Gain Staging Explained - 3 things you need to know - Warren Huart: Produce Like A Pro
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- Опубліковано 12 чер 2024
- Here are 3 things you need to know about gain staging.
1. You don't have to print hot - 2:08
2. Don't clip your tracks - 3:05
3. Keep your faders at unity - 4:16
Gain staging is a very hotly debated topic around the internet!
When getting started in music, gain staging meant something completely differently than it does now. In Ye Olden Days we were concerned with signal to noise ratio and tape hiss. We were always trying to print a signal that was super hot so that we would be well above the noise floor of the console and the tape machine's hiss.
Later, when first switching to digital recording one of the pervasive theories was that you needed to have a hot signal because printing a quiet signal would produce a degradation in what was being recorded and converted into a digital audio file. Whether that is true or not really doesn't matter these days because modern convertors are more than capable of accurately reproducing the source that is being recorded! You also don't need to record a super hot signal, just a clean healthy signal that is above the noise floor! This brings us to our first tip.
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Hi Friends, Gain staging is a very hotly debated topic around the internet! When I first got started in music, gain staging meant something completely differently than it does now. In Ye Olden Days (only a few years ago!) we were concerned with signal to noise ratio and tape hiss. We were always trying to print a signal that was super hot so that we would be well above the noise floor of the console and the tape machine's hiss. Today in the Digital world we don't face those issues in the ways we used to! I hope you enjoy the video and thank you for the great discussion!!
Wonderful information Warren!!
Thanks Apple!! Have a marvellous New Year!
Exactly!!!
i have a mixing Question when you gain stage are you turning you track faders down to lets say 10 1st the 2and turn your audio steams of those tracks down to -12db and your master fader at -6db before you put any plugins on? thank u and stay safe
@@GILLISH don't ever touch the master fader..keep it at 0.
For some reason, even though I've been mixing for a few years, I always treat myself as a beginner and listen to diffrent pieces of advice. Gain staging is no exception! There's always room for improvement. Always like hearing what you have to say, thanks a lot Warren!
That is amazing and means you will always learn something! I subscribe to exactly the same thing myself!! There's a lot of experts out there telling us we are wrong! I LOVE learning! You Rock my friend!
One thing I learned over the years is in the worst case scenario you can listen to an idiot teach you something and you at least learned what NOT to do! I agree..always listen to everyone and you will keep learning.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate the work you do and the information you share.
Love this Warren! Simple yet needed! Thanks for all you do!
Thanks ever so much Jerel!! Have a marvellous 2018!!
Oh wow. Probably the best simplest video on gainstaging I’ve watched and it just came up as a suggestion after me watching loads of them two weeks ago and still being baffled. Feeling a lot more confident about this “when you’re recording just watch your master bus/give yourself loads of headroom” ...So simple, thank you mate you’ve unpickled my head
What has occurred to me about the knowledge you pass along; is that you have the advantage of doing it the old way & the new so it provides a unique perspective that cannot be gained by only mixing 1 way!!!🙏🙏🙏
Great video!! Very informative! Being self taught, to me these videos are priceless! I'm learning something new with every video! My mixing has gone to a whole new level and much better! Thanks for doing these videos Warren. I hope you are having a marvellous day too!
Thanks ever so much Joseph!! Have a marvellous 2018!! You rock!!
Great information! As always it's a pleasure watching and listening to your advice. You are so passionate with lots of energy which makes learning from you a blast. Thank you for your time to post this video
Great as usual. God bless you for all the free info you are giving.
Aw shucks thanks ever so much!! Have a marvellous 2018 MrGuitarist9891!
Lot's of great wisdom in Warren Huart's videos -- just found this little gem from a few years ago and it's spot on with what I needed to hear.
As always Warren is the best at helping all levels understand the art of modern day recording techniques💯
Thank you so much Warren for the tip .Yes from the school of tape.All your videos very helpful .Have a great day. Cheers!
You're very welcome!! Have a marvellous 2018
Thanks Warren, this is definitely one of the better explanations ive come across to understanding this process.
Wow I love the new style of video editing! Great as always, Warren!
Thanks so much Scott! We have a lot of great stuff planned for this new year! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing.
This is what i needed! Been watching several videos about this subject and they are all to long and complicated things! Thank you for sharing!
Amin Ostovari you’re very welcome my friend!!
This might be a concept that is a little beyond a beginners experience but should be discussed. Turning down the signal that is too hot is entirely right however the signal is best turned down pre fader via a gain plugin rather than the fader itself. Turning down a hot signal from the fader doesn't lower the signal strength, it lowers the output volume of the signal. For example if your fader is clipping and you turn the signal down at the fader you are still left with a clipping track, just quieter. This is something that cleaned up my mixes dramatically once I understood the concept and would love to hear thoughts on the tactic.
