Is it ok to set the levels where it sounds good?

mike_mccue


It seems, to me, that awarding this thread with a "Snark" award will encourage others to assume that this is not a serious subject.

I am using the technique and it seems to work quite well.


all the best,
mike

On my gig last week I rode the levels on the vocalists as they sang... it reminded me how much good can be done when you focus on tracking at levels that simply sound good... ok... really good.

Jonbouy

mike_mccue


Is it ok to set the levels where it sounds good?

I can't remember when I started trying this, but it seems to work ok. What happens if it it sounds real good but the levels aren't in the right place?

Do I get points taken off or something like that?





best,
mike

Is this a question or a clue?

Do you want an answer or are you imparting your wisdom for the benefit of everyone here.

You say it's a serious post, maybe you can appreciate why some would find that difficult to ascertain.

mike_mccue

Jonbouy

On my gig last week I rode the levels on the vocalists as they sang... it reminded me how much good can be done when you focus on tracking at levels that simply sound good... ok... really good.

IMO riding the levels when tracking is a recipe for re-takes.

Maybe good for gunning on the run but in a studio setting?

What would you gain? (pun in ten did)  If the singer is moving relative to the mic position riding the gain isn't going to change anything that can't be changed after the take.

I'd hate to be responsible for messing up a great performance by not being pre-emptive enough when somebody suddenly decides to raise the roof.  I've seen too many engineers mess up somebody else's art for me to go there.

Thanks for sharing your opinion.

For my part, I was quite happy to get to ride the levels, which the artist heard in the monitor, and have her respond positively.

In this instance riding the levels was effecting the character of the compression stage that was in between the preamp and the MOTU A>D.

I was primarily interested in keeping the gain reduction on the peak of each passage relatively similar... so the GR on peaks in a quieter passage was perhaps 2-3dB and then in the loud passages the GR was also only about 2-3dB because I rode the preamp level as the singing got louder.

We worked together to get a sound, and a performance, that seemed, to me, to be much more compelling than the earlier passes where I ran it at some general safe level.



I enjoyed the practice of riding the level to make it sound good... it was fun and it seemed to make the singer smile a bunch.

The process seemed so much more useful than conforming to some particular rule, goal, or guideline for some abstract reason.

I just think I should check and make sure it's ok to do it that way before I tell anyone else how I got that sound. :-)

best regards,
mike

I just think I should check and make sure it's ok to do it that way before I tell anyone else how I got that sound. :-)

Jonbouy

mike_mccue


Is it ok to set the levels where it sounds good?

I can't remember when I started trying this, but it seems to work ok. What happens if it it sounds real good but the levels aren't in the right place?

Do I get points taken off or something like that?





best,
mike

Is this a question or a clue?

Do you want an answer or are you imparting your veiled wisdom upon us for the benefit of everyone here?

You say it's a serious post, maybe you can appreciate why some would find that difficult to ascertain.