Audio 101-Sound Check!

Sound Check 1

Do you happen to know why most live engineers start their first sound check with the kick drum?

I was taught by a few engineers and they always told me "Start with the kick," or "Once you dial in the balance between the kick and bass, everything else falls into place."

While those statements aren't necessarily right or wrong, I’d like to share an approach for balancing instruments before bringing up the vocals.

First and foremost, genre matters.

If you’re working with a typical band setup that includes a drum kit, starting with the kick is indeed the easiest route. The core of band music relies on the foundation built by the bass, kick, and snare. On top of that, you balance the hi-hat, toms, cymbals, guitars, and keys according to the arrangement of the song.

However, for a jazz setup with a similar instrumentation, it’s often more effective to start with the primary harmonic or rhythm instrument—such as the piano, guitar, or bass—rather than the kick. The same principle applies to other genres: anchor your mix around the primary (leading) instrument first.

Assuming you’ve already established proper system Gain Structure (as discussed in my previous post), here is the step-by-step workflow for checking balance:Position the mic properly (or set an electronic drum kit's output to roughly 95%). Use the channel gain to bring the incoming signal to an average level between -18 and -12 dBFS. Set the kick channel fader to 0 dB as well.

1. Set the Snare Level

   Follow the exact same process for the snare, targeting a similar input level.

2. Dial in the Bass & Kick Relationship

   Adjust the bass preamp gain so it hits at least -18 dBFS, then use the channel faders to balance the bass against the kick.

3. Bring in the Rest of the Band

   Proceed with the remaining channels using a similar approach. Once the full band plays together, fine-tune the overall mix balance using the faders.

Pro Tip: You can dial in EQ, compression, and gates between gain staging and fader balancing. Just be careful that processing (like EQ boosts or makeup gains) doesn't drastically alter your gain structure while shaping the tone.

I’ll dive deeper into this topic with a practical case study in an upcoming post.

Step In!:

The "Subtract-First" Approach

Whether in live sound or post-production, I highly recommend that developing mixing skill by adopt a subtractive EQing and additive approach from scratch for balancing the tracks.

Start with all channel faders pulled down, raising them one by one to establish clean gain levels and relative balance. This prevents masking issues, where one over-amplified instrument drowns out the rest of the mix.

When pairing kick and bass, take this same approach: instead of pushing the bass so loud that it buries the kick, level them equally by ear (don't rely strictly on visual meters!). Use EQ to carve out distinct frequency pockets for each instrument. Carving out complementary low-end spaces allows both the kick and bass to cut through clearly while building a tight, powerful foundation.