hey guys i was reading the mixing engineer's handbook second editon , and it said that; "the channel faders should stay below the subgroup or master fader"

Ok I use reason and have a few mixers (Bass&Kick, Percs, Synth, and FX) going into one "master mixer". So does that meen that none of the channels should have a higher level then the master level for each mixer, and then I guess the same for the channel levels in the "master mixer". It warns about master buss overlaod (distortion).

I have had some of the channels go above the fader nob and into the yellow, which brings the master level nob into the yellow but didn't really notice anything.

I thought just as long as the master of the whole song isn't clipping your ok?

What are your thought?
Thanks

Working in a 24-bit environment you will be completely fine. Just make sure the master buss isn't clipping. Many people say that if your master channel is in the red, it is appropriate to turn down the individual tracks instead of the master. I have tried a null test and it proves that this doesn't make a difference whatsoever. You can just turn down the master buss slightly instead.

The mixing engineer's handbook. I havn't read it for years but im sure it will be referring to analog consoles and not a DAW. If you overload individual channels in the analog domain you will create a kind of harmonic distortion. In the digital domain, anything that is clipped will have the transients chopped off completely and things will start to look like square waves. In the analog domain you get a smoother rounded clip and this is actually a very desirable sound sometimes, especially when using expensive vintage desks.

How do you think the early acid house producers got a distorted tb-303 sound? Well many of them would just overdrive their analog desk.

quote:

Originally posted by lowski hey guys i was reading the mixing engineer's handbook second editon , and it said that; "the channel faders should stay below the subgroup or master fader" Ok I use reason and have a few mixers (Bass&Kick, Percs, Synth, and FX) going into one "master mixer". So does that meen that none of the channels should have a higher level then the master level for each mixer, and then I guess the same for the channel levels in the "master mixer". It warns about master buss overlaod (distortion). I have had some of the channels go above the fader nob and into the yellow, which brings the master level nob into the yellow but didn't really notice anything. I thought just as long as the master of the whole song isn't clipping your ok? What are your thought? Thanks

My impression is that you can drive individual channels into the red as much as you like, provided the actual master isn't clipping. That's not the case on analogue desks obviously. So I think your fine yes.

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quote:

Originally posted by dannib The mixing engineer's handbook. I havn't read it for years but im sure it will be referring to analog consoles and not a DAW. If you overload individual channels in the analog domain you will create a kind of harmonic distortion. In the digital domain, anything that is clipped will have the transients chopped off completely and things will start to look like square waves. In the analog domain you get a smoother rounded clip and this is actually a very desirable sound sometimes, especially when using expensive vintage desks.

You're right. I was, in fact, reading this very section of the handbook yesterday during my lunchbreak at work, and it was referring to both an analog and digital workstation. I'm not sure whether the explanation in the text and the graphic examples were just there to add confusion, as the images were showing a DAW mixing desk but the text seemed to relate more to an analog.

Ah well.

Thanks for the clarification anyway