Balancing a stereo mix.

[Terry Wetzel]

When it's time to finalize a mix, should the left right meters on the master fader show at or about the same level throughout the song before adding the necessary compression to bring the levels of both up to an acceptable listening level ,(80dB). My mixes always seem to register lower on one side of the master fader than the other. Usually the vocals and instruments register lower than the drums. Does this matter and should I even be concerned about it? I know that when I play a store bought cd the levels are always the same throughout the song and stay just below the dreaded clip level. Please understand that this is a question based on my ignorance of professional recording and I hope it doesn't offend anyone. Thanks.

[YYR123]

I was watching a video by Andrew Schepps and he said he always uses multi mono compression on the mix buss, b/c if one side peaks he doesn't want the other side to be compressed when it's not peaking.

I believe this is what your asking, but the problem is probably a bit more complex due to the mixing technique of panning drums all to one side

[albee1952]

Just my 2 cents; I make sure I am dead-center when giving a final listen(its not a bad idea to actually measure and put a piece of tape on the desk). If I feel drawn to one side too often, I will try some small level and/or panning changes to compensate. I did say "too often" as I think its fine to have things pull your attention "in the moment". A decent set of headphones is another good way to check for a good basic/overall balance of left to right. Anyone know of a free stereo balance meter plugin for Terry?

[YYR123]

Ask and you shall receive...... Free


https://hofa-plugins.de/en/plugins/4u/


Scroll down the page 4U - Meter, Fader, and M/S Pan

[Terry Wetzel]

Thanks Daniel. How did you know that I usually pan drums left? I developed the habit from listening to songs mixed by Jimmy Haskell, (Rick Nelson's Producer).

[Terry Wetzel]

Hey. Thanks again Daniel. Nice!

[Terry Wetzel]

Thanks Dave. Great info as usual. I didn't know if that was a dumb question or not but if you don't ask you never know if your moving in the right direction.

[YYR123]

There are 2 schools of thought on the subject, live audience perspective and drummer perspective (stereo spread )

Since you said your drums are lower, it was pure assumption that this was the case

[albee1952]

Regarding drums, I usually pan from the audience perspective(unless the artist prefers the other way). Regarding whether the question was stupid, the only stupid questions here are ones we SHOULD have asked but didn't

[YYR123]

I must be younger, albeit how much younger is PURE speculation ....

But I prefer the drummer perspective....but not spread out fully...across the spectrum

I found I like my drums brought in from the corners it makes them sound fatter....

And I started out in life as a Bass player so, I am by default a big fan of drums