Should initial track level volumes be lowered with new tracks added?

[marc32123]

Pretty much all my songs I have been wondering this about. In my most recent song, I start off with one track, a piano part. After the first measure is done, after like 10 seconds, I will come in with a second piano part on top of the first one. Then after that plays through them two piano parts play through, I come in with lyrics and two string parts. My question is, when I come in with the second piano part on top of the first, and then with the lyrics and two string parts, should I turn down the audio levels of the initial tracks that have already played, so the overall audio stays consistent instead of rising a bunch with each new track?

I was reading this is what side chain compression is used for. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

[Armistice]

No. You should work out the correct levels for what you're doing and just use them. Most will tell you that is peaking between -12 to -18 db for most sources if you're using 24 bit.

At the end you can mix it all together and you shouldn't have too many issues.

You can, of course, mix yourself a monitor mix to lay successive tracks to however you feel it works best.

 

[Bobbsy]

Armistice is quite right that it's better to keep your recordings low enough to start with so you don't have to lower things at this stage.

However, assuming you have tracks recorded already, you lose nothing by turning these down so you can mix without getting near clipping.

 

[gecko zzed]

^^ what they all said.

If you imagine a band doing this, they might introduce instruments progressively. No player is necessarily going to turn down as the next person comes in. However, on a recording, once you've introduced a sound and the listener has heard its entry, they will know its there even if you reduce its volume, and this can be useful if you want to keep things a little less cluttered.

 

[marc32123]

^^ what they all said.

If you imagine a band doing this, they might introduce instruments progressively. No player is necessarily going to turn down as the next person comes in. However, on a recording, once you've introduced a sound and the listener has heard its entry, they will know its there even if you reduce its volume, and this can be useful if you want to keep things a little less cluttered.

That's a good way to look at it. If a band is playing, they don't play quieter each time a new part is added in.

But let's say that the band started with a 10 second guitar part. Then after the 10 second intro guitar, a second guitar came in on top of the first. Are you saying that in my DAW I shouldn't do anything to the first guitar part to lower the volume when the second guitar part get's added? Just keep the volume the original guitar the same, and add the new one on top?

And what about the lyrics etc.? Say, after 20 seconds when the two guitar parts get done playing, the lyrics, a bass line, and a drumbeat all came on top of the two original guitar parts. What then? Just leave the guitar parts volumes the same? Or should I reduce the overall volume of the song to keep it more consistent with the original two guitar parts? I am confused as to what should be done here...

 

[bouldersoundguy]

That's an artistic decision you have to make. Just make sure to leave plenty of headroom.

 

[marc32123]

That's an artistic decision you have to make. Just make sure to leave plenty of headroom.

I understand that ultimately, mixing pretty much comes down to opinion, and that there isn't always necessarily a right or wrong way. But there are norms. And that's what I was asking about in that last question. What would the norm be in this instance? To leave the initial guitar volumes and the overall volume at the same level when the other parts are added, or reduce the levels just a bit?

 

[bouldersoundguy]

I don't think there's any more of a norm for that than there is for what key to play in. Do what you think is right.

If compression is applied to the overall mix it may do something like what you're describing, lower the level of some tracks as others come in.

 

[RAMI]

That's an artistic decision you have to make. Just make sure to leave plenty of headroom.

That's how I read the question. I don't think he's asking about recording levels and stuff we usually read here.

I thought he was asking more of an artistic question like "Should I turn down the instruments when the vocals come in?", rather than "Should I turn everything down so that I don't clip?"

I might be wrong, but that's how I read it.

 

[gecko zzed]

What would the norm be in this instance?

I can't tell you what the norm is, and maybe there isn't one.

I can tell you what I do, though.

Generally I will leave the levels of each track alone. I won't reduce them as further instruments are added.

However, if I am working on a layered song like that, what I do is mix the back end of the song first, where all the instruments are piled in together. I mix this area to get them to sit well with each other and to make sure the total combination is not getting out of control and into the red. The front of the song then kind of looks after itself.