Go twice as far
Sometimes when you’re more early on in your journey with engineering, all of the gear can feel very intimidating.
I remember that when I was starting out, I was constantly nervous that I would mess things up. Like, irreparably. Turn a knob too far by mistake, and it will never sound the same or even as good again.
This led me to doing lots of experimenting with small changes, when I actually needed to be thinking bigger and making bigger changes. Lots of +1 and +2 dB adjustments to EQs, when really probably what I needed was +4 or +5.
So I’ve evolved a good little way to fool myself into experimenting more than my brain thinks I need to … and I thought I would share it with you:
Multiply gains by 2.
That’s it! That’s the whole trick. But oh WOW is it effective.
For example: if you are opening up an EQ with the idea in mind that you’ll make a +2 dB change, just do +4 instead, and have a listen.
If it really is too far, you’ll know, and you can set it back to +2 like you thought.
Or maybe +4 will actually be what you wanted.
But, also, maybe you’ll realize that +4 is starting to open up a whole new door of possibility for the sound that you weren’t even aware existed, and you’ll be tempted to see what +8 sounds like!
This also works for volume changes. Guitar seems a little quiet? Just a little bit, like maybe 1 dB? Try +2.
The point is, habitually multiplying your gains by 2 is a dead simple way to methodically open up little mini windows of momentary experimentation — as an intentional part of your practice. Like a fun little secret game that you can play with yourself, forever.
Always centering a spirit of play — jamie