detail why and where gain levels should sit prior to capture especially on how it relates to the sweet spot of how your signals perform with plugins and processing. Excellent. For those who might want to get extra anal with setting up gain staging, I got excellent results using a method I saw Steve Albini do in one of his videos (forget which one in particular at the moment) where he used a 1k tone generator at the beginning of all his input sources matched to whether it will be mic, line or instrument, and presetting the level to 0dB and then subsequently doing the same following any point in the signal flow where it would hit any outboard gear and finally at the final preamp at the DAW interface or tape deck. Very useful if utilizing a lot of external effects and processing units.
The compressor has an input gain control. You don’t need to add a gain plugin in. Just turn the input gain on the compressor up. You are adding a redundant plugin.
That's not true if you want transparency. As you increase input in a compressor you'll receive more of that compressors sonic signature and character. Remember, all compressors have a quality. Some are more transport than others. Total transparency in this phase is absolutely demanded. If you want more of the compressors color, then sure go for it; but we aren't even mixing yet so is that a good option for most of us even?
Very cool. Best explanation of this I've seen. It seems like I am now having to turn up my plugins make up gain less than before to find that balance. Bonus!
This video was very helpful, but I'm super confused about the part where you said -18 dbfs is equivalent to 0 VU and then purposefully contradict yourself by showcasing the snare hits, which were peaking at 5 dbfs while hitting 0 VU. When you say -18dbfs = 0VU, are you actually referring to the AVERAGE level and not the peak value? And if that's the case, wouldn't a dbfs measurement like RMS theoretically be more accurate and appropriate to compare with VU?
Good question! It's actually not a contradiction, but I can see the confusion. Basically, the "ears" of the VU meter are much, much slower than the dBFS meter. So if you were to play a constant tone or white noise and set the volume to -18dBFS, then the VU meter would sit at exactly 0dBVU. But because of the speed difference of both meters, the dramatic volume range away from that calibration level is normal. Audio that is extremely dynamic and fast won't register accurately on the VU meter, so it will show up as too quiet. But it WILL register accurately on the dBFS meter. This is why gain staging drums in the digital world has to be done differently, because they typically don't register very accurately on VU meters. tl;dr - 0dBVU = -18dBFS **in theory**, but in the real world it gets messy. As to your other question, an RMS meter would likely be more accurate, but we use a VU meter as plugins are often based on older analog gear. That gear typically had the sweet spot of 0dBVU, so here we are. Hope that helps!
Great video thanks - so when you gain stage pre-mix - you probably have a lot of FX etc going on a track - do you then turn them off before you gain stage - and then turn them on afterwards ?
If the FX inserts were meant to be "part" of that audio track / instrument (not surgical eq's or dynamic processing), then no. However, you'll do the gain staging before you start doing the mix with FX such as eq, comp, saturation & other stuff to enhance the overall sound.
Hey man this is just fantastic! Full and clear. As I do most of the time in some cases, I'd suggest to compress or clipping or saturate the drums (snare, kick) or any other dynamic instruments, if they have high dynamics. In this way we can 'control'/flatten the peaks without introducing distortion or any artifacts and gaining some headroom and we're able to level up our drums to the sweet spot in the gain staging process. To achieve this, I use FabFilter Saturn 2 (Clean Tape Mode) or SirAudioTools StandardCLIP, which is amazing, cheap and worth to buy it! It simply works well!
Gain staging is a must do for tracking.. once it's in the box, it's true that plugins have sweets spot and boosting tracks to -18dbfs is a good idea. But the downfall is, if you have more than 30-50 tracks every faders on your daw will be down to avoid peaking the masterbuss. Not a problem until you want to make automations and you realise the precision of faders aren't that great around -20 to -50 db while being better -10db to + 10db . At least that is for most DAWS. You had a good idea with this video, it's just that it doesn't apply to every project. I usually record full band, with guitar dubing and tons of vocals, so I always make the DAW gain staging so that every tracks volume fader sits around 0db. Then when I want to do automations, it's easier to be accurate to what you want to hear.. Nice Voice over btw ! ;)
@@phadrus What you describe will create more problems which is what proper gain staging is ment fixing for. Gaining down affer your plugins means you probably overdriving them. with analog emulations, it can be desastrous on the sound... If you want to record hot (which is totally unnecessary in digital recording), at least gain down before your plugins....
@@phadrus I'd say after 40years of doing sound live and more than 20year of studio work (analog and digital), following gain staging rules comes from deeper than an opinion. Having a proper gain at every step of a signal chain is what any experienced audio engineer will recommend. At the extreem, rules can be broken but I'd recommand experimenting and choosing what sounds best for you and your customers. (if any) Oh BTW there is no need for a gain plugin at the end of each track effect bin. Every track has a fader to determine the level sent to busses and master buss ;)
Thank you so much for a thorough understanding of Gain staging! You have by far explained this process the most professional from a student teacher perspective! I normally skip through the ads, but figure it’s the least I can do to sit through them all and say thank you! I’m going to watch your other videos now! I just liked and subscribed! ❤
Thank you for this video! Definitely brought some good points. But, may I ask: on what proven grounds have you actually came to this conclusion - that VSTs react THE SAME WAY as their real-life originals? You can code as much as you want, those VSTs will NEVER react exactly like hardware. Never. Impossible to achieve. With all the randomness and coding and whatever you want. Not saying that VSTs can not (almost or very near) SOUND like the hardware, but they are not that particular hardware, nor function the same. So: if hardware has a sweet-spot for gain staging, how are VSTs doing the same thing? Am actually really curious to learn. Maybe I am missing something. I can’t understand why someone would come to that conclusion. Please and honestly help. Anyone?
