@@FlyGuyJ Hi, nice to meet you I am Angelina....is this correct...would you gain stage to as close to zero vu as possible and around -6 VU for peaks? And should we still keep plug meter calibrated to -18dbfs because that equals 0 VU? Thanks for your help! Have a great day.
@@angelinagargano3940 Hi, I try to keep close to 0 VU and yes always calibrate to -18 since that = 0VU. if you were aiming for something other than 0 VU then you could calibrate it differently if you wanted to. When mixing, everyone has there preferences as far as how much headroom to leave. Some are ok with their master peaking at -4, others -6, -8 etc... As long as you are not clipping your audio when adding plugins you will be good to go! If you are sending it off to be mastered, check with the engineer to see how much headroom they would like.
@@FlyGuyJ thanks for taking the time to answer. My question. I have started this technique and seem to have a better response, more dynamic range and less distortion. Can't wait for your next video. Hope you a have a great day.
Another excellent video showing the differences between RMS and Peak metering and illustrating the critical importance of proper gain staging. I would highly recommend anyone who is interested in producing and mixing any genre of music, just starting out to get these basic fundamentals down pat right out the gate. It will save you potentially YEARS of bad sounding over modulated tracks. Trust me, I speak from experience. Start searching for "proper gain staging" and "RMS vs Peak metering" now and let this soak into your brain and never look back. Great video and clear explanation.
DUUUUUDE!!!!!!! You are AWESOME... My mixes sounded decent. They are WAYYYY better now. Thank you sir!!! Keep up the good work. You're a natural teacher.
🙏 Thanks Anil! If you're interested... I'm putting together a paid training course which will be much more in depth and cover the entire mixing process. Would love to chat more with you about it. If this sounds like something you're interested in, reach out to me on Instagram @therealflyguyj and let's connect!
To eliminate the loudness deception there is a plugin called Perception AB. I bought it and use it on the Cubase DAW. Nothing crazy, it just allows you notice the finer mixing without the loudness deceiving you.
Good one. A nice and appropriate description of the gain staging necessity. Mixes today are seen with no head rooms and sounds woofy too. Proper gain staging may put some life and allows the mix breathe easy.
Well done my friend! Great explanation and presentation. Just the right specifics to learn about leveling, meters and gain staging. I've been struggling with this part of mixing for a long time! But, not any more, thanks to you!
Good job explaining the use of the plugin. I just got the vu metering plugin recently but was confused on the calibration part. I'll surely implement this on my next mix. I have a feeling it was the missing link to correcting a lot of issues with my mixes. Thanks fam!
Thank you so much bro! This video really helped me with gain staging. It's the subtle things like this. Super important foundation of a mix. You got my thumbs up!
Very cool explained! Thank you. The only thing I don't understand is how to calibrate the VU meter? -18 db seems too small, can I set it to -12 db? It seems that for the master channel and for individual tracks you need to calibrate differently
you can calibrate it to -12 if that is what level you are aiming for, I use -18 mostly for tracking vocals and individual sounds before they hit analog plugins. I usually try to leave about 4-6 db of headroom of my overall mix before sending to mastering
During mixing, you think the meters should be at the start or end of the chain (as in, before or after plugins on individual tracks-so, not the master buss)?
Honestly, you should be checking meters throughout the entire process and depending on what you are checking, you will use a different meter at a different point in the chain. While tracking vocals you should check VU meter on the input signal, when checking stems or a full mix you should have the VU meter on the bus and check mix, when mastering you should be looking at peak level, RMS and/or LUFS. Could go alot more in depth on this, but hopefully you get the gist of what I'm saying...
Really nice! Thank you for the vídeo! Wondering why thise VUs and other meters have more then -18db calibration like -12db and stuff. I've saw some saying that they use -12db for gain staging and that's ok.
As long as you aren't peaking and distorting, you would be fine if mixing in the box. However, some plugins are designed to work best when the incoming signal falls within a certain range. For example, emulations of analog plugins. Also, some people send signal from pro tools out to hardware and then back into pro tools after processing it through their own analog gear. They may have a different preference for what level they want the starting signal in their chain.
Hi Fly Guy J, thanks for this tutorial. Very helpful. that moment around 6:00-6:40 when you gave a practical example as to why lowering the fader wont give you more head room is gold!! you should deff take that clip and post it on your ig and twitter too! Thanks for sharing your wisdom fam. Appreciate it. Just hit that Sub button!
