As you might know, there’s one thing I’m highly passionate about in mixing. Bussing and routing.
Subgrouping and routing your tracks together can make a massive mix seem smaller and easier to handle. Last week’s post, Streamlining the Mixing Process touched upon all the advantages of creating subgroups.
But there’s one thing that you might be doing wrong if you’re doing a lot of routing.
Gain Staging
When I mix, I tend to keep the faders pretty quiet. I want enough room on the master fader so I’ll try to keep the fader levels low so when they’re all summed up into the master fader it doesn’t go into the red.
But that’s not the case when I route channels to subgroups. It’s better to keep the levels loud on the individual channels so that you don’t need to push your group fader as hard.
Why?
You see, if all your channels are quiet coming into the bus then you’ll to need to push the volume of that fader really loud, often above 0 dB(unity gain).
Don’t Do This:
Instead of pushing your subgroup fader so hard you should keep the actual channels loud. That way you’ll have a strong signal coming into your bus. It’s better to lower the level of your subgroup fader than to crank it all the way up.
Instead, Do This:
Now you have the same mix of backing vocals but you’ll have an easier time using the group fader. Grouping and routing is all about creating an easier mixing experience.
Don’t be counter-productive and make it harder on you or your DAW.
Simplify Your Mix!
There’s a whole chapter on simplifying your mix in my ebook, Mixing Strategies.
What’s Mixing Strategies?
Simply put, Mixing Strategies teaches you the philosophies of mixing and how to plan your perfect mix. It gives you the overview needed to take your mix to the next level.
When I started out mixing, I needed a game plan. Now, after countless hours mixing live and studio music I’ve created my own game plan, one which I’m passing onto you.
Click here for more information on Mixing Strategies.
Image by: Andrew Morrell Photography
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3 Comments on "The #1 Thing to Avoid While Routing and Subgrouping"
+1. I keep a close watch on all gain stages. Metering both inputs and outputs to all busses , fx, master fader , inserts, ect. When I first started I figured out if I had unwanted noise developed in the mix, but not on the raw tracks. I usually had the gain to hot somewhere in the mix. Good topic
Yeah, noise can often be taken away just by finding the track that you’re adding too much gain to. Thanks for the comment!
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