Nice video! I have a related question. If the plugins chain is very long, does it make sense to also check the dBVU before the last plugin(s) to keep having the sweet spot? e.g., I have compression, saturation, and something else which adds (gain?) volume to the chain's output, should the VU be checked again so that my last plugin is also getting a sweet spot gain? thanks a lot!!!
Two questions: how do you/do you need to gain stage reverb sends etc? Also, when u add a plug-in that may change the gain do u simply use the VU meter once again to note and subsequently correct changes? Thx! Bob Peace
1. Why though it’s in a background of a mix and you probably won’t saturate or compress it. 2. Just adjust the output level to be the same as an input level to the plugin and you’re fine
@@collintoh1697 Only the initial signal without effects should be gain staged after gain staging you will probably level all tracks using a fader. I would just blend wet rev/del signal accordingly to the whole mix. As the guy in the video said you should gain stage only important elements. Hope I answered your question 😉
I always add fx send at the end of the track's inserts chain, then adjust the send level just by listening. The issue is when I apply a limiter on my mix bus. It would start boosting my effects. Then I come back and struggle with the send level and every insert on the effects track! Wondering what is the pro way of doing this
It's actually the same. Adjust faders of the channels that go into the subgroup until you hit average 0 VU in the subgroup input. Just for understanding it could help if you have in mind that Gain-Staging is the process you would do in every Old Style Analogue Console with VU Input Meters... By the way, in the old days with Analogue it was also part of the sound if you hit the channel inputs a little harder... 😉
Adjusting the channel volume, feeding your buses, with their faders isn't optimal imo as it eats into the channel volume automation resolution in most DAWs. I prefer to either use a trim or something like a channel strip if you have them set up as your first plugin in your template to reduce the input volume for buses.
@@siderlandmusic You can continue to gain stage with the VU meter yes but it may not be necessary at that point if you have gain staged individual channels, depending on what your work flow is. Reducing the level of your buses using trims by the amount that gives you a decent amount of headroom may be all you need. If you use lots of bus processing, specifically analog modelled plugins, it may be more important. If you use outboard for mixing it is obviously important to gain stage this correctly. In the real world people push into gear and you may end up having your VU meter above 0 on average anyway. Plugins won't necessarily respond in the same way so I do tend to be more conservative with them but different plugins say they have different sweet spots, if they tell you at all, anyway. Summing tracks will always mean they have a higher average volume than the individual tracks, both with your buses and mix bus, and the more tracks, the higher the average volume. It's up to you if the extra gain staging makes a difference sonically to you. You can test it. Try it on your mixbus; 1) where you have decent headroom (say 6db) and apply your processing, 2) gain stage it with a VU meter and apply the same processing. Level match, bounce and blind A/B test it. If you can pick a consistent winner and the extra time to do it every mix (if any) is worth it to you then do that would be my advice.
With all due respect, the guy does not understand how clipping works in digital sound. In your DAW it will just occur when you bounce, at the final stage when you convert digital to analog. You can take your drums to about 0VU before feeding the signal to a plugin and get the benefits of the sweet spot (if there is such, which is doubtful) and then use a gain plugin to lower the signal down after being processed (you could even lower it down at the master track). You can have a +48dB gain before a plugin, and you are good if after the plugin, anywhere before the final output you have a -48dB gain. You can easily test it. Even if you have your tracks in red, if your final output is not clipping you will have no clipping. You should not worry about gain staging. Just make sure you reach your plugins that at the sweet spot(in case they have it, most of them don’t) and also that your master track does not clip. If you don’t believe this, you can test it by duplicating a track , invert the phase in the duplicate track (no sound will be heard). You can then add +50dB to your first track and route it to an aux track where you add -50dB. The first track will seem to clip like hell and yet you will still hear no sound, which means both signals are the same, therefore no real clipping.
Instead of a dBFS meter in my daw, could a RMS scale be used to get an average of how a track's amplitude changes over time and basically calibrate that to -18db? Does an RMS volume equate to dbVU? And if so, does it make sense to compare the two of them? Albeit, I do use a VU meter to do my gain staging, so my question is just more of a general wondering
As I know, RMS is only based on its mathematics when there are some values (in this case, the waveform of an audio file). And as we already know, it's similar to the volume of the source that we perceive. But when we actually perceive the volume of the source, it need some time of about 200~300ms, which is not concerned in RMS. To solve this problem, VU meter was invented by adjusting the needle of the VU meter to move slowly just like the way we perceive the volume. Therefore, the VU and the RMS are very similar, but not the same.
Actualy, it's -18 dbfs RMS, so yes yo can use any gain pluging to calibrate it. Vu metter will be more precise tho. In ableton you can see where your RMS level is :)
The trick is you want -18dBFS RMS or on average (for the tracks) and average 0dBU on the Meter (on the master buss). You are likely to also need to go a little lower if you are summing a lot of tracks together. My tip for this is to use the Logic Level Meter set to Peak&RMS. Insert that at the top and bottom of the track plugin chains. Use the top one to gain stage the track against the VU meter and also as a reference level. Use/move the bottom one post each plugin to ensure that the plugins keep your gain constant (eg you aren't accidentally adding more due to EQ/Compression/etc). You can turn these off once you have the track sorted. Doing this means that you can see both the average and the transient. The missing part on drums is the transient coming through that you never really had to deal with in Analog tape world and this means your drums are likely to be around -22.
OMG thank you!!! You went over so much in the video in a clear cut way. This may be one of the best audio videos iv seen here on youtube. I will be checking out more of your video 100% can't thank you enough.
