Levels

[thereformant]

For a while now I've been thinking that the traditional way of setting levels (lets say for a practice session but could be for live as well) of getting the relative levels between bass and drums first then adding guitar results in a way too bass heavy final sound.

Im proposing to try doing drums and lead guitar first then bringing in the rhythm and bass after at next practice. Anyone got any thoghts?

I mean that bass driven sound works for all the pap indie bands out there so I can see why engineers do it but I think theres a tendency for anything intricate on distorted guitar to get lost.

 

[Symbiant]

Bass is tons of fun. What a lot of people don't do is tune the kick drums to the bass guitar which is pretty key.. This can help keep things in check...

 

[Eligos]

Bass heavy is good if you have a good bassist.

 

[ParsonsMatt]

It should be pretty obvious that if something is too loud, you turn it down.

When I mix a band on a recording, I always set drums to a good level, then bring in:

Bass
Guitar
Synth
Vocals

in that order.