How to Set Levels

[@dbeach4044]

The simplest and most useful explanation of levels I’ve ever heard. Really well done.

[@shaneabbott3877]

-12 to -24 and you wont have any issues at all. -18 is the sweet spot. You can see in the mixer in S1 if you show the Inputs where you are hitting.

[@michaelfarrow4648]

Recording skilled professional studio musicians, I generally start with the peaks at -10, assuming the final loudest peak will be about -6. If the player/singer is less experienced in the studio, I add additional headroom buffer, starting at -15. My second guideline is NOVERS which translates into no "overs" ever. Thanks, Joe!

[@shueibdahir]

Assuming that's 24bit Audio. how much headroom for 16bit audio? I don't want the noise floor to become an issue

[@michaelfarrow4648]

@@shueibdahir I would still stick with the -6 peaks because the biggest level error I could make is to go OVER and have a clipped signal.

[@shueibdahir]

@@michaelfarrow4648 Yessir. Also does the mic quality matter more than bitdepth?

[@michaelfarrow4648]

@@shueibdahir Mic selection is very important and will potentially reduce the total amount of EQ needed in the mix stage. For example, my typical large orchestra recording will need almost no EQ during the mix -- 40 channels with a TOTAL EQ boost or cut of

[@kellylanders8350]

This video was a breakthrough for me in understanding recording levels and why everything is red on my set-up for guitar'n at home lol. Thanks a million!

[@G192921]

Joe thank you on how you teach, demonstrate and break down studio one per the subject at hand. You guys have brought me light years lol. Really appreciate it .

[@sm5574]

Recording at higher levels dates back to analog and early-digital days, when the noise floor was high enough that you needed to record as loud as possible to get a clear recording. These days even the room noise will likely be much louder than the noise floor, so it doesn't matter (as long as you don't have the gain set at a ridiculously low level).

[@JeffreywixAudio-gl9gm]

And with gain you mean the pre amp gain?

[@sm5574]

@@JeffreywixAudio-gl9gm, yes.

[@JeffreywixAudio-gl9gm]

@@sm5574 Thanks for answering, since you posted this a while ago :)

[@chrism4452]

Joe Gilder is the best in the biz.

[@CjDWIZ]

Thank you for this. Sometimes we need a refresher of just the fundamentals.

[@cuadroplastico4047]

Ja, ja. Indeed, Joe. You are just great explaining things crystal clear. You've just got what it takes, man. Thanks a lot.

[@michael3864]

Thank you! Simple, concise and perfect!

[@jonmadof]

Super helpful and clear. Exactly what I needed as I'm about to record a guitar track. It will be nothing close to what Jimi Hendrix did at his worst moment ever, but at least it won't clip!!!

[@lawrencegideon6117]

A goated engineer 🐐

[@alcraig1]

And don't forget to tell your viewers about the right click trick on the S1 channel meters to display either pre or post fader.

[@econsgears57]

Thank you Joe. Your explanation help newbie like me a lot.

[@tomaswmitchellphotography]

Wow thank you! That was so simple yet explained a major problem!

[@jimmyers4890]

Thank you for verifying my way of recording. I host house concerts and record them so the performer "s" can have a record of it. When I do the sound check I have them play the loudest song they will perform so I can get the gain set and I keep the speakers off and they always say " I can't hear anything" so I have to tell them I'll set the house mix once I get the gain adjusted.

[@JGlassy]

Great, useful video. I think a lot of recording gain (overly aggressive) issues may be due to misunderstanding that the monitor gain can and should be considered separate from a properly set track recording gain. I like your strategy of starting at -18 DB or so, and just boosting the monitor level as necessary to give your performer what they need for real time response. Just a thought…

[@RobCampbell-sz7gv]

Exactly what I needed. Bookmarked. Simple concept, but essential!!

[@crazy.scorpio]

Wow....so simply explained......thank you!!!

[@theaudiorampage]

There are declipping pkugins, from what I have seen and they work really well too is love an overview of one

[@malapauta]

Dude you are a gold mine for knowledge

[@Juslowww]

we all love u joe ur a big thanks!

