Mixing Basics: What is GAIN STAGING
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- Опубліковано 9 сер 2023
- Next up in our “audio basic” series: what is gain and gain staging??
I’ve you’ve got a question about gain staging, drop it in the comments below and don’t forget to check out www.SoundGuyEssentials.com (link in bio) to get into the #1 online training for church audio!
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❤ help full video
It happened to me more than once that i had set the gain with a singer/microphone during the sound check, and when the band was live the singer would be much louder, resulting in having to gain the signal lower while playing live.
Not ideal.
Any tips?
it interests me too
At my church I often tell the band and singers to play the song with the most energy during rehearsal or sound check, to simulate the live act and set the gain that way. But sometimes even with this method there are differences when it comes to the real live act.
Tricky situation to deal with for sure because gain changes affect the in-ears/live monitors as well (usually).
If your board has a digital trim separate from the gain, adjust your gain down while adjusting your digital trim up. This will fix the issue described without changing volume in the house and without changing ear levels.
However, if your board does not have a digital trim, you simply have to turn to gain them down to just under the point of peaking and turn the fader up.
Then, speak with your worship leader afterwards and explain what happened. More often than not, the band/singers will start listening to you if you’re having to turn down their gain and affect their ears mix right in the middle of worship.
At the end of the day, you have to answer to the pastor and if have a mic that is clipping, that pressure will come down on you and that critique will likely never get back to that singer or band member.
What do you mean by “noise” at low gain? Why would a signal that’s too “soft” produce more noise?
It is helpful to distinguish between gain and gain structure. You can have the same total gain through a channel strip, and therefore the same perceived loudness in the room, but the distribution of gain between the preamp and the channel fader can be badly chosen. If you have have too much preamp gain your attempts to balance the volume correctly will have you push the channel fader too low. This is bad gain structure, putting you in danger of clipping, but will not make you more prone to feedback, since feedback depends on the total loop gain, which your ears will guide you to keep relatively constant. On the other hand, too little preamp gain will likely be compensated by the user pushing the channel fader above 0dB, which is also bad gain structure, making it difficult for compressors to be utilized well and making it harder for monitor mixes that share the same preamps to be well balanced. In analog mixers, compensating inadequate preamp gain by pushing the channel fader up could often made the noise of the channel strip’s analog electronics audible. Suffice to say, whether you’re mixing on an analog or digital console, setting the preamp gain as described in this video saves you from facing a bunch of unnecessary problems. It’s too easy to rush past this mundane, but vital task in a time-pressured sound check.
With all due respect to the first person who responded, they weren’t quite right. Gain is just apart of the “gain structure” topic and isn’t helpful to mention when answering your question.
Digital mixers rely on getting your gain set right so that you have the cleanest analog to digital conversion possible. Also, when your gain is set right with your fader at -0db. You also now have the most finite control over your mix when your faders are in that position.
In the analog console days, it was important to set your gain high enough again for the cleanest sound you can.
In simplest terms, Every mic will produce a signal that intermingled with the nasty hiss in your electronics chain. Your goal with gain is to get the highest signal with the lowest noise. That’s made easier nowadays with the digital console and its digital trim knob on each channel.