{"id":105398,"date":"2019-08-16T12:10:36","date_gmt":"2019-08-16T10:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mixedbymarcmozart.com\/?p=105398"},"modified":"2019-08-17T21:31:49","modified_gmt":"2019-08-17T19:31:49","slug":"gain-staging-your-mix-sucks-waves-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedbymarcmozart.com\/de\/2019\/08\/16\/gain-staging-your-mix-sucks-waves-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Gain Staging – the bank account of your mix!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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GAIN STAGING<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=“danger“ icon_fontawesome=“fa fa-comments“]“Damn, if only your bank account had enough head- room! But you\u2019re hitting the red zone all too often, start calculating and things become uncomfortable. Sounds familiar?“[\/vc_message][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

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Exactly how people feel about their gain structure in mixing \u2013 „Gain Staging“ being the strategy you chose to use your bank account of dBs, if you even have a strategy….And this is what we need to talk about!\u00a0Like your bank account, the gain structure of your mix needs enough headroom to be able to deal with crazy or unexpected events. Just imagine you\u2019re happy with the mix and the artist or producer walks in and says: „Dude, we need the kick louder in the mix. A lot louder!“ OK, you start turning the kick up, and by the time it\u2019s where you need it, the drum-levels are up 6dB \u2013 hitting digital red on the mix bus!<\/p>\n

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Digitally red – sonically dead. True story!<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=“danger“ icon_fontawesome=“fa fa-comments“]“I\u2019ll start with some underlying history and theory. And then tell you exactly what to do about the problem…“[\/vc_message][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

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Just before digital audio took over as a recording standard, early DAW manufacturers in the 1990s made ahistoric mistake in laying out the wrong scales for digital level meters: no warning all the way up until 0dB, so you wouldn\u2019t know you\u2019re in trouble until it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n

Whereas 0dBVU in analog (on a VU meter) used to be a reference point for solid levels, early DAWs used 0dBFS (FS for „full scale“) as the „point of no return“ Digital tape recorders from Sony and Studer (DASH- machines) did a lot better, but they were six-figure digital multitrack-recorders that were the industry- standard before DAWs. Fast forward \u2013 DAWs took over between 1991 and 1998 \u2013 Digidesign ProTools being the first and most popular one, others like Cubase and Logic followed by extending their MIDI-based sequencers with „audio“-features. What all of them should have done from the beginning is:<\/p>\n