[@pratikmhatre4769]

we love you Mr Joe

[@louie115]

im new to studio one. this was excatly what i needed to watch to correct my imput volume problems i was experiencing. awesome teaching! just subscribed.

[@fmbjamel]

always can learn something, thank you for the refresher just got a new mic

[@davidorji4224]

I like how I can hear the change in audio when you adjust the gain...thanks for not trimming it, Joe.

[@ericchin739]

Thanks man!! I hadn't heard clipping explained like that. Very helpful!!!!

[@katieclark8924]

This was exactly what I was looking for as a musician learning to produce! Thank you!

[@rockandjroll]

Thank you so much for this, I will be sure to use this key information going forward! Honestly, such a needed video with a very well explained narrative. Thank you!

[@jaiparvaiz4454]

Great Voice!

[@Crispymusic7]

Joe! you are really awesome man. Your videos have been extremely helpful to me. You are a real professional and an intellectual. God bless

[@johnthelad]

I learned a heck of a lot from this tutorial. I've just started recording vocals. Thanks Joe.

[@AlexAuldMusic]

Brilliant work!

[@AndreasR86]

One time I totally underestimated how loud the drummer was going to hit the kick drum during recording. To be fair he was hitting it 2-3 times as loud as during the sound check, but still. I managed to get some dynamic feel back with some creative compression, but still, always remember that people will start playing way, way, waaaaay louder when they're feeling the music. I learned that day.

[@bedbedrooms]

Some people are still in the illusion that the higher the gain, the less noise is recorded. It used to be that you could tape a record, or any other media with a tape recorder and go to +6db, mostly with chome or metal tape. That's one. But with digital recording they drew the hard line at 0db. When i do my recording in my kitchen i only have a meter that shows me ttwo green volume lights, two orange and one red. Experience now has shown me i'm already messing up when the orange lights are lightning up. When i record it safe in the green zones, the signal to noise ratio remains the same when i record it on a so called "reloop tape" that has a USB stick connected to it and i can always gain it up in studio one

[@citizenworld8094]

Joe, Rick Beato needs your sense of humour. You make me laugh and he makes me cry.

[@randymci]

Thanks Joe, always great videos!

[@martinlewis2143]

Fantastic! Thanks!🎸😃

[@sbeuvefreefr]

I used to think that Limiter, prevent my signal to clip. I was wrong, boss ? Love your Job !!

[@terry-]

Can you talk about noise floor when you record to low a level/gain and 32bit recording to advert clipping?

[@stevemoonecovers]

Thanks Joe, some great advice as always. I'm a novice at home recording but I really do enjoy it, and I am learning so much from you. Thank You!

[@dcahyo1]

Joe, i did messed up!!!! thanks for your videos. It helping me alot. !! 🇮🇩

[@severinedellaporta2760]

I respectfully mostly agree… BUT, if you are not recording at a higher bitrate than what is finally required (e.g. recording at 32 bit for a 24 bit final mix), being *that* conservative will kill your dynamics and/or your resolution. Yes, you can always make you pick higher, but there will be visible “steps” on the way up or down, as you would see aliasing on a zoomed image, if you see my analogy. So… better less than more of course, paying attention to the first step before digitalisation will make the best out of your hardware and pipeline. My 2 cents.

[@KiNGRaZoR316]

Thank you very much for helping me understand clipping much more. It helped me so much more, so, I know how to combat my vocals getting ruined. You just earned a new subscriber.

[@flywithoutwingss]

Thanks for the information. Question, are you using a compressor before hitting the DAW for recording ?

[@tudorgheorghe4532]

Pls make a video about this ! Setting input gains vs digital gain !does digital gain make up introduce noise or is nust a unnecessary step?

[@venusssharman5922]

Hi Joe, i would have guessed you have gained more hits for this episode. (shame) You have produced absoloute gold.... I never quite looked at it this way and you have opened my mind for better recordings right across the spectrum.. Thanks so very much dear

[@ghostwriter1440]

Thanks for watching? Thanks for sharing!