Thumbs up! I finally understand how to gain stage my mastered MP3 beats using a VU meter by watching this video. Now that I get my beat file gain settings set to OVU on the VU meter which is -18dBFS in Pro Tools .. its time for vocal gain staging. Please correct me if IM wrong! Did you said add a mono VU meter as the first insert on my vocal track and as the singer sings I should watch the VU meter making sure the vocal level is hitting 0VU on the VU meter? Thank you!
Yes I am for 0 VU when recording vocals, however, you don't have to insert one on every track, just make sure you are in the ballpark initially and you should be good to go.
You should be gain staging at every step of the process. First and foremost, make sure your recording levels are good going into your DAW, make sure your levels are good going into your plugins, coming out of your plugins, and make sure your levels are good (headroom) prior to mastering
@@kaveka333 I explained how to check your levels going in to the plugin in this video (aim for 0VU); as far as going out, most plugins have a knob or other control where you can decrease the gain or output of the signal after it is processed by the plugin. Always gain match (make sure the level is equal before and after) unless you are using a plugin specifically to increase gain or volume of your track. I hope that makes sense
@@kaveka333 I'm not familiar with the MPC software, but I know that many people love MPC for music production, I would recommend pro tools for recording, mixing, mastering vocals.
Where do you place the VU meter on a plugin chain? At the top or at the bottom of the chain??? And should you place a VU meter on all tracks or just the master track?
Top if you are trying to measure signal coming into the chain, bottom if you are trying to measure signal leaving the chain, individual if you want to check level of an individual track, master track if you want to see where the entire mix is sitting. All depends on what you are trying to accomplish
Bro can you make a video on vocal tracking with Rverb or Hverb on? Preferably one for singing and one for rap coz first of all my reverb skills suck. end up hating my vocals and i dont really know how reverb really works
I would have trim plugin at the top of the chain, followed by the VU meter. Then whatever 4 plugins you are using. You use the trim plugin to decrease or increase the gain as needed for gain staging purposes. Once the level coming into the first plugin is set to a healthy level then you should just "level match" the audio before and after each plugin. Unless the plugin is being used specifically to raise the level of the audio. Hope that makes sense!
so basically gain staging is for a beat? and once you dont clip it would we say its a guide also for the vocals to have high chances to not clip the mixing if you getting everything right?
No, gain staging should be done on vocals too. Gain staging should be done at your preamp also when you track vocals. If you record your vocals so that they are averaging around 0 VU (-18db) then you will have a vocal that is not too quiet (risk of raising the noise floor later when you raise the gain of your vocals), and not too loud (risk of peaking and distorting your vocal). Also, if your vocals are gain staged correctly then they will be entering any plugins you use at the optimal level.
Definitely before just to make sure your initial gain staging is correct, you can level match before and after the plugin by ear by simply bypassing the plugin on and off and making sure the volume is about the same. You may want to use a VU meter to adjust gain on you final mix bus before using mastering plugins as well.
i've got a question about this... you say that we should always mantain the same level of a signal... but le'ts say for example that I trow in a compressor... I sould "never?" touch the gain? And always make sure that the db of the in and out signal is the same?
It's best practice to make sure you at least listen to the before and after at equal volume so that you can get a true representation of what the compressor is doing to your audio. When things are louder, they naturally sound better to us, so loudness can give us a false sense of quality. Once you are happy with what the compressor is doing, feel free to increase the gain to your liking!
Hey bro thank sooo much but I got a quick question please do both my vocals and my beat has to be set at the same db level ? 18 or different db for each ?? Please help
this is important if you send the mix to the mastering engineer for later processing but if you are doing the mastering yourself on the output channel the most important thing is that the whole final process has no clipping, am I right?
Honestly, gain staging should be kept in check during each step of the process (recording, mixing, mastering) The most important thing is to make sure you are not clipping, but honestly, some of the plugins that you use are designed to perform best when the incoming signal is at a certain range. It's best practice to keep your eye on your gain levels throughout the entire process. You don't have to be meticulous with it, but keeping things in the healthy range will result in a better mix at the end
If your using a trim meter underneath plugin should you still have a VU meter at the top of the plug-in chain on every track including master track? When you say set it at -18 db so you mean literally set the view meter to -18 DB inside the meter itself? Or do you play the track and watch the needle and turn it up the volume or down the volume to get the needle towards zero in the view meter? Thanks
If you are trying to make sure the incoming signal (start of your chain) is gain staged properly I would put a trim plugin first, then the vu meter. That way you can use the trim meter to adjust the level of the incoming signal and have the vocal gain staged first before any processing. I am looking for the vocal to hover around 0 on the VU meter. Vocals are dynamic, so sometimes it will be above, sometimes it will be below. Once the incoming signal is staged correctly, you dont need to use the vu meter again on the individual track, you can move it to the master bus and measure level of total mix. Just use your ears to make sure volume before and after plugin is the same. You can use a limiter like the L1 or RVOX plugin at the end of your chain to increase final volume of vocal if necessary.
