David Mellor, a sound engineer and the founder and Course Director of Audio Masterclass, introduces us to Gain Staging in a brand new series of podcasts. In the second episode David focuses on gain staging during recording, by balancing mic input, preamps and gain within your DAW to achieve the optimal sound level. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 00:40 - Dynamic Microphones 05:19 - Capacitor Microphones 11:25 - Gain Staging First Step 14:00 - The Pre-amp 16:39 - Headroom 20:49 - Audio Examples David Mellor BiogDavid Mellor got his start in pro audio through the Tonmeister course at Surrey University studying music, piano performance, acoustics, electronics, electro-acoustics and recording. He went on to work at London's Royal Opera House, with responsibilities including sound design, front-of-house operation, stage monitoring and electronic design satisfying the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Karlheinz Stockhausen. He has also had over 600 works published in the field of production music, including the Chappell and Carlin music libraries (now combined into Universal Publishing Production Music). Notable uses of his music include the BBC's Horizon, Fahrenheit 911, and the Oprah Winfrey Show. David has been actively involved in Audio Education since 1986, teaching students of City of Westminster College and Westminster University, and also returning to lecture at Surrey University. He also worked with John Cage on the International Dance Course at the University of Surrey. David now specialises in online audio education and has been Course Director of Audio Masterclass since 2001. https://www.audiomasterclass.com/