Alright folks, what is the best way of monitoring with your headphones? Firstly, it is not put your PA system up or your Hi-Fi full blast. Stick your headphones on and try mix, okay. In fact, that is actually the worst thing you can do, because you are not getting the proper sound that you need.
Through my experience, this is what I used to do and I find that it is an excellent way of learning properly how to beat mix and properly how to monitor. Now, if you imagine, wear your headphones on, if you have a record playing a stereo, the volume through this side here, that side would be identical to the volume at this side. Now, when you are monitoring that and when you are mixing cut off and you will see DJ with one ear across like that.
Now if you think about it, you are listening here at a certain level. Your PA system quite often is very much higher, it is highly and likely it is going to be lower, it is going to be very much higher, okay. It is highly and likely it is going to be lower, okay. It is going to be very much higher. Now, I want you to do something, I want you to put your headphones on, like so, one ear.
Now, dependant on whether you listen with your right monitor with your left or vice-versa, it does not matter. What I am going to do is this, I have knocked up the record on, I can hear it through here but it is not coming through my PA. What I am going to do is, I am going slowly, very slowly bring the volume up until the sound matches here.
In other words, that speaker will be louder, but depending on how far I am away from the speaker or how close is dependant on how high I should bring that volume until I got an exact match in respect as though I would have my headphones on. In other words, if I put this here back over here, I would have a proper stereo sound. Both sounds will be at exactly the same level. Take this one off, turn the monitor on, I need that level coming from that speaker, the same sound, the same level as though I have my headphones on.
So, we will put that on, we are ready, I will turn the level up here and I am going to slowly increase the volume to the same level (Music playing). Now, listen to that sound. On my mixer, this is going to vary on the basis of what actual level you will master acuities, on what level the actual acuities on your amplifier, because you are going to line out or accelerate in on your amplifier and of course, you got the volume here.
In fact, you got three volumes, four in fact, you probably got your slider, which is one. Your gain, which is two, your master level, which is three and also number four, your main volume on your amplifier. I will explain how to get all of those levels correctly so you are not interfering and you have not got horrible sound coming through your speakers, okay.
So, what do we want to do and what we are doing. We are slowly bringing it up to number three and in between three and four, that was my ideal sound for this here, headphones on here and the ideal actual output I was getting from my speaker and my monitor which is you can see it but I am touching it now.
Now, you listen to the sound as I go up from three and four to ten and you will see a difference (Music playing) that is three and four (Music playing) much louder, okay. Now, why are we doing this, alright? Think about it, your headphones on here, you can only hear a certain amount. If the monitor is too loud, you cannot hear exactly what is going on here. If you got a nice, smooth level, smooth sound, it is a lot easier and a lot better to mix with.
Try it again, this is the way of practicing in you bedroom, by yourself, you do not have to impress your mates, because your mates, they come around, they want to see all full blasts and aloud, okay. Do not it while your mates are there, practice that and then when your mates come around and you know how to mix, you will wind it out and start nodding your head. Speak to you soon, bye-bye.
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