I'm using Logic Pro X and for some reason, I'm clipping on the dbFS meter but I'm not going over 0 on the Waves VU meter. And I have headroom set to 18 :( This has only been a problem for one particular track. I have the VU Meter on the Stereo Out Bus and gain plugins on each of the tracks. When I solo this particular track and bring its gain level up so that the VU meter hits 0, then the dbFS meter clips. If I don't adjust the gain, the dbFS meter is fine but then the VU Meter is really low, around -20. Like I said, this hasn't been happening with any other tracks in the mix :(
I'd have to see your routing to help troubleshoot. My guess is that you probably have a plugin in your chain that is causing an increase in gain, or perhaps you are sending that track to an aux/bus which is leading to an increase in level. Lastly check your master bus and see if any plugins on that chain are causing the clipping. A good practice is to make sure the level going into your plugins, matches the level coming out of the plugin, unless your using the plugin specifically to get an increase in level or loudness.
A vocal performance is dynamic. You want to hover around -18dbfs (0VU). During louder parts you make peak around -4 or -6db like you mentioned, and during quieter parts you may be down noear -24db for example. You are looking to be around -18dbfs or 0VU during most of the performance with the understanding that there will be peaks and valleys. Just make sure you aren't clipping. I try to stay under -4db with peaks.
Theoretically you could do this on every single track and then adjust the levels after the plugin processing if you need the overall beat to be louder. Once you've mixed a few tracks you will be able to look at your meters and tell whether your signal is too hot or not without even needing to throw a VU meter on every single track. You really are just trying to give yourself optimal headroom going into plugins so you can avoid unwanted distortion. Another option is to run all instrument tracks to a bus and then apply this method to the instrumental bus. You can then adjust the gain of each individual track together as a group until you reach the desired VU meter level on your mixbus. Does that make sense? I would say it depends on how much processing you are going to be doing on the individual tracks and if any of the plugins you are using are emulating analog gear. Check the manuals for the plugins, I know some waves plugins tell you the optimal input level for using the plugin.
would you have to change the headroom on the VU meter to like 4-6 to get an accurate read for a normal mix cuz 18 DB of headroom on the VU meter seems like alot
Good question! The calibration of -18 db would be for input levels (for example your vocal recording level coming into your daw or going into your first plugin on a vocal chain. If you wanted to use this on the mixbus to get levels right before mastering you could calibrate it to -3db to -6db or whatever your preferred level is for the entire mix to be prior to inserting your mastering plugin chain. Make sense?
@@FlyGuyJ yes thank you! i was using it on the master chain to get a good overall level of the mix and at 18 everything had to be so low to not clip so i was so confused 1 more question if you dont mind when getting a track ready for vocals to record over the track should you use a limiter?
@@cpbballbeast if you are talking about putting the limiter on the beat itself, I would only do this for when you are trying to upload just an instrumental and have it compete and be as loud as other instrumentals (for example, if you were uploading instrumental to youtube). However, If you were to import the instrumental into a DAW to record vocals over, ideally, you'd want the instrumental that hasn't had any limiting done to it yet, you would wait to throw the limiter on the final mix which includes the beat and vocals
VU meters have a slow response time and are better for viewing the average signal level of your audio, where as Peak meters will show you the loudest transient level in your audio. VU meter is better for measuring average loudness of lets say a vocal that you are recording. A peak meter would be used to find the loudest part of your audio (make sure you aren't clipping, and identify how much head room you have left). The RMS meter is generally used for finding overall loudness.
The commercial track has already been mixed & Mastered with the overall loudness maximized. The technique im showing in this tutorial is for gain staging your audio files before you start mixing.
@@lofimajor7079 theoretically, it depends on what the stems consist of, and what you plan on doing with the stems... If you are going to be using certain plugins (especially those modeled after analog gear) then it would be best practice to set to -18 and then add plugins since those plugins perform best at that optimal level. However, in the digital realm you can get by with higher levels on your stems as long as you aren't clipping your audio coming out of the plugin and you are leaving enough headroom for mastering. Keep in mind you can always use a trim plugin before and/or after your plugin chain to adjust the gain staging
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Is waves VU meter sold calibrated to -18dbfs? Or do i have to calibrate it myself? Thanks for the info.