[@harleystrain6795]

Can I just say its so hard to find tutorials on studio one and you cover so much stuff on music production and as a beginner to intermediate your videos ahve been insanely helpful recently. You always have what im looking for and hse studio one so you can show me how to douu it in my DAW

[@Nehway]

thank you thank you thank you! you're wicked awesome

[@jerialice]

Thanks for all you do

[@zazoomatt]

Thanks Joe Gilder

[@starckwest6358]

hi master, it's not quite so easy to tune a preamp by this way without thinking about dynamic of instrument... i made this experience with my flute recording. nice day

[@alcraig1]

Joe, if you were to record hotter than 0dbFS, are you overloading the pre-amp (which is an analog device) or the A>D converter? Personally, I run my vocal mic into a Wendt X4 mixer and adjust the pre-amp gain by watching the VU meter. (yes, I'm old). Prior to recording, I can turn on the internal tone oscillator, which gives me a 0VU line level output (which equates to -20dbFS) which I plug into my Presonus AudioBox and then set that level to give me a -20 reading on the Studio One channel meter. Never the less, I have always taught my students that setting the pre-amp is THE most important gain stage setting. Basically, get the microvolts out of the mic up to roughly 1.23 volts so every stage of the electronics down steam run optimally. When recording, the fader on the mixer is essentially a switch. Set it at the nominal position (ie. don't touch it when you create the channel) and leave it there. Its designed to aid in mixing, not recording.

[@abewhere79]

Thank u so much Bro.... This part is very2 important thing

[@Musikkeller-Innsider]

That's a very nice and helpful clip.

[@patlampo9288]

Thank you Joe 🎵

[@MdIuKbEz]

The amount of times you do a sound check and you can literally hear the artist purposefully singing or rapping trying their hardest to perform quieter and as soon as we are on air they are performing magically twice as loud Lol

[@jclefbouncyrock]

Love your videos, man - thanks for continuing these fundamentals!

[@derec85]

Great Video. Subscribed

[@davidoswald2155]

This video helped a lot , thank you. Is it the same when recording digitally with instruments? I use my guitars and bass directly into my interface and set the gain so it stays green and does not clip when recording tracks. My setting is usually set at between 4 or 5 on the knob , and after I record, I turn the waves down to a better level afterward most times. However, if I lower the gain too much, then I can not hear it with my ears, unfortunately. Figured I'd ask so I could adjust my habits a bit.

[@khuntersr00]

I have version 5. The gain knob is not visible by default. How do I make it visible?

[@Frank-in-NY]

Excellent advice on setting levels. I have a question though. Your microphone plugged into a mixer, unlike mine which plugs into a audio interface. Before you even open the DAW, should you maximize input at the hardware level, avoiding clipping of course? And once that is done, then make adjustments at the DAW Software Level?

[@levi6859]

It’s been a long time since I’ve talked to you man but I see you’re still putting out good stuff as always.

[@GaryCunninghamyouareenough]

So helpful as always - thanks Joe 🙏🏻

[@april_diane]

I was hoping you would cover how to adjust the RMS settings in studio one.

[@galvanizingtechniques1111]

Good Tip Joe.

[@Goran-Mogli]

If you continue like this, we will move everything to Studio One! :)

[@maoa-cdh1389]

It’s so tempting to move that fader up and up and up during the recording 👹

[@MrPab1lb]

So very useful ...wish I'd seen this when I first got my first (and only) DAW; Presonus studio one. Thanks Joe. Take the rest of the day off 🙂

[@JosiahShillow]

thank you for creating this video joe! what number should the gain be set to? -6 db or -12 db?

[@x5dbose]

nice video thnx .. am new so thank u

[@jethroburns]

Thanks but I thought you were going to show some suggestions for static mix. Maybe you could do this sometime!

[@heretic5116]

Are you best off pulling down the fader on rec channel on daw to around 75percent n turning up preamp on usb interface UP abit to gain stage?