Hi Patrick, thanks for the great comment! Yes if it signal is clipping at 0db then definitely turn it down! My advice is based on the fader sending heavily compressed signals to the master bus and distorting it there! But yes, I specifically remember that technique being used a lot by both Dave Jerden and Bryan Carlstrom before 32 bit floating, the sound going into the SSL was quite noticeably different when controlled as you suggested! Have a marvellous 2018!
that is absolutely true.
Extremely helpful info presented supremely well!
Thank you ever so much Darlene!! Have a marvellous New Year!
Great stuff! I feel like this is usually the first thing you need to worry about but most people overlook it especially in live settings. Love the quick simple steps of getting a better sound! Excited for 2018! Thanks
Thanks ever so much Andrew for your great comment! Have a marvellous 2018 Andrew!
The most best explanation on the subject!
These are such basic principles, but so important. Great job Warren. some of your older videos are really great (new ones too). Thank you mate.
yep. still learning more here than I did in school. ty sir
This was needed info for me . Thanks.
Great! Thanks ever so much! So glad to be able to help!! Have a marvellous 2018!
Great content as usual...have a beautiful day!
Have a beautiful day as well, have a marvellous time recording and mixing!
Thank you for making this. Watched alot of videos where people are trying to explain this like rocket science. Thanks for explaining it way simpler and better to understand.
best practical advice on gain staging
it sounds obvious but some of us, mainly me, take ten years more than others to understand basic stuff, and i'm thankfull i stumble upon this video, because i was making SO much mistakes and didn't even realize how simple the fix was! THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!
legend. subscribed for sure . always great to hear from a professional who has worked with 90s tape recorders. thank you for information
Many thanks for this! As someone who is hoping to get back into home recording for the first time in about 15 years, there were some seriously valuable information in here.
Thanks Warren, i heard so much crazy stuff about something so straight foward...
OMG, this was so helpful! I too grew up long ago and had this signal-to-noise ratio hard-coded in my music DNA. I never even considered that this was due to tape hiss. Glad to stumble on this.
Great vid. Lots o useful info. I would consider using clip gain to reduce volume if things are too hot instead of faders so that you aren't slamming your plug ins causing them to distort.
Absolutely Peter! Great comment!! Have a marvellous 2018
i love your channel :) it is simply helpful ... everytime
Thank you ever so much Lecker! I am so glad to be able to help!!
Those “obvious” suggestions are all ones i am guilty of doing. Thanks so much for this explanation of process and intention! Big help.
Great video! well presented and concise! I hope to see more of these quick informational videos from your channel.
Thank you both Worship Music Wednesday! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing.
Thanks ever so much Rage By Nightfall for the wonderful comment!! You Rock!
Never disappoints...I like the way Warren delivers the info. I've been a clip gain guy since it was implemented in Logic. I leave the faders set at unity as long as I can...for last minute finer level tuning...is it micro mixing? ..I'm pretty loose with the terminology...anyway it's another great video.
Thank you for the video Warren! Love
Marvellous!! Thank you ever so much Siane!!
I LOVE this new intro... It's so Pro!
Haha thanks ever so much Dave!!
Hi Warren, I'm doing marvelous, thank you! First of all: great and useful video about gain staging. You make these video's very understandable and simple. That's the way it should be. And second: I have great respect for your skills about music producing. I've signed up to your site a while ago. And I follow this UA-cam channel. I'm looking forward to see a new and great video from you! Have a fantastic day! Friendly regards, Emiel
Wow! - This is great! I've been wondering about gain staging lately after watching a few videos! I like how you included the stats in the pop outs on the side!
I'm glad you both liked it and found it helpful. We have a lot more content like this planned for this year! Thanks ever so much for your insight!
What email address would it be from Rage By Nightfall? I get 400-500 emails a day! God bless it!
Ok, will do later! Thanks Rage By Nightfall!
Great Video thank you ... I like your monitoring system
Thank you much God bless your work
Thanks very much!
Hey Warren! I’ve been busy the last couple of months (new place and stuff), so i haven’t seen much of your new videos lately. But may i say it is looking sleek, sir! :) Thank you so much for your awesome content and your sharing of experience! All the best and have a wonderful day! :)
Greetings from Holland,
Nick
Hi Henk, greetings in the Netherlands! I love it over there! I have family there, beautiful country fall of super smart people creating great music!! Thanks for the wonderful comment!