@@shaunblack3142 by default, it is calibrated to -18, but you can set it to whatever you like
@@FlyGuyJ Hi, nice to meet you I am Angelina....is this correct...would you gain stage to as close to zero vu as possible and around -6 VU for peaks? And should we still keep plug meter calibrated to -18dbfs because that equals 0 VU? Thanks for your help! Have a great day.
@@angelinagargano3940 Hi, I try to keep close to 0 VU and yes always calibrate to -18 since that = 0VU. if you were aiming for something other than 0 VU then you could calibrate it differently if you wanted to.
When mixing, everyone has there preferences as far as how much headroom to leave. Some are ok with their master peaking at -4, others -6, -8 etc...
As long as you are not clipping your audio when adding plugins you will be good to go! If you are sending it off to be mastered, check with the engineer to see how much headroom they would like.
@@FlyGuyJ thanks for taking the time to answer. My question. I have started this technique and seem to have a better response, more dynamic range and less distortion. Can't wait for your next video. Hope you a have a great day.
this is the best tutorial about gain staging I have till now thanks really I like the way you breaking all the steps
Thanks bruh! Glad you found it helpful! 💯
@@FlyGuyJ a lot for sure
MAN, I have watched countless gain staging videos and this is THE ONE. thank you!
Thats what's up! Glad to help!
Love your explanation..I have been using this in a wrong way for so long! Thank You!
Glad to help!
Another excellent video showing the differences between RMS and Peak metering and illustrating the critical importance of proper gain staging. I would highly recommend anyone who is interested in producing and mixing any genre of music, just starting out to get these basic fundamentals down pat right out the gate. It will save you potentially YEARS of bad sounding over modulated tracks. Trust me, I speak from experience. Start searching for "proper gain staging" and "RMS vs Peak metering" now and let this soak into your brain and never look back. Great video and clear explanation.
Facts!
This is the best gain staging tutorial man!
Glad you found it helpful!
That was the best tutorial on gain staging on working on it through the whole process of tracking that I’ve seen, great job.
🙏🙏🙏
An excellent, and articulate explanation of gain staging, and the use of relative plugins. Liked, and subscribed!
This was fire bro. I respect you work. You definitely taught me something new.
Thanks bro, glad I could help!
New sub, i’ve watched many videos on gain staging, this was the clearest.
💪 Thanks for the sub!
Man this info is gold and helped me on many levels. You just got another subscriber!
Thanks bruh, glad to help!
Best gain staging tutorial I've seen. Thanks for explaining outboard gear and plugins that emulate them.
Glad it was helpful!
thanks for the lesson. probably the best VU meter using lesson for my level :).
Wow, thanks! Glad you found it helpful!
Best gaining staging video I have seen so far on UA-cam!! love how you broke things down and made it so simple to understand.
Thanks bruh, I'm glad you found it clear and helpful!
This is one of the best explanations I've seen so far. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful! Thank you!
Clear, concise, “Outstanding!”
Thank you! Glad you found it helpful!
Love how you have the ability to explain gain staging & audio & modulation levels pre & post settings👍👍
Thanks, glad you found it helpful!
Well explained. Thanks
Thanks man, glad you found it helpful!
Thank you man. You explained this flawlessly without sounding like a nerd, as other do it. You're a very good teach. Keep it coming.
😂 THanks man! Glad you found it helpful!
Thank you for this wonderful and understandable tutorial. Perfectly explained and by far the best tutorial I have ever listened to. Thanks again.
Glad you found it helpful!
DUUUUUDE!!!!!!! You are AWESOME... My mixes sounded decent. They are WAYYYY better now. Thank you sir!!! Keep up the good work. You're a natural teacher.
That's what's up! Glad to hear you were able to apply this to your own mix and see results!
Ur tutorial is absolutely straightforward and concise.....thanks a lot ..
glad you found it helpful! Any other waves plugins you'd like a tutorial on?
Yh ozone 9 advance
This is the best tutorial about the gain staging all over youtube an blogs..
Thankyou so much..🙏
🙏 Thanks Anil! If you're interested... I'm putting together a paid training course which will be much more in depth and cover the entire mixing process. Would love to chat more with you about it. If this sounds like something you're interested in, reach out to me on Instagram @therealflyguyj and let's connect!
Excellent explanation of gain staging! Thanks!
Thanks for the feedback! Glad you found it helpful!
To eliminate the loudness deception there is a plugin called Perception AB. I bought it and use it on the Cubase DAW. Nothing crazy, it just allows you notice the finer mixing without the loudness deceiving you.
