I think it’s time we talked about your fader. You’ll notice it’s not uncommon for the fader to be marked plus or minus 10. Depending upon how we decide to define loudness, either 6 dB or 10 dB can be thought of as double.
But the critical thing about gain staging often has less to do with what this number actually means, and more to do with what happens between here and here. As with most things in music production, volume isn’t really linear. And when it comes to gain, you’ll notice there’s a lot more of it between here and here than there is between here and here.
In other words, your fader has a sweet spot. It’s a little window where you have the most range and the most resolution. In the digital world, there are actually a handful of reasons why gain staging doesn’t matter as much as it might in the analog world.
But this isn’t one of them, because the most important element in your mix should probably live in the sweet spot on your mixer. That’s why we recommend that you build your mix with that in mind. And if you already know this, great.
But if you don’t, or if someone who belongs in a Beat Kitchen class, share this post.
