15 MISTAKES to AVOID When Recording at Home!

[Ted]

This guy has a tiresome raging musicians-are-idiots schtick, but I learned a few things from this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSZ52Lejjog

One thing in particular: Gain Staging. I'm totally guilty of pushing levels too hot – because I originally learned to record on tape.  (Thank you Community College). And then I've taught others to do the same. This is great news, because I have always carefully pushed up my levels just to the verge of clipping. And then, of course, I clip.

[AndyR]

Youtube has been offering me this one... and I've been ignoring it.

Just watched it now - hilarious!!

It was your comment on gain-staging that made me do it.

VERY interesting. On the Boss, I've been gain-staging to get it as near to the top as possible for ever. Actually, that was the only way I could figure out how to use compressors/limiters consistently... I haven't had any clipping for YEARS.

I even normalised all recorded takes so that I always had a level playing field for light compression as the first step in the next stage. I guess the fact my tracks increased in volume when normalised indicates I wasn't flying that close to the top. Now I'm in a DAW, I have visual representation of how the compressors etc are working. So I don't really need to know now that the peaks are at or near the top in order to maybe gently shave maybe the top 2dB of a performance's spikes...

I do find myself wondering what these mixing and mastering engineers are doing without thinking that means nice and otherwise usable signals are causing them such issues???!?! (Not the example he showed of everything hitting 0, that's obviously a bad thing, It's what I'd understand as poor gain-staging in the digital world).

I've learnt that unless it's a compressor/limiter, most effects are likely to add gain - so you maybe need to watch what you're doing with the level going into it... (that's actually part of gain-staging!!) Is he saying (to use his vernacular) that he and his peers are such lazy f***s that they don't want to have to do that? Or are they really only complaining about tracks that hit 0? If that is the case, that isn't how it comes across. He actually makes it sound like they're all bitching about gain-staging in general (which is a GOOD thing in itself) when really poorly applied gain-staging, or none at all that is causing the problems.

I just did a search, and there's plenty of hits on gain-staging and how to hit the sweet spot in the digital world... I didn't look far, but I didn't find anyone else saying "gain-staging is the work of the devil and practiced by idiots who think they're still recording on tape"

His blanket "burn the old witches and their gain-staging" rant sounds like he doesn't really know what it is (though I'm sure he does). And the folks in his audience who really don't know what it is, he's discouraging them from learning about it... in fact, they'll even actively dismiss it as "old crap, ma-an, doesn't apply with modern sh!t lke we use" when faced with an article that explains how to do it to set the very levels his lazy f***wit rant is asking for!!

Anyway, aside from that bit - all absolutely spot on and amusingly delivered...

I must admit, though, if I was in the band he mentioned at the start, I'd be going "ok, cool, some very good points we must watch out for BUT... #16 - Cancel the booking with him, book another studio with a less shouty f*** in charge, we're the customer, he's just the f***ing help... F***er"


I'm not sure how many videos with him in I could cope with... but one was very amusing.

[AndyR]

I was closing other windows I opened while doing that reply.

One of the articles I found was this:

https://www.musicianonamission.com/gain-staging/

I just read it. It's really good.

[Jean Pierre]

One thing in particular: Gain Staging. I'm totally guilty of pushing levels too hot

...me too

very interesting article

https://www.musicianonamission.com/gain-staging/

[Ted]

very interesting article

https://www.musicianonamission.com/gain-staging/

After reading that, I realized that I'm still pushing my levels too hot in the mix. In my most recent recording, the individual tracks were all in the green, but the master levels were up in the yellow.

In Garageband, I don't see a way to reduce the gain proportionally on all tracks at once. That would be a nice feature.

[AndyR]

After reading that, I realized that I'm still pushing my levels too hot in the mix. In my most recent recording, the individual tracks were all in the green, but the master levels were up in the yellow.

In Garageband, I don't see a way to reduce the gain proportionally on all tracks at once. That would be a nice feature.

I got some info for you (I think) but I need to do some work!
My half finished reply is saved in doc, I'll back to it later and then post it

[AndyR]

Here it comes... it's a bit of an epic... is there a character limit on posts??

[AndyR]

In Garageband, I don't see a way to reduce the gain proportionally on all tracks at once. That would be a nice feature.

I was thinking that about Studio One the other day too.
I can Group tracks, that seems to do it, but it was a bit of a mixed blessing - sometimes it would move them keeping their relative positions, sometimes it would set them all the same! Obviously there's a little more finesse available but I haven't spotted it

But I'm not sure I'll need it now...