Thanks, I may have to look into that
accurate and very helpful, no rocket science, just applying these basic rules and the mixes will reach a professional level - thx!
Yes sir! Half the battle is gain staging, levels, and panning!
Thank you! Keep these great videos coming!
Thanks, def gotta get some new ones uploaded!
Good one. A nice and appropriate description of the gain staging necessity. Mixes today are seen with no head rooms and sounds woofy too. Proper gain staging may put some life and allows the mix breathe easy.
Definitely!
Well done my friend! Great explanation and presentation. Just the right specifics to learn about leveling, meters and gain staging. I've been struggling with this part of mixing for a long time! But, not any more, thanks to you!
Yeah it can be difficult to understand at first. A common mistake is thinking you can just lower the channel fader! Glad you found it helpful!
One of the best videos on this -- thank you so much!
Thanks Frank, glad you found it helpful!
Fantastic tutorial, helped me get my head round VU metering after watching others you nailed it for me, thank you 🙏
Thats great man! Glad I was able to help you out!
You resolve my problem, which i work on for one week.. Thanks!
thats whats up. Glad I could help
This is the best video on this matter that I have seen
Thanks
Thanks, glad you found it helpful!
Good job explaining the use of the plugin. I just got the vu metering plugin recently but was confused on the calibration part. I'll surely implement this on my next mix. I have a feeling it was the missing link to correcting a lot of issues with my mixes. Thanks fam!
Happy mixing bruh! 💪
Absolutely helpful buddy. cheers
Glad to hear it!
This was super helpful! Thank you for sharing !
Glad you found it helpful!
Your explanations are clear, detailed, and understandable. Whole channel is on point! Thanks!
Thank you! Glad you find the channel helpful!
Great video FGJ. Big love from the UK
Thanks for stopping by! Keep grinding!
Thank you so much bro! This video really helped me with gain staging. It's the subtle things like this. Super important foundation of a mix. You got my thumbs up!
Glad you found it helpful bruh! Any other mixing techniques you are interested in learning more about?
Very helpful. Thank you for laying this out in clear detail!!
You're welcome. Glad to help!
it's a very informative tutorials. Much appreciated dude!
You're welcome, glad you are finding them helpful!
thank you sir! very helpful, and easy to understand! Subscribed!
Thanks for the sub!
Very informative and patiently explained everything in noob terms. Thank you. Please make one for mixing and/or mastering.
Glad it was helpful! Im working on a mixing course!
Ur more than amazing u just got another subscriber👌👌😍
Thank bruh!
Thanks bro, I'm tracking at home and sending stems. Hopefully this will open the door to being a self made producer
Best of luck!
Nice video man!!. Thx
so much from Spain
You're welcome!
Totally brilliant info, thank you!
Thanks, Glad it was helpful!
Very cool explained! Thank you. The only thing I don't understand is how to calibrate the VU meter? -18 db seems too small, can I set it to -12 db? It seems that for the master channel and for individual tracks you need to calibrate differently
you can calibrate it to -12 if that is what level you are aiming for, I use -18 mostly for tracking vocals and individual sounds before they hit analog plugins. I usually try to leave about 4-6 db of headroom of my overall mix before sending to mastering
Great video!! very clear and practical
glad you found it helpful!
Hello Sr,thank you for this explanation !!!!! Hey I may need some help,are you able to do that for me ? I am stuck in my Mix Sound.THX !!!
How can I help you?
THIS JUST HELPED ME ON SOOO MANY LEVELS!
That's what's up. Glad to help!
Really clear and well explained.
Thank you sir
You are welcome
Great video and explanation! Everyone should know this.
Agreed!
During mixing, you think the meters should be at the start or end of the chain (as in, before or after plugins on individual tracks-so, not the master buss)?
Honestly, you should be checking meters throughout the entire process and depending on what you are checking, you will use a different meter at a different point in the chain. While tracking vocals you should check VU meter on the input signal, when checking stems or a full mix you should have the VU meter on the bus and check mix, when mastering you should be looking at peak level, RMS and/or LUFS. Could go alot more in depth on this, but hopefully you get the gist of what I'm saying...
@@FlyGuyJ great advice, thank you!
3:10 "human hears ears"😂😂 love your videos man. Sufficiently elaborated
LOL, thansk bruh!
good info
Glad you found it helpful!
Sooo helpful man. Thank u big time.
Welcome!
thx dude!... i just learned something i didn't know before even though iv'e been mixing and recording for many years :D
You're welcome bro, thats whats up! There's always something new to learn!
