Instrument Levels in Mix - YOUR way?

[Varfolomeyev]

This is a subject I was always curious about,
seeing other's prefrences for BALANCE inside a mix.

So guys, from your own expirience and taste,
where would you let each instrument peak in a typical modern metal mix? where you like putting your snare drum, vocalist, bass and rhythm guitar balance (LEVEL WISE! not eq! i.e BD -1.0db,Snare -4.0db, rhythm guitars, keypads... etc...)

 

[JeffTD]

You can't stick exact numbers on it. EVERYTHING is relative.

 

[everybody's x]

You can't stick exact numbers on it. EVERYTHING is relative.

this is true and that is mostly the answers you are going to get


generally I mix this way


in order of relative volume

snare
vox-guitars
kick-bass
toms
oh

that is entirely relative and subject to change at any given moment.

you have to mix to the strengths of the song itself

 

[carl@laruso.com]

dude.. this is a pretty weird thread....

if it were that easy there would be downloadable mixing by numbers tutorials..... like painting by numbers!!! lol

.... we'd all be out of a job.....

... infact this is pure madness

.... too much xmas sherry for you my man

C

 

[Aaron Smith]

You can't stick exact numbers on it. EVERYTHING is relative.

Exactly my thoughts. For example, rhythm guitar tracks recorded by one guy might RMS at a level that's several decibels different than tracks recorded by another engineer on another project. It's entirely a matter of using your ears, and it takes some experience to get things just right.

 

[-Gavin-]

Yeah man, ever since coming here, i've started panning guitars way wider so i can use less volume on the snare but keeping "loud and prominant".

 

[Ermz]

I hardly ever monitor stereo buss peak levels during mixing. It only matters to me during mastering (anyone up for a game of... SQUASSHHH?).

More important to use your ears rather than rely on meters to tell you how everything should sit.

 

[carl@laruso.com]

just read my first reply .... came of quite harsh .... sorry dude.

But yeah every mix is just way so way different that it's almost imposible to quantify things like this... nearly every thing is a rough sugestion (more ball park)

......in reply to moonlapse yeah a game of squasshhh sounds like fun!

yo!

 

[chadsxe]

I think everyone about summed it up for you. There is no one way. Take andy for example, he seems to keep the Oh's decently low as opposed to someone like Machine who keeps the higher.

 

[HeadCrusher]

There is this one thing about levels that might seem silly to ask to probably but I'm really not sure about this. Maybe someone can answer this in this thread because it somehow fits in:

Assume I have got (for example9 2 guitars in a song. Now as the chorus kicks in there are 2 more guitars that play harmonies or something. Well, of course the whole mix gets louder as the other instruments enter so now, do I:

• Re-level all the stuff that's going on in the project using automation (not only the guitars but all the other instruments as well) just for the chorus so that the stereo sum doesn't get louder at all or
• should I do nothing (say: leave the "sum-leveling" for the mastering process).

Really appreciate your help! Thx.

 

[chadsxe]

There is this one thing about levels that might seem silly to ask to probably but I'm really not sure about this. Maybe someone can answer this in this thread because it somehow fits in:

Assume I have got (for example9 2 guitars in a song. Now as the chorus kicks in there are 2 more guitars that play harmonies or something. Well, of course the whole mix gets louder as the other instruments enter so now, do I:

• Re-level all the stuff that's going on in the project using automation (not only the guitars but all the other instruments as well) just for the chorus so that the stereo sum doesn't get louder at all or
• should I do nothing (say: leave the "sum-leveling" for the mastering process).

Really appreciate your help! Thx.

Again, it really depends on what you want from the song. If it sounds fine to you then there is no need to touch it. If it sounds weird then adjust until your happy. There really is no answer to you question. One thing a lot of people do is get caught up in a lot of "is this right" and forget that it is only right if it sounds right to you and is not right because you read some were that you "should do this". There is no should and there is no one way. If you don't like it fix it.

 

[Eduardo Apolonia]

There is this one thing about levels that might seem silly to ask to probably but I'm really not sure about this. Maybe someone can answer this in this thread because it somehow fits in:

Assume I have got (for example9 2 guitars in a song. Now as the chorus kicks in there are 2 more guitars that play harmonies or something. Well, of course the whole mix gets louder as the other instruments enter so now, do I:

• Re-level all the stuff that's going on in the project using automation (not only the guitars but all the other instruments as well) just for the chorus so that the stereo sum doesn't get louder at all or
• should I do nothing (say: leave the "sum-leveling" for the mastering process).

Really appreciate your help! Thx.

I do it like Option 1
Re-level all the stuff that's going on in the project using automation (not only the guitars but all the other instruments as well)

But the chorus is normally louder than the verse or I could say that the verse is quieter than the chorus.

Automation is your friend

Normally it needs adjustment on the instruments and vocals from part to part i.e. Intro, verse, chorus, Solo...
and in between

 

[chadsxe]

Normally it needs adjustment on the instruments and vocals from part to part i.e. Intro, verse, chorus, Solo...
and in between

Which in a round about way is saying do what is best for the mix. Don't just do it because.

 

[HeadCrusher]

Thanks guys!

 

[greyskull]

where
they sound good

 

[joeymusicguy]

i sorta track in the way that i want it to be mixed

by this i mean, if the chorus needs to be louder, i add stuff to the chorus, whether it be more guitars playing the same thing, or guitars playing a new part, or another instrument or sound or whatever

i always start my mix with the band its self and their basic element. i will find a section in a song that's got everyone going at once, and mix that section to sound how i think it should sound, then... from the tracking, all of the additional parts usually sound how they should because they are additions

so if a chorus is supposed to be louder, it will be because the band mix is already there, and the over dubs just add to that part and naturally make it louder

so i guess what im trying to say is that i rely a lot on the song naturally mixing its self by what its made up of

but you can't stick with one plan and keep on truckin, i often find my self automating volume on some tracks just to create moods or feeling. i might make most of a song have a lower guitar volume than other songs, just so i can crunch em up in one spot, just to emphasize that spot! this is the way i do it when over dub tracking isnt an option.

but there's certainly no set in stone way to mix anything. sure there are starting points, and some people have their own methods of going about each part of the process or theories on how to do this or that, but its all relative to each their own!