You and Rick are the best : ) Thank you for super advice : )
Your voice sounds more warm and transparent than usual .... Marv!
It's actually more compressed.
Nicholas Dentato - i can hear the CLA 76 Blue on the voice. And the Scheps 73 eq boosted at 12 k
Is it? I'm not sure! You might be right! Haha
Haha nice!! You must have golden ears creative media!! Have a marvellous new year!
Produce Like A Pro 😂 Marvelous indeed!
amazing video warren !!
Thanks Apple! You Rock! Have a marvellous New Year!
Great explanation
You really are great, Warren.Thank you for your time and talent !
Wow! Thanks ever so much
Wow! Thanks ever so much
Thanks Warren great advice.
Thanks Warren!
Thank you Audrey!! Have a marvellous New Year!
Thanks for that.
Thank you. This was a good one!
Thanks ever so much David!!
I needed this advice on my last project! Now to apply it on the next ones!
Thanks ever so much Edmi! So glad to be able to help!
This is gold. Thank you!
Thanks ever so much
Digging the new intro music Warren... If you ever want some SRV / Albert King style riffs over the top... drop me a line :-)... It's funny, I just saw a video in my feeds the other day from Graham on gain staging as well. I never realised it was that big of an issue for people. However, for anyone out there that doesn't already use it, waves came out with a really nice, extremely light weight VU meter that you can throw on each channel and your stereo buss etc... that will give you a much better visual reference. Leave the VU set to stock (-18dbfs) and then use 0db to +3db on your VU meter like we did back in the day of tape... that way you'll always be in the general area... and your vintage plug-ins will love you for it! Keep up the great work Warren! Cheers!!!
HI Danny, thanks for the wonderful tip! Glad you name checked Stevie and Albert King! Great references!! Have a marvellous 2018 Danny!
Lot of thanks, Mr. warren
Super, thank you!!
Great! Love your videos!
Thank you ever so much!!
Great vid... One of my my solution i used to get an a nice polish sound here at home. Is when i am happy with the song and the way it sounds , I will compressed to a wave as a finished product......... Then i reload it back into my daw and duplicate the track ....Locked them together and turn down to 20 and turn one to right side and one to left .... Then start compressing it up ...You be surprise how full and solid it will be.... And i accidentally discovered this and have been using this method ever since... Daws are all the same you just got to learn how to master the one u used .... Just wanted to share not saying this is right but I have come up with some awesome mixes doing this...Happy mixing its a learning process for sure takes time ...
I believe in you because you've lived 80's and have much experience.. Glad you are still doin the thang.. 😳✌
Nice intro and outro music Warren!!!!
Thanks ever so much!! Have a marvellous New Year!
Thanks for the tips Warren!
Btw, nice to see that you're now compressing your voice, in the past it was hard to hear some words.
Ok great! Thanks! That's not my doing, that's Matt who edited this! I'll let him know! Have a marvellous New Year!
Excellent video! I believe we just talked about tape and noise floor. I remember recording to reel to reel four track tape in the early 80's. I've too have been guilty of cooking the master bus in the digital realm ALL thru the late 90's and some of the early 2000's. Thanks to you, and a few others, my mix game has really come up! Well past what I ever expected! Thank you very much Warren!
Hi Tisbonus, agreed! I hear you loud and clear! There has to be common sense when applying a lot of these ideas! So glad your mixing has been improving!
I sooo appreciate this subject.....I need to improve gain staging, pre mix on my songs...I will watch this 73!! times...:) :)
Thanks ever so much Patrik!! You Rock!
I needed this RIGHT NOW! :D
Yeah Warren has some great ideas and understands the big picture!
I asked you on facebook a few months ago to try to make a gain staging video, THANK YOU!! :D
You're quite welcome! I'm glad you found it helpful! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing!
I think this is confirmation, I’m still learning loads, but I felt this is exactly what I needed to know 2 years ago when I started. I’m also wondering whether you’re gonna debunk some master bus plug-in overload habits in the near future?...
Thanks BAT HEAVY! Haha maybe?? Have a marvellous New Year!
Great info!
I was hoping to hear a little about if you use any meters before your plugins to see how hot you are going into them. I’ve read a lot about how -18 is the sweet spot for most plugins to “behave” as designed. Thanks for all the great vids. I finally finished my first mix of an original and used many of the things I’ve learned from you. It sounds great.
Good stuff Warren.
Great vid
Thanks ever so much
Thanks so much, you are like yoda, a real master of this art
Wow thanks Felipe! That is very kind of you my friend!!