Well narrated and on point plus! peak meter!! other videos don't mention Big Shout Out L8 TOXTETH LIVERPOOL
Thanks, glad you found it helpful!
So incredibly helpful. THANK YOU.
You're welcome! Glad to help!
When you found someone that can add to your music career you Subscribed
Thanks for the sub, glad you are finding it helpful. What other plugins or techniques are you interested in learning more about?
Really nice!
Thank you for the vídeo!
Wondering why thise VUs and other meters have more then -18db calibration like -12db and stuff.
I've saw some saying that they use -12db for gain staging and that's ok.
As long as you aren't peaking and distorting, you would be fine if mixing in the box. However, some plugins are designed to work best when the incoming signal falls within a certain range. For example, emulations of analog plugins. Also, some people send signal from pro tools out to hardware and then back into pro tools after processing it through their own analog gear. They may have a different preference for what level they want the starting signal in their chain.
@@FlyGuyJ yep!
That's why I keep my default tracks with a channel trimestre at -12dB...
Hi Fly Guy J, thanks for this tutorial. Very helpful. that moment around 6:00-6:40 when you gave a practical example as to why lowering the fader wont give you more head room is gold!! you should deff take that clip and post it on your ig and twitter too! Thanks for sharing your wisdom fam. Appreciate it. Just hit that Sub button!
Yessir! I might just do that! Thanks for the suggestion
WOW thank u so much Sir! 👏👏 SO helpful!
You're welcome, glad it was helpful!
I appreciate da game brother!!!! 🙏🏾💯💯💯
No doubt! Glad to help!
Amazing tutorial! 🤘🏽
Glad you liked it!
Thumbs up! I finally understand how to gain stage my mastered MP3 beats using a VU meter by watching this video. Now that I get my beat file gain settings set to OVU on the VU meter which is -18dBFS in Pro Tools .. its time for vocal gain staging. Please correct me if IM wrong! Did you said add a mono VU meter as the first insert on my vocal track and as the singer sings I should watch the VU meter making sure the vocal level is hitting 0VU on the VU meter? Thank you!
Yes I am for 0 VU when recording vocals, however, you don't have to insert one on every track, just make sure you are in the ballpark initially and you should be good to go.
Great video thank you. So can you just level mix your songs without this and use this method for mastering your song
You should be gain staging at every step of the process. First and foremost, make sure your recording levels are good going into your DAW, make sure your levels are good going into your plugins, coming out of your plugins, and make sure your levels are good (headroom) prior to mastering
@@FlyGuyJ thank you so much. So when you say going in and coming out. How do you do that
@@kaveka333 I explained how to check your levels going in to the plugin in this video (aim for 0VU); as far as going out, most plugins have a knob or other control where you can decrease the gain or output of the signal after it is processed by the plugin. Always gain match (make sure the level is equal before and after) unless you are using a plugin specifically to increase gain or volume of your track.
I hope that makes sense
@@FlyGuyJ it does and thank you 🙏 again for your time. I use mpc softer ware. Would you say pro tools is much better
@@kaveka333 I'm not familiar with the MPC software, but I know that many people love MPC for music production, I would recommend pro tools for recording, mixing, mastering vocals.
Where do you place the VU meter on a plugin chain? At the top or at the bottom of the chain???
And should you place a VU meter on all tracks or just the master track?
Top if you are trying to measure signal coming into the chain, bottom if you are trying to measure signal leaving the chain, individual if you want to check level of an individual track, master track if you want to see where the entire mix is sitting. All depends on what you are trying to accomplish
@@FlyGuyJ
Ah okay bruh I appreciate you
Good look!
@@tri-unetrl3966 no doubt
Bro can you make a video on vocal tracking with Rverb or Hverb on? Preferably one for singing and one for rap coz first of all my reverb skills suck. end up hating my vocals and i dont really know how reverb really works
Sure thing!
Great explanation!
Thank you! Glad you found it helpful!
information is power .... thank you
💯
Thanks 2:24. HAHAHAH. I was like.. Yo I just limited this video's audio, and it's over 0dB!!!! How can that be LOLOLOLOL. Thanks man.
What if you have 4 plugins in your chain? Do you put a trim meter after each plugin? Or set trim meter at bottom of plugin chain?
I would have trim plugin at the top of the chain, followed by the VU meter. Then whatever 4 plugins you are using. You use the trim plugin to decrease or increase the gain as needed for gain staging purposes. Once the level coming into the first plugin is set to a healthy level then you should just "level match" the audio before and after each plugin. Unless the plugin is being used specifically to raise the level of the audio. Hope that makes sense!
Haven’t even seen it all yet but commented to show love.
