Getting the Right Mix: Mixing Boards and Recording

The most important step from the instrument to the recording software is the mixing board. This particular part of recording is one that allows you to put everything together the correct way, before you have to manipulate it in the computer software. If you want to make sure that you are putting together everything right, you will also want to know exactly how the mixing board can benefit you.

A mixing board is also referred to as a sound board and is responsible for taking the instruments and mixing and routing them into the computer. As soon as an instrument is plugged into a mixer, it will then turn into a digital signal, which creates sound waves.

A mixer works by allowing each instrument being recorded to have one area in which the signal is received. These individual instruments can be changed with volume levels, depth of the sound and other features through the mixing board. For example, if you are playing with a piano and a bass, they can both have a different input area in the mixer. One can be louder and the other can be softer, with the bass having less treble, or high end sound, with the piano balancing out with more mid-range sounds. It is these volume levels that then move into the software and allow for the sound waves to be recorded with a specific balance.

When defining the different parts of the mixer, there is also the ability to combine different types of volumes, depending on the knobs that are being used for the right mix. These are known as input controls, and contain everything that allows for the specific sound of the instrument. This starts with defining the volume through this one instrument. There is also a trim or gain control, which defines the level of sound within each wave.

From here, the mixing board will allow for details of the sound waves to be defined through an EQ, which means equalization. The main responsibility of this part of the mixing board is to change the frequencies within each range. For example, if the EQ of the bass is too high, the higher frequencies can be boosted in order to balance out both ranges. The EQ frequencies can be referred to with some general preferences that work within instrumentation as well as personal preference to allow the sound to be as low or high as you want.

When the instrumentation is received into the mixer and begins to be balanced, other options can also be put into the mix. For example, the amplitude of the sounds can be defined through specific parts of the board. There are also noise gates, which stops the sound from echoing before it goes into the recording area, or allows for some resonance to be in the mix. There is also the ability with some mixers to compress the instruments, meaning that the sound waves will be shortened if they reach or go over a certain peak number, allowing you to keep control of the volume before it gets into the computer program as a sound wave.

After all of these options for individual instruments, the mixing board will then move into mixing the physical space. Main volume areas as well as controls for outputs are used in order to ensure that everything is balanced while recording and remains equal in sound to those who are listening while recording. Like the instrumentation that is moving into the software as sound waves, these areas have a variety of options for making the sound balance within the studio.

The idea with a mixing board is to make the right mix for both the internal software so that the sound files can sound the same, as well as the external area, so that all of the instruments can blend together while recording. The different devices that are used within the mixing board help to achieve this through the different options for volume control and mixing options.

When you are looking into a sound board, you should always consider the options for getting the mix right, including the number of instruments that you can hook up to the different functions that the mixing board contains. When you start to put together the recording with the right mix board, you will have a better blend of sounds and will allow the end result of the recording to mix together exactly right.

Getting Your Recording Right

You finally have finished recording your piece, front to back and think that you are ready to mix everything together. But, before you start, you notice that there is one little glitch right in the middle. Before you start over again, or start to give up with your song, find the tools that will work so that you can get the recording right.

Software that is designed in recording is always designed with the human element in mind. This means that you can play the instrument the way that you best know how, then create a way to get the exact sound that you want later. While you want to be exact while you record, you can be somewhat merciful in knowing that this sometimes doesn't happen, then find the right tools to put it back together again.

One of the greatest software tools that can be used are punch ins. This allows you to flag a certain area that you want to re-do. You will be able to go back a certain number of seconds and replay. You will then move into the area that needs re-done and record over what was already recorded. You will be able to continue to play afterwards in order to fade back out and put everything together right.

With this option, you want to make sure that you can put all of the sound waves next to each other. With some programs, the punch ins will slightly divide once starting. Giving yourself enough room to prepare for the punch in as well as creating a seamless tie together of the two will help you to put everything together.

Once you have all of the instrumentation exactly right, you can start putting in the right sounds. This is often times called the pre-mixing stage and is used in order to make your instrumentation have the right effects and resonance within your instrument. You always want to do this before you reach the mixing stage as it will often times make a difference in the volume as well as the way in which the instrument mixes with other instruments.

The pre-mixing stage will always begin with the normalization process. This is simply taking the setting of the waves and making it so that it peaks out in both ends. When you normalize something, the frequencies will go up or down. You should see the waves change in order to reach maximum and minimum peaks at both ends. If you have your volume set correctly, everything will normalize to be around the same peaks, allowing you to mix together the sounds easier.

After this, you can set the sound that you want in the end for your instrumentation. This moves into reverb options, flange, effects, fades and other instrumentation effects that adds in extra color to your instrumentation. When you do this, you should make sure that you work with what will sound the best with your instrument and how it will change the sounds within your song. Once you start to hear the right sounds for your instrumentation, you can preset this part and allow for time saving options when getting ready to mix.

After this stage, you will be ready to start your mixing of instruments. Your check list for the pre-mixing stage is to simply make sure that your individual instruments has the right sound that you want for the entire mix. This starts with the smoothness you will want from the song and moves into the options for getting the sounds that add a little bit extra into the mix of your individual instrument.