And no, we're not leveling up in a game

When we are making music, after we have our overall idea crafted and all Its patterns aligned, comes the part that involves making those parts sound coherent and for the overall product to not sound like a complete chaos, mixing. This process usually involves two types (Which probably we'll talk about in a future article), the creative mixing and the technical mixing, the first being more focused to giving unique characteristics to a sound and the second to making the track sound adequate in a format where the user can enjoy It without It sounding overbearing. In this case, we'll pay attention to the second type, specifically in one of Its most fundamental components, leveling, which often gets overlooked because of Its apparent "simplicity".

What exactly is leveling?

Leveling is/are the techniques of balancing different sounds in order to make a mix clearer and to permit the user to distinguish the different sounds in It. As an example of this, plain and simply, image you have a console with different tracks, and each track represents a different sound, so increasing the volume of one track to stand out from the others represents what leveling is about.

Is It really that important?

Yes It is. Imagine you have a song where the voice, the drums and the instruments that make up the melody are at the same volume. You wouldn't be able to distinguish a damn thing from the other. So, It's really important to considerate this as one of the first steps when mixing and probably the most important as a good balance between the sounds can make the whole difference between a bad and good mix.

How would It work?

Imagine you're looking at a tunnel from outside, and you have three instruments playing from the tunnel at different distances. If the first one plays from the beginning of the tunnel, right in front of you, you'll be able to hear It right out of the gate, which will make It obviously louder and for It to be full (Full from a frequency standpoint, where high frequencies sound clearer and low frequencies more complete). If you play a second instrument at a further distance, Let's say at 7 ft from you, you'll clearly hear that It is further and will notice a reduction in the volume of It, reducing Its discernible frequencies (having less high freq and distinguishable low frequencies). And, at last, If you play the third instrument at 15 ft from you, you probably will barely hear It, as the volume of It decreases considerably in comparison to the first two, and of course decreasing Its frequency content, making It just sit in the background of your ear. Now, that's what we seek in leveling, to put some sounds closer to the listener and others in the back to make the whole track sound fuller.

As always, thank you for attention. We hope that you can learn from this article and understand the importance of such a vital part of getting a mix to sound right. Good Luck on your future producing endeavours!