Appreciate the love!
@@FlyGuyJ np
Keep making the vids, man! Just subscribed cuz you're easy to follow
Thanks Alex, appreciate the feedback! More on the way!
so basically gain staging is for a beat? and once you dont clip it would we say its a guide also for the vocals to have high chances to not clip the mixing if you getting everything right?
No, gain staging should be done on vocals too. Gain staging should be done at your preamp also when you track vocals. If you record your vocals so that they are averaging around 0 VU (-18db) then you will have a vocal that is not too quiet (risk of raising the noise floor later when you raise the gain of your vocals), and not too loud (risk of peaking and distorting your vocal). Also, if your vocals are gain staged correctly then they will be entering any plugins you use at the optimal level.
It's always convenient to have a Vu meter before and after all the effects?
Definitely before just to make sure your initial gain staging is correct, you can level match before and after the plugin by ear by simply bypassing the plugin on and off and making sure the volume is about the same. You may want to use a VU meter to adjust gain on you final mix bus before using mastering plugins as well.
i've got a question about this...
you say that we should always mantain the same level of a signal...
but le'ts say for example that I trow in a compressor... I sould "never?" touch the gain? And always make sure that the db of the in and out signal is the same?
It's best practice to make sure you at least listen to the before and after at equal volume so that you can get a true representation of what the compressor is doing to your audio. When things are louder, they naturally sound better to us, so loudness can give us a false sense of quality. Once you are happy with what the compressor is doing, feel free to increase the gain to your liking!
great tutorial fly guy
Glad you enjoyed it
Hey bro thank sooo much but I got a quick question please do both my vocals and my beat has to be set at the same db level ? 18 or different db for each ?? Please help
I usually clip gain the beat down -8 or -10 db to make room for the vocals when recording, I use the VU meter to gain stage the vocals being recorded
this is important if you send the mix to the mastering engineer for later processing but if you are doing the mastering yourself on the output channel the most important thing is that the whole final process has no clipping, am I right?
Honestly, gain staging should be kept in check during each step of the process (recording, mixing, mastering)
The most important thing is to make sure you are not clipping, but honestly, some of the plugins that you use are designed to perform best when the incoming signal is at a certain range. It's best practice to keep your eye on your gain levels throughout the entire process. You don't have to be meticulous with it, but keeping things in the healthy range will result in a better mix at the end
Awesome my friend, although i produce psytrance music this video is the most helpful about gain and volume until now Congratulations.
That's awesome, I'm glad you found it helpful. Many others have been sharing similar thoughts. Gain staging can be confusing at first!
Yeah, pretty clear tutorial. good!
Thanks, glad you found it helpful!
If your using a trim meter underneath plugin should you still have a VU meter at the top of the plug-in chain on every track including master track? When you say set it at -18 db so you mean literally set the view meter to -18 DB inside the meter itself? Or do you play the track and watch the needle and turn it up the volume or down the volume to get the needle towards zero in the view meter? Thanks
If you are trying to make sure the incoming signal (start of your chain) is gain staged properly I would put a trim plugin first, then the vu meter. That way you can use the trim meter to adjust the level of the incoming signal and have the vocal gain staged first before any processing. I am looking for the vocal to hover around 0 on the VU meter. Vocals are dynamic, so sometimes it will be above, sometimes it will be below. Once the incoming signal is staged correctly, you dont need to use the vu meter again on the individual track, you can move it to the master bus and measure level of total mix. Just use your ears to make sure volume before and after plugin is the same. You can use a limiter like the L1 or RVOX plugin at the end of your chain to increase final volume of vocal if necessary.
Great video. Great explanation
Thank you! Glad you found it helpful!
Yes, and thank you very much.
Welcome!
Thanks sir! Very helpful. Liked and subbed.
Glad to help! Thanks for the support!
Great explanation thanks
Welcome!
I'm using Logic Pro X and for some reason, I'm clipping on the dbFS meter but I'm not going over 0 on the Waves VU meter. And I have headroom set to 18 :(
This has only been a problem for one particular track. I have the VU Meter on the Stereo Out Bus and gain plugins on each of the tracks. When I solo this particular track and bring its gain level up so that the VU meter hits 0, then the dbFS meter clips. If I don't adjust the gain, the dbFS meter is fine but then the VU Meter is really low, around -20. Like I said, this hasn't been happening with any other tracks in the mix :(
I'd have to see your routing to help troubleshoot. My guess is that you probably have a plugin in your chain that is causing an increase in gain, or perhaps you are sending that track to an aux/bus which is leading to an increase in level. Lastly check your master bus and see if any plugins on that chain are causing the clipping. A good practice is to make sure the level going into your plugins, matches the level coming out of the plugin, unless your using the plugin specifically to get an increase in level or loudness.
