Recording
Set your levels in this order, the order that your sound source will be travelling through
- Pre-amp (if you have one). Usually these have a meter. Make sure the meters are not peaking into the red at the loudest notes and leave a little to spare as vocalists and guitarists tend to "go for it" a bit more after the level check when they do the real thing.
- Audio Interface: Set this in conjunction with the input level on your DAW (Recording software eg Logic, Protools etc). With the gain on your DAW input set at 0dB your levels on that channel should not go above 0dB. You adjust this on the audio interface but are checking the result on your software. If your audio interface has a level/peak indicator, make sure it is not peaking there also but it is unlikely if you have checked it against the DAW input
- Software input on your DAW. Keep this at 0dB for setting the levels as this does not affect the actual input level (on most DAWs)
While this article is focussing on peaks that are too loud, it is important when recording audio that the signal should not be too quiet as well. Otherwise you will introduce unnecessary noise and hiss. Also make sure you record mono signals such as microphones into a mono channel - otherwise the unused part of the stereo channel will also introduce hiss (the repair of splitting the stereo into 2, normally requires a special utility - but I won't cover that here)
Mixing
Don't let individual channels go above 0dB as that will introduce distortion
If some channels are above 0dB and your mix is sounding balanced, Look for your loudest peaking channel and for example say it 4.3dB - then lower every channel by the same amount - say 5dB to give a bit of headroom
If you've already started using automation that will be a bit of a pain as you have to reset it all. So get this done before you start adjusting the volumes with automation.
If you organise your mix with busses this can also make this easier.
So for example I may define bus 1 to be drums; bus 2 to be synths; bus 3 other instruments; bus 4 main vocals; bus 5 backing vocals.
Then name and colour them in a way which make it clear what grouping of tracks you have routed to the bus. I also order the tracks on screen in the same order as the busses.
So if only the synths are peaking - you would still need to bring down the individual channels that are above 0dB but you could bring down all the instruments to match by reducing volumes on the busses in just one action.
Adding effects will also these levels, especially compressors, but even delay and reverb can add to the overall level and make it peak.
So you may have to repeat a little bit of this process. You may have a bus that is peaking, and therefore need to bring down the volumes of the channels that are patched to the bus.
So why not just put a limiter on the channel and the jobs done? Limiters should be used where needed but if you put a limiter on a channel that has not already been tamed, you will get unnatural squashing of the dynamics. If you apply a limiter to the bus - likewise you make get an unnatural dynamic and pumping of some sounds. (Of course you may want that - in which case fine!). I generally mix without the limiter in place and add it last of all to ensure that there are no rogue level peaks.
