Use a Mixer
Also known as a mixing console or mixing board, a sound mixer blends the audio channels generated during a music performance or recording session into an overall sound. A good mixer can vary the sound in each channel - treble, bass or mid-range - to make the final mix sound better than the sum of its individual channels. Even if you're brand new to the scene, using a mixer won't be hard -- and it'll give your music a professional touch.
Steps
- Connect the audio equipment to the mixer's inputs. Mixers are identified by the number of inputs, or audio channels, they provide. A 16-channel mixer offers 16 audio inputs, while a 4-channel mixing console has only 4 inputs. Microphones and other monaural (1-channel) instruments and devices such as audio interfaces connect to a single input, while stereo devices connect to 2 inputs, 1 for the left channel and another for the right.
- Some mixers may have separate inputs for the microphones and for CD and tape players, which are called line inputs. These mixers feature switches to toggle between mike and line inputs.
- Each type of musical instrument should be assigned its own input. While 2 trumpets can be recorded from a single microphone input in a pinch, a trumpet and a violin should be recorded on separate audio inputs so their sounds can be properly balanced. Some instruments, such as drum sets, may need separate microphone inputs for each component.
- If your mixer has subgroup channels, you can group the microphones assigned to a complex instrument such as a drum set into 1 or 2 subgroups, mix them separately, then control the drum mix in the overall volume using only 1 or 2 sliders.
- Generally, the more inputs the sound mixer has, the larger it is. Portable or wearable mixers used in the field by videographers may allow only 2 or 4 inputs, while 32- and 48-channel mixers are larger consoles that need to be transported from place to place in a vehicle or kept in a recording studio.
- Connect the recording or monitoring equipment to the mixer outputs. Mixer output can be monitored on the VU meters, as well as by plugging in a pair of headphones to an auxiliary output jack.
- Some mixers have outputs for a dedicated feed to a monitor separate from the master output, as well as output channels for the sound engineer to communicate with the recording booth or stage during the recording or performance.
- Turn on the channel inputs that will be used to make the sound mix. Each channel has its own on/off switch.
- Turn on phantom power for the channel if the item connected to it requires it. Phantom power is direct electric current supplied by the mixing board to instruments or microphones connected to it. Phantom power is usually required by microphones (except ribbon microphones), amplifiers and some video cameras and so is available on microphone inputs.
- Adjust the volume for each input as required. This can done with a knob called a potentiometer ("pot" for short), although the controller may also take the form of a switch, pad or slider known as a fader. Each input source needs its own level for the overall mix to sound the best it can.
- Individual channels can be turned on and off temporarily during the recording session with a mute switch so that the master mix can be analyzed without them. A solo switch can also be used to mute all other channels except a particular channel so that channel can be heard by itself.
- Adjust the treble, bass and mid-range bands of each channel with the equalizer controls. This helps improve the sound quality in each sound range. The quality of its equalizers often determines the quality of the sound mixer.
- Mixers may have both equalizer controls for each separate channel as well as a global equalizer that affects the entire sound mix.
- Route those channels needing special effects to an auxiliary channel. Also known as "aux" channels, auxiliary channels create a copy of the original channel signal. Routing is done with a control called a "send."
- Pan each channel in the master mix as required. This is done with a panoramic potentiometer, known as either a "pan pot" or "pan knob." Turning the knob left moves the signal to the left of the stereo field, while turning it to the right moves the signal to the right.
- For mixers with multiple outputs, the pan knob works in tandem with routing buttons. Each routing button enables a pair of outputs. If the pan knob is turned to the left, the signal goes to the left enabled output bus; to the right, it goes to the right output bus; and to the center, it goes out both outputs.
Video
Tips
- Mixers come in 2 types: analog and digital. Analog mixers can work with only analog signals, while digital mixers can work with both digital and analog signals. Mixers can be identified not just by how many input channels they have, but also by the number of output and subgroup channels, in the order input, subgroup (if present), output. An 8x2 mixing board has 8 input and 2 output channels. A 48x4x2 mixing console has 48 input, 4 subgroup and 2 output channels.
- It is now possible to do many of the things a sound mixer does with a computer equipped with a sound sequencer and a multi-input audio interface, which is similar to the traditional computer sound card but has more audio inputs and outputs. You may need to add pre-amplifiers to your microphones if your interface isn't equipped with them, however. This option is recommended chiefly for musicians who have only a small number of instruments or who work with primarily synthesized instrument sounds on computers with fast processors.
Warnings
- Note that not all manufacturers count channels strictly as input channels. Some may count output returns as channels, while others lump the master outputs with the auxiliary output buses. If in doubt about how the mixer is configured, consult the manufacturer's specifications.
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