What I did figure out - and then saw some vids saying the same thing - Buses!!
On the BR1600, I had to do submixes of "rhythm guitars", say, and "lead guitars".
So I was thinking "why not use Buses like that?"
Then the video said "Bus everything"

So, my little demo has the following tracks:

2 Top lead guitars
2 Bottom lead guitars
2 main rhythm guitars
2 other rhythm guitars
2 other other rhythm guitars
1 Chuggie rhythm guitar
1 Bass
1 Copy of the bass with some distortion/overdrive on it
1 (midi) drum track with EZDrummer on it

All of their outputs were going to the Main bus (the Stereo out).

I also have some FX Buses for Delay and Reverb1 and Reverb2 - these have those effects on their Inserts and their output is to Main.
I use the track sends as appropriate (the two Top Leads get some Reverb1, the one panned left some Delay... the two Bottom leads get the same Reverb1, the one panned right gets some Delay... etc... that sort of thing).
That's exactly how you used to do it in a studio with aux sends on the desk and outboard rack gear for the effects.

I was grouping my pairs of guitars - but I've stopped that now I've added FOUR Instrument Buses to my demo:

Lead Guitars
Rhythm Guitars
Bass
Drums

The outputs of these all go to Main, and I've changed the outputs of the tracks to go to their respective buses instead of Main. Again this is exactly what you were doing in a studio - except my memory is that these things were called "groups" on the desks I saw (and my Yamaha desk incidentally, even though it's only got one Group).

That meant I could raise the faders on the tracks to get more control of them when mixing them relative to each other.
Before that, I was having to have them all low because they're what I'd regard as good signals, but combining them ALL straight to Main meant either the tracks or Main had to be low on the Fader, or... I was clipping on the Main, like you.

Now that they're going to their buses, I can deal with them separately.

The Buses are all receiving reasonable levels.

But I still had the problem of having the Bus Faders up where I want them can blow the Main bus.

My solution a few days ago was to sort out my FX chains on the buses for the parallel/serial compression treatment (imitating what I did to submixes on the BR1600) - this was cool, because I wanted to see how that worked anyway.

So now all the Instrument Buses have a chain like this (but with different settings in the effects for the different types of instrument):

1. Compress (gentle)
2. Split (for Parallel Compression)
Fork A: 1. Compress (gentle)
Fork B: 1. EQ for to accentuate whatever frequency I want for the Parallel Compression
Fork B: 2. Compress (seriously) HEAVILY
3. Recombine
4. Compress (gently)
5. Final EQ
6. Limit, if necessary

That's the current state of play, I'm using the output gain of the plugins in the chain to compensate for the level change (up or down) ... but it's all a bit "interconnected" and either the Bus Faders or the Main Fader still have to come down to avoid clippage. I accepted it as it was and have added automation to the Main Fader to give me dynamics in the band's performance (I always used to do this at the mastering stage on the BR1600). The automation peaks the Fader at -3.5dB, most of the mix is at -4.5dB. This results in a mix that peaks at approx -1dB (I know this because of mastering work later).

The PROBLEM with this is what if I want to change something? I've already done this and experienced it - hey, I want the x up a bit. I raise x, Main clips 3dB... AGGGH! And to fix it is convoluted and probably changes the sound... (simple fix is a Limiter on the Main bus's Inserts... But I want to avoid that if it's going to mastering)

What the article has shown me is an easier way of controlling it which does not mean I have to automatically bring in the "big gun" of the FX chain above just to "control" - instead I'll be using it to "shape" which is what I want it to do. AND, if I need to change an instrument's level or eq it's less likely to clip anywhere or, if it does, I'll easily know where/how to fix it.

The solution will involve the "gain plugin" and "meter plugin" mentioned in the article (in Studio One I have "Mix Tool", "Level Meter", and "VU Meter" plugins that will do the job).

First - during tracking (recording)
Use the VU Meter as described in the article (0 calibrated to -18) - this gives us the levels our shouty friend in the video wants (but it's good for us too).
I'll put this meter on the input channel when I'm recording (having made sure the output from my instrument and the input on the interface give me a good signal).
I'll aim at the signal I'm recording, every time, any instrument or voice, hovering around 0 on the meter (-18dB).

BTW, In my demo, I can check and fix the existing audio in the tracks by doing the same thing on each track, changing the gain as necessary with the Mix Tool plugin, then burn the affect into the audio in track (I've already done this to all the tracks to get my lovely BR1600 patch settings on to the recordings that were made before I knew how to do this).

Writing this last bit out, I now realise that's what "shouty man" is bitching about - that's what he'll have to do if you've recorded too hot or too quiet, and that's why it'll cost you hours in studio time... ok, he's forgiven (ish!) 

