Level balancing, also known as volume balancing is typically performed after gain staging. Level balancing involves the process of setting the loudness of each track relative to one another establishing a clear mix hierarchy and creating contrast between different sounds, groups, or section.
.Level Balancing
Updated 13 March 2024
Level balancing is essential for achieving professional-quality mixes across various genres and styles of music. While gain staging focuses on keeping a signal clean during recording, level balancing focuses on controlling the relative loudness of different elements (instruments, vocals, etc) within a mix. Level balancing technique is used to achieve several goals, including:
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Contrasting: Bringing different sounds into focus at different times. For example, a guitar solo might be level-balanced to be more prominent during its solo section, then brought back down to sit comfortably within the mix during the verse.
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Building anticipation (the drop): In electronic music, level balancing can be used to progressively lower the volume of elements before the drop, creating a sense of tension and anticipation before the main beat hits.
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Energy management: Level balancing helps control the overall energy of your mix. You can use it to create a smooth and cohesive listening experience, or to introduce dynamic shifts in intensity throughout the song.
In the world of mixing, volume isn't a fixed setting. Imagine a sound wave as a bumpy line - the high points represent loud sections, and the dips represent quiet moments. These variations in loudness are called dynamics. The more dramatic the difference between loud and quiet, the greater the dynamics. Conversely, less variation means less dynamics.
Level balancing is the art of adjusting the relative volume of each element within the mix at any given moment. This ensures everything sits comfortably together without any element overpowering the others
Level Balancing vs Gain Staging - Understanding the Key Differences
| Focus | Goal | |
|---|---|---|
| Level Balancing | Managing the relative loudness of audio signals within a mix. | Creating a balanced mix where all instruments and vocals sit well together. |
| Gain Staging | Optimizing signal level during recording to maximize usable signal and minimize noise. | Capture the strongest possible signal without clipping (distortion) while leaving enough headroom for later processing. |
Proper gain staging during recording sets the foundation for a clean and workable signal. Volume adjustments during mixing manage the relative loudness of these signals within the mix without significantly introducing new noise (assuming proper gain staging was done beforehand).
Here's an analogy. Imagine recording audio as capturing water in a bucket.
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Volume: Adjusting the water level in the bucket after it's filled (managing relative loudness in the mix).
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Gain Staging: Filling the bucket with the right amount of water (strong signal) while leaving space at the top (headroom) to avoid overflow (clipping).
Key Takeaway
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Increasing volume of a track doesn't necessarily increase noise if the signal was already clean during recording (thanks to proper gain staging). However, if the signal was weak or noisy during recording, increasing volume will also amplify the noise floor.
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Lowering volume doesn't directly create noise, but it can expose previously masked noise if the signal level was very low to begin with.
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