TBCS P5 - Gain Staging and Volume Balancing

Welcome to Part 5 of The Basics of Church Sound.

So far in this series, we’ve been laying foundations. We’ve talked about your role as a sound engineer, the hardware you work with, how signals flow, and in the part before this one, we focused on one of the most important fundamentals of mixing — hearing versus listening.

In this part, we’re going to look at another major foundation of mixing: gain staging and volume balancing.

These two ideas are so important that if you get them wrong, everything else you do in a mix becomes harder than it needs to be.

Resources:

Controlling sound before you start mixing

Once your equipment is connected and signals are coming into your mixer, the very first thing you want to control is how much signal is entering the mixer.

Your mixer is a processing device. It is designed to work best when the signal coming into it is neither too weak nor too strong. If the signal is too low, you’ll struggle with noise. If it’s too hot, you’ll struggle with distortion and lack of control.

In mixing terms, we don’t want a signal that is “hot.” We want a signal that is optimal — strong enough to be clean, but controlled enough to be processed properly.

The process of setting that optimal input level is what we call gain staging.

What gain staging really means

Gain staging is simply the process of setting the input level of every sound source so that it enters the mixer at the best possible level.

There is no such thing as a “perfect” level, but there is an optimal range where your mixer works comfortably. Gain staging helps you find that range.

This is something you must do for every sound source connected to your mixer. Lead vocal, backing vocals, piano, guitar, bass, drums — each one must be gain staged individually.

The moment you skip proper gain staging, you’re already setting yourself up for a difficult mix.

Gain staging sits more on the technical and scientific side of mixing. That doesn’t mean there’s no artistic judgment involved, but the rules here are much more defined than with other mixing decisions.

Understanding levels on a digital console

Most digital consoles measure level using dBFS (decibels full scale).

When a signal comes into your mixer, you’ll see a meter showing how strong that signal is. That meter is your guide.

For practical purposes, a good working rule is this:

You want the average level of the signal to sit around –18 to –15 dBFS
You want the peaks of the signal to stay safely below –12 dBFS

The average level is what we call the RMS level. It represents where the signal lives most of the time.

The peak level is the loudest moment of the signal — the sharp hits, accents, or sudden increases in volume.

When your RMS is sitting comfortably around –18 to –15 dBFS and your peaks are controlled, your signal is in a healthy place. It is clean, dynamic, and easy to work with.

I won’t go deep into the step-by-step process of how to set this here. I’ve added videos that show exactly how to gain stage on different consoles and what to watch for on your meters. The goal of this part is to help you understand why gain staging matters, not just how to do it mechanically.

Gain staging happens at multiple points

It’s also important to understand that gain staging doesn’t always happen in just one place.

If a signal passes through multiple devices before reaching your mixer, you may need to gain stage at more than one point. For example:

A wireless microphone may need gain adjustment at the receiver and at the mixer
A microphone passing through an audio interface may need gain staging at the interface and again at the console

The principle remains the same: every stage of the signal path should be set so the signal is strong, clean, and controlled.

Once gain staging is done properly, it usually doesn’t need constant adjustment during the service or session.

Volume balancing: where the art comes in

Once all your channels are gain staged and entering the mixer at healthy levels, you move into volume balancing.

This is where the artistic side of mixing really starts to show.

Volume balancing is about the relationship between instruments. It’s about deciding what sits forward, what sits back, and how everything works together musically.

This is where you consider things like:

The genre of music
The emotion of the song
What instrument or voice is leading at each moment

Is the song piano-led with gentle vocals?
Is it a high-energy praise song driven by drums and bass?
Is it a choir-focused moment where backing vocals should feel wide and full?

Your faders are the main tools you use here. You’re not just making things loud or quiet — you’re shaping the musical story of the song.

Why volume is at the heart of mixing

One thing many people don’t realize is that most of mixing is volume control.

When you EQ a sound, you’re adjusting the volume of specific frequencies.
When you compress a sound, you’re controlling the difference between its loudest and quietest moments.
When you automate or ride a fader, you’re adjusting volume over time.

Volume balance cuts across almost every part of mixing.

That’s why getting this right is so important. If your volume relationships are wrong, no amount of EQ or compression will truly fix the mix.

Volume balancing in a live church setting

In a live church environment, volume balancing is something you do continuously.

Unlike studio mixing, the song is happening in real time. You must rely on your listening skills and your musical references. You need to recognize moments where something should come forward or step back.

This is why listening to music intentionally matters so much. The more reference points you have in your head, the easier it becomes to know what should be happening at any moment in a song.

Bringing it all together

To summarize:

Gain staging is about making sure every signal entering your mixer is at an optimal level. It is mostly technical, and it is usually set once.

Volume balancing is about shaping the relationship between instruments and voices. It is artistic, musical, and happens continuously.

Gain staging sets the foundation.
Volume balancing builds the mix on top of that foundation.

If you understand and apply these two principles well, mixing becomes clearer, easier, and far more intentional.

Please take time to watch the videos attached to this part and explore additional resources on gain staging and level management. The more you understand this foundation, the stronger your mixes will become.

I’ll see you in the next part.