Actually, with a brief look at my tracks, I suspect there's not much to do... and I can actually do most of it in the next stage.

Mixing - Tracks
I need to think about this, but it would be best if all the tracks are audio by now - so remove or disable all plugins. If it's a virtual instrument (or guitar amp), convert to audio and remove the plugin. Some won't like that, but it fits well for me in my "commit early" approach to recording and mixing. Look at it this way, we're mixing now, we've finished choosing instruments and playing them and recording them... the musicians have finished, they can go home, to the pub, whatever.

(By all means, KEEP the midi, and the DI guitar, etc, etc... the latter will keep shouty man in the video happy ).

Anyway...

Set all the Instrument Bus Faders to a "medium with some headroom" (I'll probably aim at -4dB on the Fader).

Now balance the tracks roughly on the Faders - rough mix - I might need to turn the Main down to avoid clipping. When balanced, the track Faders will probably be up and down across the board.

Then I need to use the Level Meter and Mix Tool on each track, solo'd, to ensure I can get the SAME rough mix level after the Fader but with the Fader set back to "medium with some headroom". If it's a gain increase, this might involve gentle compression/limiting to ensure no clipping.

When I've identified the gain adjustment I need:
1. Burn this gain adjustment into the audio.
2. Take the Meter and Mix Tool off (mine will do that automatically as I "bounce" the affected audio to replace the original).
3. Leave the Fader where it is.

When I've done all the tracks - I'll have the same rough mix balance as before but all the faders will be at -4dB (which is a really good "controllable" place to start from).

Mixing - Instrument Buses
Then I want a Mix Tool and meter at the top of all the instument buses.

This will enable me to adjust the gain INTO the effects chain and Fader if the signal comes in hotter or cooler than it was previoulsy.

I might need to plan ahead and decide beforehand how hot I want all the buses running? I'm not sure.
I suspect different types of bus will want different adjustments.
But I also suspect that having set all the Instrument Bus Faders to -4dB earlier (before adjusting the track gains) will mean it sorts itself out anyway - and all I'll need to know is the incoming level right now at the "rough mix" stage while all the Bus Faders are the same and there are no plugins yet.
I won't know until I try it!

The idea is that whenever I make a change upstream (eg increase or decrease a single guitar in the mix) all I have to do is check the Input meter on the relevant bus and adjust the gain of the signal back to what it was before the change. This means that the next thing on the bus - the FX chain, or the Fader if there is no chain - "sees" the same level as it did before the change, and nothing else needs changing unless I want it to for mix shaping reasons (that nothing else needs changing includes the Main, it won't, or shouldn't, clip once I've adjusted the Instrument Bus!!)

Next, if there is an effects chain on an instrument bus, I need another meter at the end of the chain.

The idea here is that the signal level at the bottom of the chain should always match the level at the top of the chain. If it changes when I adjust the effects, I need to adjust the Output gains in the effects chain... That's one solution, but I'll probably add another Mix Tool just before the last meter and use that.

If I use the meters and Mix Tools on an Instrument Bus like this to ensure the Input to and Output from the bus's Inserts (FX chain) never changes, then the Instrument Bus can only materially affect the clippage on the Main bus if I move the instrument bus's fader.

Which leads us to:

Mixing - Main Bus
Put a Meter and Mix Tool here as well.

Sooner or later, I'll be happy with the mix of the rhythm guitars relative to each other on their bus. But sometime during the mixing process I'll realise that, being the guitarist I am, I've accidentally mixed them all too quiet against the rest of the band. So all I have to do is raise the Fader on the Rhythm Guitars Instrument Bus and.... whoa! what's happening to the Main bus??? I've got some headroom from all the above, but sooner or later I'll blow the Main bus if I don't learn the discipline of maintaining that headroom with every change.

So I've got that Meter and Mix Tool there on the Main bus that enables me to check the input to the Main bus when I change the balance between the Instrument Buses.

Which then enables me to use the Main Fader (via automation) to put some groovy dynamics into the main mix (eg a very very gentle and long fade through the second half of a verse... with a sudden jump back to normal as the chorus starts - try it, it is unbelievably effective, we're talking 1dB, maybe 2, but it just makes the track feel better).

If you do put dynamics on like this, it's absolutely GUARANTEED that you'll need to change the mix AFTER you've just spent ages configuring and fine tuning the automation .

If you haven't done all this gain staging, as described, you'll get what I was getting the other day - just a tiny tweak... oh no! clippage... and then it takes 20 mins to readjust everything... and something else goes out of whack... so... just a tiny tweak...

