Tom Camp speaking into the camera

This One Thing Is Ruining Your Monitoring

This one thing is ruining your monitoring!

Watch the video below

Monitoring accuracy is king when it comes to mixing!  One of the biggest factors to accuracy in monitoring is volume.

The most expensive monitors in the world are damn near useless in the wrong room at the wrong volume.

I hope that this tip helps you!

Full transcription:

In today’s episode, I’m going to give you some sound advice… turn that shit down.

I used to sit in on production and mixing sessions with a colleague that would work at insanely loud levels upwards of 110db SPL! His mixes always felt awesome in the room because they were so loud and the perception was that the music was really punchy and hitting us hard.

It was an illusion.

Not only was this a smokescreen tricking us into thinking the mixes were perfect, but it caused horrendous amounts of ear fatigue and possibly hearing damage after just a short time of doing it.

When I mix today, I monitor consistently at 85db SPL and take a short break every 2-3 hours. It is important to stay sharp when you’re working. Now this isn’t to say that I don’t monitor loudly at times.

There are times when I just want enjoy music. Those are the moments at the end of a mix session or during a production session that I may push my levels a little hotter.

But when mixing, I always remain within my 85db SPL mark like I discuss in The Gain Changer eBook which is still available.

Here is what I want you to do. In the comments below, tell me if this tip helped you and what you’re struggling with with your gain staging. Do you monitor too loudly?

Also, be sure to subscribe to this channel and subscribe to Digital Recording School for free updates. Thanks and happy mixing!

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