LMMS volume lives at three tiers, and each tier is meant for a different job

LMMS exposes volume at three places, and using the wrong one is a common beginner error. The instrument’s own volume dial is ‘suited for controlling the volume on a saved instrument preset’ — it calibrates how loud that instrument sounds in isolation and travels with the preset. The FX-Mixer volume sliders ‘are suited to set volume in a project’ — this is where you balance instruments against each other within a session. The Master Volume is not a creative control: ‘You would really never change this setting for creative reasons’ — it is a global override, not a mixing tool. Discriminating these is the point: preset volume for the instrument’s stored level, FX-Mixer for the session balance, Master only for emergencies. Setting all levels on the instrument or Master while ignoring the FX-Mixer produces mixes that do not translate between projects.

Examples

Correct flow: set each instrument’s preset volume so it sounds right alone; route instruments to FX-Mixer channels and balance them there for the session; leave Master untouched except for a temporary global cut. Wrong flow: cranking one instrument’s dial to balance it against another, with no FX-Mixer use.

Assessment

A learner’s mix sounds fine in one project but wrong when the same instruments are reused in a new one. Which volume tier is likely misused, and what is the correct role of each of the three tiers?