Hi Jon, I wanted to ask if you could explain your approach to gain staging? i.e do you have a target your aiming for in db, would you use a VU meter and look for a target input level etc?
(Thank you for answering questions and delivering great mixes)
Hey Travis. This is very complicated to put into words. There’s probably an episode on the live with matt rad podcast where you can hear me stumble through my thoughts on this. However, I can say there is no one target. It changes based on genre and how a song was sent to me. It also changes a lot throughout my process. I’m constantly doing a save as in pro tools and lowering all outputs substantially or subtly into my mixbus to hear how these changes feel. What’s becoming more clear now that the kick isn’t demolishing a limiter, but what energy is being lost now that it’s not pushing the same way. It can be a tug of war, but that’s fun for me. There’s a lot of space for creativity here in regards to how we shape the overall feel of a record. Don’t be afraid to try a few different approaches.
Thank you Jon! This is greatly appreciated.