GREAT VIDEO!!!
Thanks, glad you found it helpful!
Sir may I ask? when you refer to -18 dBFS; do you mean -18dBFS RMS or -18dBFS PEAK? As I see the peaks you speak of hitting -6 dBFS PEAK
A vocal performance is dynamic. You want to hover around -18dbfs (0VU). During louder parts you make peak around -4 or -6db like you mentioned, and during quieter parts you may be down noear -24db for example. You are looking to be around -18dbfs or 0VU during most of the performance with the understanding that there will be peaks and valleys. Just make sure you aren't clipping. I try to stay under -4db with peaks.
Thank you for the intelligible explanation.
You're welcome. Glad to help!
If it’s not a 2 track what should I do? Go to every single instrument and adjust the volume to 0?
Theoretically you could do this on every single track and then adjust the levels after the plugin processing if you need the overall beat to be louder. Once you've mixed a few tracks you will be able to look at your meters and tell whether your signal is too hot or not without even needing to throw a VU meter on every single track. You really are just trying to give yourself optimal headroom going into plugins so you can avoid unwanted distortion.
Another option is to run all instrument tracks to a bus and then apply this method to the instrumental bus. You can then adjust the gain of each individual track together as a group until you reach the desired VU meter level on your mixbus. Does that make sense? I would say it depends on how much processing you are going to be doing on the individual tracks and if any of the plugins you are using are emulating analog gear. Check the manuals for the plugins, I know some waves plugins tell you the optimal input level for using the plugin.
This video classical thanks brother💪🏿
Welcome! Glad you found it helpful ! 💪
great explanation and examples. thanks man!
Welcome!
would you have to change the headroom on the VU meter to like 4-6 to get an accurate read for a normal mix cuz 18 DB of headroom on the VU meter seems like alot
Good question! The calibration of -18 db would be for input levels (for example your vocal recording level coming into your daw or going into your first plugin on a vocal chain.
If you wanted to use this on the mixbus to get levels right before mastering you could calibrate it to -3db to -6db or whatever your preferred level is for the entire mix to be prior to inserting your mastering plugin chain.
Make sense?
@@FlyGuyJ yes thank you! i was using it on the master chain to get a good overall level of the mix and at 18 everything had to be so low to not clip so i was so confused 1 more question if you dont mind when getting a track ready for vocals to record over the track should you use a limiter?
@@cpbballbeast if you are talking about putting the limiter on the beat itself, I would only do this for when you are trying to upload just an instrumental and have it compete and be as loud as other instrumentals (for example, if you were uploading instrumental to youtube). However, If you were to import the instrumental into a DAW to record vocals over, ideally, you'd want the instrumental that hasn't had any limiting done to it yet, you would wait to throw the limiter on the final mix which includes the beat and vocals
@@FlyGuyJ appreciate it 💯 have a great day!
I'm a noob, but what advantage are VU meters over LUFS meters, or even RMS/Peak meters?
VU meters have a slow response time and are better for viewing the average signal level of your audio, where as Peak meters will show you the loudest transient level in your audio. VU meter is better for measuring average loudness of lets say a vocal that you are recording. A peak meter would be used to find the loudest part of your audio (make sure you aren't clipping, and identify how much head room you have left). The RMS meter is generally used for finding overall loudness.
@@FlyGuyJ
Cheers, brotha.
@@Flashback_Jack 😎
Question! How come when I load up a commercial track is blasting past the VU meter into the red unless the VU meter is set on zero?
The commercial track has already been mixed & Mastered with the overall loudness maximized. The technique im showing in this tutorial is for gain staging your audio files before you start mixing.
@@FlyGuyJ Okay what about each stem before you start mixing? I place a VU meter on each stem.....should I set it too -18 or something else?
@@lofimajor7079 theoretically, it depends on what the stems consist of, and what you plan on doing with the stems... If you are going to be using certain plugins (especially those modeled after analog gear) then it would be best practice to set to -18 and then add plugins since those plugins perform best at that optimal level. However, in the digital realm you can get by with higher levels on your stems as long as you aren't clipping your audio coming out of the plugin and you are leaving enough headroom for mastering. Keep in mind you can always use a trim plugin before and/or after your plugin chain to adjust the gain staging
where can i get that peak meter
The peak meters are part of the Waves PAZ Meters plugin: waves.alzt.net/GjjrG6