"Where should my kick peak?" Thought of the day: mixing by numbers

A quickie here, relating to what I'm asked often: "Where should my kick level peak in the mix in terms of dB?"

A lot of producers look for peak-based info. So let's see.

I've never vouched for the "mix by numbers" thing.

Why?

Different drums can peak very differently.

You can have a heavy-ass, loud, badass clipped kick that peaks way less than some other, even flimsy tiny organic kick, for example.

There is no way you could have one fitting peaking number for those in the same mix, for example.

Just gotta use one's ears.

Learn to listen, and also get a few strong reference tunes that will remind you: this is how it should _sound_, not _look_!
How it sounds is all that matters, not how it looks on a peak-based meter, which is a very one-dimensional thing.

Let's talk more about that kick in the  mix soon…