Uploaded September 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Our educational courses can be found at school.learnlightandsound.com!

In this episode we discuss the differences between audio gain, trim, faders. These terms can be confusing for beginners in the sound recording world! So here we’ll define each term, demonstrate its proper usage, and clear up any confusion you may encounter on your quest to record great audio for video.

If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders. Our latest courses cover Sound for Live Streaming with the ATEM Mini and an Intro to Izotope RX. See school.learnlightandsound.com for more info!

Support my work creating videos by donating at Ko-Fi.com: ko-fi.com/curtisjudd

Gear used or mentioned in this episode (the links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases):

- Sound Devices MixPre Series Recorders — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/O8e0
- ZOOM F6 audio recorder/mixer — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/pCFS
- ZOOM F8n Pro audio recorder/mixer — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/fdkN4s
- ZOOM F3 audio recorder — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/6RvZm
- Mackie DLZ Podcast/livestream (the big, original) - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/42KrX0
- Mackie DLZ XS (Smaller, 2 input) — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/6lDtu69=
- RODECaster Pro II podcast mixer/recorder — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/iFlEMB
- Sound Devices 888 Field Recorder — B&H, Sweetwater geni.us/zAryW4J
- Allen & Heath SQ5 — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/sRxFU90

Some of my other studio gear:

- Sound Devices MixPre audio recorder — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/O8e0
- Sennheiser MKH50 microphone —  B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/iYb065
- Earthworks ETHOS microphone — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon geni.us/8G8UdBB
- Impact Turtle-Base C-Stands — B&H, Amazon geni.us/8a8tt
- Aputure LS 600x Pro Bicolor LED Light — Aputure, B&H, Amazon geni.us/EreRQa
- Aputure Light Dome III Softbox — Aputure, B&H geni.us/AVHU1p
- Amaran 300c RGBWW Single-Point LED Light — geni.us/uGkDX
- Amaran Spotlight SE —  Aputure, B&H, Amazon geni.us/4DuyTz
- Rosco Prismatic Glass Gobo in Cool Lavender — B&H geni.us/GWKt
- Canon C70 Cinema Camera — B&H geni.us/ABYB
- Canon RF 24-70 f/2.8 lens — B&H, Amazon geni.us/qwsEs
- Panasonic GH5 camera — B&H, Amazon geni.us/InspOl
- Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 II lens — B&H, Amazon geni.us/gr47

The outro music for this episode is from Musicbed - “Dynamo” by Virgil Arles. Take your films to the next level with music from Musicbed. Sign up for a free account to listen for yourself: geni.us/G7by

Copyright 2024, Curtis Judd

#Recording #Audio #Gain #Trim #Fader

Index
00:00 Please buy my courses!
00:10 What is mixing?
00:40 What is gain (or trim)?
03:25 What are faders?
04:29 What is ‘the mix’?
05:42 Combining gain and faders
06:34 Mixing in production versus in post
08:27 A word on 32-bit float recording
09:13 Summary