When you drive a car, do you fixate mainly on the speedometer? Or do you devote most of your attention to watching your surroundings through the windshield?
Recording live dialogue on a set is a similar activity. You are at the helm of sophisticated recording and mixing equipment, but your focus needs to be on what is physically in front of you – namely, the actors and their relationship to each other and to your microphones.
Beginners worry too much about meters and hand positions. Instead of watching how the scene plays out, they lock their gaze on their fingers and all of the little numbers that adorn the myriad meters, faders, and knobs. These novice soundpeople become oblivious to the world around them.
It is often said that actors rarely do the same thing twice. It is crucial, as a mixer, to be ready to adjust and modify what we did on the last take in order to correct for the changes in timing, performance, and set geography on successive takes.
But if you wait until you hear the changes in your headset, it is too late. You cannot just REACT to the soundtrack, you must ANTICIPATE what is about to happen.
You have to WATCH the actors! Pay attention to subtle clues in their body language so that you can be poised for whispers or loud outbursts, noises, ad libs, and changes in blocking.
Keep your eyes mainly on the set in front of you. It is okay to quickly glance down at your meters for verification, just as you occasionally dart your eyes to your dashboard while driving. But return your eyes to the set as quickly as possible.
Don’t worry about the numbers on your meters. They really are not all that important. Dialogue is fluid; the meter will always be in motion. Your only concern should be that the meter movement does not get bogged down in the low end (not enough volume) or jammed up at the high end (way too much volume). Keep it within the middle range, hovering close to 0 VU or -20 dB, depending on what scale your meter or recorder uses. Most mixers still use the analog VU scale, where 0 VU represents strong dialogue, and audio distortion begins around +8. Digital audio uses an absolute scale, where 0 dB represents distortion, and -20 dB provides ample headroom for normal dialogue.
Think in terms of photographic light meters. Averaging meters look at 17% gray as the average brightness, and allow for an estimate for bright and dark in the composition. A spot meter concerns itself with the bright highlights in the frame, since that is the point of overexposure.
VU and dB metering is similar. VU looks at middle gray levels (aka dialogue) and uses that as a center point. Hence, if conversation is -6 VU to 0 VU, then louder sounds can go to +8 VU or so (the increasing distortion is gradual). But the dB scale looks at the point of distortion, which is 0 dB. It wants conversation to be down around -20 dB, so as to allow 20 decibels for louder outbursts without distortion.
Rather than stare blindly at your meters, rely upon your hearing to monitor the recording levels. Learn to calibrate your headphones to the meters.
Although it seems complicated, the process is really very simple. Have someone speak normally into a mic, and visually set the volume level so that your meter is in the “ballpark”, namely in the -6 VU to 0 VU range on an analog or averaging meter; or hovering close to or slightly below -20 dB on a digital absolute or peak reading meter.
Now adjust your physical headphone listening level so that the dialogue is in the comfy zone in your head. Comfortable listening level, as if you are on your favorite couch enjoying your favorite TV show or streamed movie.
Ignore the little numbers around the headphone volume control; they are meaningless. Close your eyes and just find your comfy zone. That’s all there is to it.
Your physical volume settings for your headphones are going to change throughout the day, so don’t memorize a number on the dial. In the mornings, when you are fresh & alert – you will use less volume. As the day wears on, your ears and attention will tire – so more physical volume will be required. Ditto, interior sets will take less headphone volume than noisy exteriors. Your meters will show you the actual recording levels; so just calibrate your headphones to keep your comfy zone synchronized.
Don’t watch your fingers. When you drive, you don’t watch your foot travel from gas to brake.
Due to the differences in actors’ performances and miking, all of your inputs are going to be at different starting levels. If you just used tape and a Sharpie to mark off the fader or knob positions, it would be difficult to rapidly adjust each input during the take.
What you want to do is to slide each fader exactly half way up the slot (or a comfortable twist for each knob). Then dial in the trim/gain pre-amps for each input so that your levels are in the “ballpark”. Let the trim/gain controls correct for differences in performance & miking for each input.
When it comes time to actually mix/record the scene, your hand will only have to adjust from the OFF position (faders closed) to the half-way position (open for dialogue). Most of the time, you can just pre-position your hands on the faders that you will need – in the same way that you can rest your hands on a computer keyboard, ready to type.
Your hands and fingers can move up and down without you having to watch them! The only time that you might need to quickly glance down is when you need to move your hand to other faders not adjacent.
With very little practice, you will find that your ears can monitor the levels without the help of your eyes, and that your fingers can slide up and down your mixing panel on their own. You won’t even have to think about it.
Keep your eyes on the road, so you don’t hit a tree.