Gain staging is an essential concept to understand. With contemporary digital audio recording and mixing, it's fairly straightforward, and this video addresses it beautifully. Understanding gain staging in the analog world (say a guitar into a tube amp with a few gain pedals before that), can become more complex and I have a hard time explaining it to my fellow guitar players who struggle with their tone and their levels in a live context... Maybe a topic for another video? Anyway, great video. Thanks Warren!
Hi noisesoundtonevibe, thanks ever so much for your wonderful comment! I really appreciate you joining in with the conversation and adding great advice! Yes, getting great guitar tones is a wonderful subject! I hope you're having a marvellous New Year my friend!
Been in an educational lull. This gets straight to the point: make full use of headroom and, my takeaway, save final levels for mastering.
Thanks ever so much! Truly Marvellous!!
The 2017 uploads were all over the map. I tried them all. Learned that those hot ones clip on different playback situations. The -3s sound good, a bit raspy on cheaper TVs. The -6s can be cranked. I like -6 because you can push the playback most everywhere and it sounds better on the worst of situations. The second part of my learning's was low end information and how much of that disappears situationally. I had to adjust my ears to hear more mids and try to pronounce those specifically. Most of that, Warren was doing videos and I would listen deep to his words when he would be studio touring and discussing gear usage. I have yet to succeed, but I think I am better prepared to listen.
Thanks for the sight! Yes, it remains to be seen where we end up! Speaking to Gavin Lurssen (who has been in many meetings regarding this) there doesn't seem to be an agreed upon standard! Let's hope the power that be come to healthy consensus!
Great guy!
Thanks again Warren for a brilliant video! I really appreciate you giving so much info for free on youtube, it's more than some of the paid courses i've bought... Now to wait until I can afford your premium stuff aswell!
Thanks ever so much Allu!! Have a marvellous New Year! So glad to be able to help!!
Great video as usual...!!!
Thank you ever so much!!
Yes! The Dennis Dunaway book in the back!
I've been really relying on my digital vu meter here lately and it has helped me out tremendously
That's great to hear!! Have a marvellous New Year!
Produce Like A Pro Thanks man, you too!
Excellent thanks for being a great part of our community Ryan!
Great video, mate! :D
3:49 Thank you for saying this. A lot of the gatekeeping elitists out there will vehemently berate digital at every turn and say that it isn't "real" unless it's all vintage and all analogue.I have one bit of outboard gear, but apart from that I mix in the box, so it's refreshing to hear someone who worked in the vintage era praise digital.
Not to imply that you've misspoken, but I just wanted to clarify the difference between 32-bit and 24-bit as they're colloquially referred to in the recording industry.
"32-bit" is not technically any higher precision than "24-bit" with respect to sample resolution because there's a difference in how samples are represented between the two formats. A "32-bit" sample is represented as an IEEE floating point number whereas a "24-bit" (and "16-bit" and "8-bit") sample is represented as a signed integer.
A 24-bit signed integer uses 23 bits to represent an integer value with an extra bit used to indicate sign, positive or negative. We treat this value as having the range -(2^23)..(2^23)-1.
A 32-bit floating point number uses 23 bits to represent an integer value (multiplied by 2^-23) while 8 bits encode an exponent that the value is raised to and finally a sign bit for positive or negative (23+8+1=32). You still only get 23 bits of sample resolution; the other 8 bits are there to allow representation of samples outside of the -1..1 range so that they do not have to be digitally clipped as in the 24-bit signed integer case.
The bottom line is that it's just a change in representation of samples and doesn't offer additional sample resolution. The benefit of 32-bit floating point is to allow the *representation* of samples outside of the normal -1..1 range. Representation space is increased, resolution is not.
Thanks ever so much for that amazing insight and clarification! I really appreciate it! It's great to have wonderful people like you who can help educate us! Have a marvellous 2018 Jim!!
Thanks. That was amazing.
Hello Warren thanks again for another awesome video! have you considered making a tutorial on how to use bus send returns for using external hardware like compressors?
That is a great suggestion, thanks for that! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing!
thanks
You're my man Warren
SpaceOrbison thanks ever so much!!
Awesome stuff yes sir I've been doing that my fist mix was a disaster because I did everything I wasn't supposed to do lol. Cheers mate
We’ve all been there!
Thanks Warren. My faders (Cubase) aren't linear, so I use the gain adjust to tame recorded levels to keep my fader where it has a finer resolution. Cheers. Michael
Thanks ever so much for the info on Cubase!! I'm sure it will help others!! Thanks for being a great part of our community! Have a marvellous New Year!