BUT... If you have done this gain staging... you've got some headroom anyway, but to ensure you KEEP that headroom:

just a tiny tweak... now (ignoring any clipping on the main or wherever - but USING YOUR EARS THROUGHOUT listening for adverse changes):
check the input to the relevant Instrument Bus - adjust gain at top of chain to get it back to what it was if necessary...
check the output of the bus's effect chain - adjust gain at the bottom of chain if necessary...
check balance of the Instrument Buses - adjust Fader(s) of Instrument Bus(es) if the tweak dictates a change in balance of buses...
check the input to the Main bus - adjust gain at the top of the bus if necessary...
clear the clipping light, if necessary...
smile smugly, reach for glass of something, hit play again...

Reading that last para, one is tempted to think - this is crazy, a tiny tweak needs all that and might even change the entire mix?!?!!

Well, yes... isn't that we all experience anyway?
We turn up the guitar and then have to mess about for ages until we think "yeah"...
And then two days later someone else notices the problem it caused elsewhere that we never heard, considered, or even imagined.

This method protects your headroom, embodies the "one tweak has more effect than you imagined", and most importantly gives you a structured way of thinking about your tracking and mixing - and a process to control it.

Anyways, that's my plan

[Ted]

Buses!! ... Buses ... "Bus ... bus ... Buses ... Buses ... buses ... buses, ... Buses ... Bus ... bus. ... buses ... Buses ... Bus ... bus's ... Bus ... Buses ... buses. ... buses ... bus ... Bus ... Bus ... bus ... bus ... Bus!!) ... bus, ... Bus ... bus's ... Bus ... bus ... bus's ... Bus ... bus. ... Bus ... bus??? ... bus ... bus ... bus ... Buses. ... Bus ... bus's ... Buses ... Bus(es) ... buses... ... bus ... bus ...

That's 46 buses.

Duh... What's a bus?

Web search...

the only thing you need to know is that a buss combines signals from several other places on a mixing board.

I'm glad I looked that up before I asked someone like Shouty Man – who will be predisposed to think I'm an idiot because I play bass.

Now I'll go back and re-read what you wrote with half a chance of getting it.

Right now I'm trying to get over my paralyzing tendency to overcomplicate things before I even start. I don't have any buses. I don't want any buses!   I'm hoping to write some new songs on my kabosy, and record stripped-down demos – the exact reason I bought my Micro BR 14 years ago (minus the kabosy).

But I think this will be useful when, next month, I will be working with a recording pro to try and finish the EP that got buggered last year by COVID-19. (Short version: I was in the USA, and my high-school band and I were going to try to have some fun together and do our first ever professional recording. That got sidelined.

Now I'm back in Madagascar, and we are going to try to finish it remotely.)  I will have a better understanding of what is going on in that studio over in the Western Hemisphere. And, being the occasional show off that I am, I will probably invent a reason to talk about buses. And it will be your fault all thanks to you.

[chapperz66]

Quote from Ted

In Garageband, I don't see a way to reduce the gain proportionally on all tracks at once. That would be a nice feature.
[/quote]

Please forgive me  - I haven't read Andy's entire post yet, but there is a simple and easy method of bringing down the gain on a group of tracks in proportion in Studio one v4 and up.  The trick is to gain stage before you even start to mix, but I'll come back to that.  If all you want to do is grab a bunch of channels and adjust the volume whilst keeping the relative volume the same, do this.
1. In the console window, click on the little wrench near the top left.  This opens an options window.  Under the heading "channel components", tick "input controls".  This puts a tiny little gain knob at the top of each channel on the mixer console.

2. Select the tracks you want to adjust volume-wise by holding shift and clicking on those channels.  Leave those faders alone and instead turn the volume down on the input control - the little knob you turned on in 1 above. Boom - all those tracks get turned down but stay the same relatively.

Now - there is a caveat here.  If any of the tracks you do this to, already have compressors or limiters etc which are effected by input volume on them, then you might have a problem. This is because this method reduces the gain going into the channels, and therefore into the compressor.  All those knobs on the compressor that you have spent hours adjusting - the input ratio etc will be affected because you have changed the volume going into them.

SO:

Gain stage before you start mixing or adding loads of effects.  Gain staging is just a term for bringing all the volumes down before you start mixing.  Leave the faders alone for now at 0.

So as above,  select channel 1, scroll across and hold down shift and select channel 80 or whatever the last one is, so that all tracks are selected.  Play the song and watch the master bus/channel and every time the meter shows you have gone above something like -8db, just bring down one of the input controls on the multi selected channels.  I don't even start doing any serious mixing until the whole song is fairly comfortably below -8db.

This works for me on studio one v4.6 pro, on songs that often have 80 or so tracks on them.  I'm pretty certain that v5 works the same way.

Hope this helps

Paul