Normalising before mixing

I am just after some general opinions on normalizing tracks prior to mixing. I work with a Artist who does a lot of his own tracking as part of the creative process and although he can "push the buttons" he doesn't always get the best or most consistent recording levels. There may also be differences within one track where he has added audio on a different day.
So, my intention is to normalize tracks or clips prior to sitting down to mix project so i am not working with faders and/or gain knobs near their extremes.
Looking at other threads there seems to be a wide spectrum of opinions regarding normalizing, but I cant work out from these if there are any real disadvantages to doing this. And by the way, to save going over old ground....
 
Yes i know what normalizing is
Yes i know it is better to get the levels right in the first place
I think i understand about dynamic range in the digital world
Yes i know that ultimately i need to use my ears.
 
I am intending to normalize to about -6dB although i may push this up on peaky tracks.
 
Any advice welcome

I don't hesitate to use normalization on a track if I need to, or the gain either.  

Lets face it...... Sometimes the signal levels are simply too low to work with in a rational manner. When you have to run the fader all the way up to 0db and beyond, something needs to be done. Normalization will help remedy that issue. 

You can also use the Audio/process audio/gain in place of normalization.  I use this as well when I don't really need to normalize the track..... maybe it just needs a +3db bump to put it where it needs to be so I can run the faders below 0db. 

I agree with Mike's post above. If it's a synth pad, for example, and it's pretty low in the mix, and that's where it needs to be in the sonic picture, I don't bump it up just to bump it up. 

What i have been doing is using the gain knob to get it about right then add the same about of dBs on process/audio gain so i can then return the gain knobs to zero.

This is exactly my method for getting the track volume into the ballpark initially. However, I will only do a Process->Gain if the needed adjustment is large. If it's only a few db then trim alone does the job. 


Remember that you're making these adjustments only to get all the tracks into the same approximate ballpark, not to raise them all to some arbitrary level. Start with the dominant track(s), which might be drums in one song and guitar or piano in another. If that's at a suitable level, perhaps peaking around -12 to -18db, leave it alone and adjust the other tracks around it.


Normalizing to -6db is probably a little too hot, IMO. I like to have a minimum of 6db headroom going into the master, which means individual tracks should not exceed about -12db.

bitflipper



Normalizing to -6db is probably a little too hot, IMO. I like to have a minimum of 6db headroom going into the master, which means individual tracks should not exceed about -12db.

Thanks for that. I was just guessing at what level to i should be using. I ususally aim to record with levels peeking no higher than -10dB so i guess i should stick to that figure to match the majority of the properly leveled tracks.