[@staffanjanosz9799]

Hey Joe! Thanks for all the great videos you post. They are so good and instructive and creative, a great inspiration for me. You are the best!!! One thing I have wondered for a long time and which I have now finally come to ask. When you zoom in on the video to pedagogically show different things in S1, I wonder if I can use that zoom when using Studio One? I mean in addition to the zoom features in S1, assume it's a special program you have. What is the Zoom program ??? I have bad eyes, and I'm very grateful if you can tell me about it, your zoom program, or something like that :-) Thanks and keep making your videos, they are so good. Greetings Staffan in Sweden

[@brianhiggins4614]

So the takeaway here is turn the faders down when recording? many tine si have recorded, and the original signal clips, but I found I can eliminate the clipping using compression or the Limiter, or using volume controls. But am I really getting rid of the clipping this way? This is for solo classical guitar.

[@pachinifivefive6607]

Thanks for this bro...you need to do a video on how to take out those hidden pops.

[@tudorgheorghe4532]

Hi joe i remember learning stuff from your videos ! Why not minus 15 ? Or minus 18 ? For songs with multiple channels ?

[@NatalieJadeBloom]

You sir, are an exemplary teacher. Can you do a video for the opposite cause no matter how much I back it off, my output is PEAKING in amplitube.

[@HomeStudioCorner]

Turn the output of amplitude down. Turn your speakers up.

[@NatalieJadeBloom]

@@HomeStudioCorner hahaha omg thank you so much 🤦🏼‍♀️😭

[@woodenbeast9337]

very nice

[@LorneVignettes]

Yes you can always turn it up but you definitely don't want to record something to quiet. Like recording a drum kit. You want the mic pres to shine and show their true colors. I try to set my preamp gain knobs as loud as possible while leaving enough head room for plugins/processing Etc. If I record them quietly the drums will sound poor and dull. No plugins will save that issue. Lol.

[@alexchanboth]

hello joe, thanks for all your advices so far. anywhere what brand of this mic condenser you're using in this video?

[@robmitchell2018]

Thanks Joe. Always appreciate your videos. LOVE THE KEY AND PEELE REFERENCE! (AyAyRon) LOL

[@VAEOMMusic]

I promise it's right there. Joe we trust you lol 😂

[@tudorgheorghe4532]

What about making a song without unnecessary steps !it might think way in advance like all the processing and bounce once or fewer times ! What you think about this concept ?

[@clintedmonson]

Newb question - what do you set the line level to in your operating system control panel? 100? 50?

[@Elpipiton]

What a god. Love you too brothers

[@DLCook-dp8ur]

Hey Joe, good vid. I'm a studio one user and always learn from you, thanks. I have something I could use help with. I think I'm over-using de-essing. The tone is becoming uncomfortable. Any advice?

[@colleenvarlow8764]

awesome

[@riverrollaway]

Is there a difference in turning the mic preamp up or the input knob in the DAW? What's the best preamp level?

[@Dre2xtime]

How did you get the Preamp gain option ? Ik things are different now since this was 2years ago bro .

[@dul22]

You got a good trap song beginning with your “I’m clipping” line though 😂

[@joecaroselli9945]

Nice video, what digital mixer do you use?

[@guitarz99]

use the input section to more accurately monitor the signal

[@siphomthiyane7126]

Thanks, Mane, I can't believe that I have been doing this wrong for so long.

[@zakaria.morchid]

I subscribe because you are nice person

[@flacopico]

Great! Just a quesion: what's the mike you're using in this video?

[@HomeStudioCorner]

Presonus PX-1

[@Fateslav]

Where should I adjust mic gain? On preamp or in OS settings?

[@HomeStudioCorner]

Preamp

[@Redwane-Music]

I never understood why in some meters start at - 20db and go all the way to 3, yours here start at -60 all the way to 0 and here you are setting your gain in a positive >40 db can you please explain ? I always though that < -20 db is what we can't hear , and 0 is like 10 times louder , but here you are adjusting to 40 bd and the meter is rather at -12db ? I am just confused. or maybe I need a course in db topic

[@daaamn001]

Thx!