Hey Mike, how do you make sure that the instrument hits the sweet spot? Let`s say -10 dbfs? do you load a plugin, thanks.
I am going to make the best album ever recorded using the information you provide in your channel. And I will credit you when it is done. THANK YOU for sharing your knowledge. You have truly helped me.
Thanks ever so much! That's marvellous to hear!
you're a legend
hi mate, thank you so much, great content as always !! just wanting to confirm, should i just start faders at -12 and play around with the preamp's gain knobs on my clarett ?
No don’t teach ur fader
ITB gain staging in Ableton Live is remarkably easy. As long as a channel's plugin chain is not grouped, Live shows meters between plugs. This is invaluable IMHO, I don't like to clip anything at all if I can help it (save for colouration / effect within a plugin). I just wish Live would keep these inter-plugin meters with grouped plugins. Another superb video Warren, many thanks.
Thank you so much for watching, glad you found it superb! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing!
Honestly this is elementary stuff for me, but I feel it's wise for us to revisit the basics occasionally. :)
Absolutely Blake! I love reminding myself of the basics! I don't believe their are real experts, just self appointed ones! Haha
SIMPLE AS abc turn your volume nobs low thanks a lot for this wonderful tutorial
The best thing about 32bit floating and even more with 48bit mix consoles (like pro tools have) is you can use digital gain (either clip gain or with a plugin like bluecat gain). In the analog domain (before you hit your converters) make sure you have decent signal from your source so that you dont need to push your mic gain and add hiss but because digital has so much headroom you don't need to crank your preamps that high. Basically in the analog world try and stay around 0dbvu, in the digital stay around - 12-18dbfs (total on the output) to give you headroom. If you feel you need to put your faders in stupid positions to get the volume (too loud or too quiet) use clip gain or a plugin like I mention to get it sitting right. A good way too start a mix is go through and get the mix roughly where it makes sense with the faders at 0 and leaves you with headroom on the master bus before you add plugins this way itll be easier to gain stage compressor and emulating plugins and till have unity afterwards.
Hi JimijaymesGuitarist thanks very much for your great insight! I really appreciate it the additional information! It really helps everyone here in the community! You Rock! Great points and very well explained
I use Studio One and Cubase. What I like in Studio One it has something called clip gain above the fader and I use that to turn signal down or up. A really great feature. But my question is what signal level should a singel channel have to get great signal and what should it be on master? A question to all the pros. Great video like always by the way!
I Looooooooove that intro tune! Please release the track online! As always good stuff in the video as well ;)
You're too kind, I wrote and recorded that song, I'm glad that you liked it. Have a marvellous time recording and mixing.
I know ;) I've asked you about releasing it before :) I just love good music - Can't help it :) Bought this super piece by Dweezil Zappa (Zappa's son) earlier today and there is this great video about the track (cover version of Bowie's "I'm Afraid Of Americans" coming alive in the sunset studio) - You should go and check it out - Its super cool !!! www.dweezilzappa.com/products/20450-afraid-of-americans/options/20451-afraid-of-americans
Great! I'm glad you enjoyed the intro music! It was a lot of fun to do!! Have a marvellous 2018! P.S I;m a huge Zappa fan!
This is great practical advice, but I think it shouldn't be taken as a fact within the digital audio world. S/N ratio is what it is. So, in theory, the hotter the signal, the better. As long as your highest sample value is 0 dBFS, you're fine. After recording you can even clip every damn track inside your daw. As long you don't clip your bounce, you're safe. DAWs work in 64 bit float. DAWs don't ever clip. I know this is another topic, but still good to know (seeing red lights all around your DAW doesn't mean anything). Thanks for making excellent content!!
hi warren this is a great video !
one question : why you use your monitors in that position ?? ( the ones on the console ) they are like perfect in line .. theres a reason for that ???
cheers from Panamá !
Great intro, I suppose pre-fader is the way to go when mixing, and then insert a gain plug to control a to hot signal.
HI Roger, thanks for the comment! Yes, if you're not suing 32 bit floating then that would definitely make a difference! I hope you're having a marvellous New Year!
Useful tip: send all your tracks to a mixbuss, and only then to the general masterbuss. That way, if you are using too high levels at the individual tracks, you can turn the whole mix down before it hits the masterbuss, allowing you to use your usual masterbuss plugins and control the level coming in. Of course, it also applies the other way around, using the mixbuss to turn up the whole mix volume to hit appropriately the masterbuss.
Great tip! Yes, many guys I know have a separate 'music bus' spirit from 'vocal bus' etc!. Have a marvellous New Year!