In this video, you'll learn how
to use an audio mixing console. There are a few basic principles that apply to
every mixer on the market. If you learn those basic principles you'll feel comfortable walking
up to any analog mixer that you'll encounter. I've divided this video into sections
to make it easier to understand and to make it easier for you to find the specific
topic you're looking for you can find links to each section of the video in the description
below. But if you're new to this channel, my name is Kyle. You can learn audio production
online by checking out the weekly videos I post to the Audio University YouTube channel. For more
information check out AudioUniversityOnline.com. First, let's take a look at the different
sections of a mixer by dividing the mixer into sections. You'll realize that it's
not nearly as complicated as it looks. Either on the top or the rear panel of the
console, you'll find the inputs and outputs. This is where you connect input devices such as
microphones and output devices such as speakers. On the left portion of the console,
you'll find a bank of channel strips. Each vertical column of knobs, buttons, and
faders represents an individual input channel. That set of controls simply repeats
itself again and again for each input. You can see that this console has ten mono
channel strips and two stereo channel strips. On the right part of the console, you'll find
the master sections. This gives us basic control over each of our outputs - master fader, group
faders, aux master knobs, and matrix master knobs. The first step in a basic setup is to connect the
main outputs to the main speakers or pa system. To do this, I'll connect the left and right output
of the mixer to the inputs of my main amplifier. The level of these outputs is
controlled by the master fader, usually found in the bottom
right hand corner of the mixer. In this case I'm also going to use auxiliary
output 1 and 2 to feed some powered stage monitors so that the musicians on stage can hear
themselves play. The level of each aux output is controlled by the aux master knob, found in this
section. Now that we've set up the destinations, let's plug in some audio sources so that we have
audio signals to send to those destinations. This mixer has 10 channels that accept line
level or microphone level signals. I'll plug in a dynamic microphone for vocals into channel 1 with
an XLR cable and a condenser microphone for guitar into channel 2 with an XLR cable. I could
also connect a line level device, such as a drum sequencer into one of these channels using a
quarter inch TRS or TS cable. If you want to apply the same processing to a pair of signals, such
as a left and right channel of background music, you can use one of the four stereo line inputs
found on this mixer. I'll connect my smartphone to one of these stereo channels with a 3.5
millimeter to dual quarter inch TS adapter. Your mixer may have insert jacks on some channels. An insert gives you a way to insert an outboard
piece of gear into the signal chain. To use this, you'll need an insert cable. It's a TRS
quarter-inch on one end that goes to the mixer. The mixer sends the signal out one of
the TS connectors on the insert cable that goes to the outboard piece of gear.
The outboard gear processes the signal and sends it out through the other TS connector,
which returns the signal to the channel strip. The signals that come out of the direct outs
won't be affected by the adjustments you make on the mixer. That makes it great for sending
to an outboard multi-track recording device so that you can mix those tracks later and the recorded tracks aren't affected by
what you're doing for the live show. Let's go through a channel strip
from top to bottom to see what type of control this mixer offers
us on each individual input signal. At the top of each channel strip you may see
a phantom power switch. Some microphones, such as condenser mics, require external power to
function. The microphone I've plugged into channel 1 is a dynamic microphone which doesn't require
phantom power. However, the microphone plugged into channel 2 is a condenser microphone, so I'll
engage the phantom power switch on channel 2. On some consoles there is only a single switch
that controls phantom power on all channels. At the bottom of each channel strip you'll
find a fader and some basic routing buttons. I want all of the input signals to be routed to
the main speakers. To do that, I'll engage the L-R button on all of the input channels. Let's double
check that the master fader is at unity so that the signals sent to the fader are passed through
to the main outputs. Remember - the master fader controls the output level of the main outputs.
Each input channel strip has a fader, too. These faders determine the level of
the signal sent to the master fader. It's best to start with faders at unity. When a
fader is set to unity it won't boost or cut the signal. It just lets the signal pass through.
The fader also operates on a logarithmic scale, which means that the same movement of the fader
would be a small adjustment around the 0dB mark and a much bigger adjustment the
further you get from the 0dB mark. Working around 0 dB gives you the
finest control over the signal level. If you'd like to listen to a specific input
through headphones, you can connect your headphones to the console and use the solo
or PFL button on that specific input channel. PFL stands for pre fader listen, so pressing
that button will allow you to listen to that input regardless of the position of the fader. And finally, the mute button will
stop all audio on a specific input. Once you've routed your input channel
to the main speakers or the headphones, the first thing you should
adjust is the preamp gain. This knob determines the input level of the
audio source. I recommend adjusting the preamp gain according to how loud that input needs to be
in the final mix while keeping the input faders and the master fader set to unity. As you adjust
the knob you should start to hear the signal through the speakers and see your meters jump.
If the speakers are way too loud, I'd recommend fixing that by turning down the amplifier rather
than fixing it by adjusting the master fader. The pad switch will allow you to
attenuate an input by 10 or 20 dB, depending on which console you're using.
This is helpful when recording really loud instruments such as a snare drum
or very sensitive microphones. This mixer has a high pass filter
marked with the letters HPF. A high pass filter will reduce all frequencies
below a certain point. To learn more about high pass filters, watch this video I made all
about how they work and how to use them. The equalizer section of this channel strip
gives me four bands of EQ - high, high-mid, low-mid, and low. First I need to engage the
equalizer section by pressing the EQ In button. The high frequency and low frequency EQs on this
mixer have a fixed frequency band. Turning the knob clockwise will boost that frequency band
and turning the knob counterclockwise will reduce that frequency band. The high-mid band
and low-mid bands on this EQ give me the option to select the frequency band. I can choose the
frequency bands I want to adjust with the green Frequency knob and determine how much to boost or
cut those frequency bands with the blue Gain knob. In the first section of this video,
I set up auxiliary outputs 1 and 2 to feed powered speakers on stage
for the musicians to hear themselves. By using the aux sends on each input, I can
determine how much of each source is routed to those on-stage monitors. Let's first double
check that the aux master knobs are set to unity. The vocalist's stage monitor is connected to
aux output 1. I'll send the vocalist a bit of vocal microphone and a bit of guitar microphone.
The guitarist's stage monitor is connected to aux output 2. Let's send the guitarist some of
the vocal microphone. The Pre and Post buttons determine if the signal will be affected by the
channel faders. Pre means pre-fader and it won't be affected by the fader. Post means post-fader
and it will be affected by the fader position. If you have two main speakers - a left
speaker and a right speaker - the pan knob lets you create a stereo image
between those two speakers. I made a whole video on how stereo imaging works
that you can watch by clicking this link. You can find the full mixing console tutorial at audiouniversityonline.com/mixing-console-tutorial/.
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to learn more about audio production.
