I am wondering if anyone has any good rules of thumb, or tips, about how to set the levels when mixing two tracks - a backing track such as from a BIAB (bass and drum) file or Aebersold file, and a solo track, such as from a digital piano.

Obviously, the ear must be the final judge, and the goal must be to be able to hear all the parts. But beyond that, is there a good rule of thumb to get in the right ballpark, such as prenormalize both tracks and merge them? Or look at the vumeters while mixing and make sure the two tracks are roughly equal? Or set them equal and then knock the backing track down so many dB?

The reason I ask is that I have been setting the two tracks roughly equal, but I am getting some feedback to the effect that the backing track level may be too high. I'm not sure what to make of this. When I listen to excellent pianists on Youtube who record with backing tracks, it seems to me that the tracks are usually set about equal. Maybe it is a very subjective thing. I'm wondering if some people just expect to hear the bass as a thump down there someplace that just marks time, whereas I like to hear the root motion of the chords, so I set it higher.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ed