MIXING MUST BE DONE LOGARITHMICALLY

[♔Chello]

MIXING MUST BE DONE LOGARITHMICALLY

Human hearing perceives different frequencies with different loudnesses, even at the same physical sound pressure level - we perceive volume logarithmically with respect to sound intensity.

This means that when you want to adjust the volume down for different tracks from 110 to 80 using the scale from 0-127, the result will be linear.

The result will vary greatly from track to track, depending on which instrument it has.

This is because all instruments have different noise levels; different sensitivity and dynamic range.


Examples of Instrument Noise Levels
Loudest Instruments:
Trombones, clarinets, and cellos can reach levels of 100 dB or more at their peak, especially in a performance setting.

Orchestral Instruments:
Brass and woodwind instruments, such as the trumpet and flute, are among the loudest in an orchestra, with trombones peaking around 115 dB and clarinets around 114 dB.

Piano:
A piano played at its loudest can produce sounds of 84 to 103 dB, though normal practice is much lower, around 60-70 dB.

Cello:
The cello, known for its deep sounds, can reach 111 dB when played with significant force.


By studying and taking into account the different noise levels of instruments, you will realize that mixing instruments linearly will give very bad results, because these follow a logarithmic curve; not linear.

If the piano and trombone, for example, are both set to 110 and you adjust them down to 80, the piano will be much lower - the effect on the 0-127 scale becomes greater the higher the noise level for the instrument is, and the trombone has a peak level of 115dB compared to the piano's 103dB.

Remember that 3dB corresponds to a doubling of the sound pressure.

You must therefore never trust that the scale shows real sound pressure, but listen until the correct level is achieved - alternatively use a good sound pressure meter, which is a practical tool I always use.

I prefer an average output level of -20dB, while most styles on a keyboard have a level between -10dB and -5dB, which in my opinion is unnecessarily high and ruins the sound; especially transients and perspective.

I always start by reducing the level for bass and drums/perc by -30 (0-127) when the style has -10dB, and this reduction usually gives the ideal output of -20dB when everything is adjusted.

After having adjusted down the bass, drums/perc, I slide the sliders for the other tracks alternately from 0 to 127, to find the ideal level, which is approximately when all details are heard clearly, but not too clearly.

I also test the levels of all style elements, because these can contain large variations; fills in particular can have high peaks.


Remember that the lower the noise level an instrument has, the higher the gain required.

I also take into account the sound pressure I prefer to play at, which is 70-80dB.
I regularly use a simple dB meter to check sound levels.
My styles are therefore tested to work best at this sound pressure, which is a safe choice to avoid hearing damage.

Finally, an overview of different dB levels that are worth studying: