Signal Flow – Analog Mixing Board

Objectives• To teach the signal flow through a channel strip on

an analog mixing board

• I chose this topic to teach because, for the longest time, I have had an analog mixing board and I recall spending so much time, researching different sites on how to use it. Being enrolled in this course has definitely shed some light on what I used to think as difficult to comprehend. I hope you feel the same way after reviewing this presentation. I took the time to take pictures of my very own mixing board; a Mackie.

Mixing Board• An analog mixing board can also be referred

to as:

-audio mixer

-mixing console

-mixing desk

-audio production control

-mixer

What is it?

• So what is a mixing board?

It is an electronic device for combining, (aka mixing), routing,

and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals.

A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type

of mixer. The modified signals (voltages or digital samples) are

summed to produce the combined output signals.

Mixing BoardA mixing board can look like this:

OR

Mixing Board

It can also look like this:

The more channels a mixer has, the more sources it can accept.

In-depth look of the Channel Strip

• Channel Strip

Next, let’s take a look at a single

channel strip.

Input Jacks

Gain Control

Auxiliary Sends

Equalizer

Panning Control

Level Control

Input JacksThis is where you will connect the working end of your XLR Cables (Top) or 1/4" Instrument Cables (Middle) to the input of each channel. This is where the input signal is introduced to your Mixer.This board also has a mixer insert input, which is similar in function to the Auxiliary Send which we will discuss.

The microphone preamp section

The trim knob can be used to set levels when recording

After this section, there is another section we cannot see from the top, called the insert section. This section allows us to add external devices into the flow.

Sometimes called aux channels for short, auxiliary channels are a way to send a "copy" of the channel signal somewhere else. There are many reasons to do this, most commonly to provide separate monitor feeds or to add effects (reverb etc.)

The equalizer controls allow you to change the characteristics of the output by cutting or boosting the frequencies of each input.The Hi, Mid, and Low (blue dials) frequencies can be adjusted.

The panning control defines where the sound exists in the stereo field. In other words, does the sound seem to be coming out of the left speaker, right speaker, or some combination of the two.

Mute button turns off the sound of the track

The solo button isolates the track while muting the rest of the tracks. The solo signal is tapped off the channel ahead of the mute switch so that you may audition a muted channel in the headphones before bringing it up to the mix.

Then we have the volume faders. On an analog mixing board, will often have a ‘”u” or unity gain section which will not amplify or attenuate the signal. The volume faders basically regulate the volume of the signal of all the channels that will go to the main bus.

The output of all the tracks gets combined on our master bus or master section.

The LEDs will give us the level setting of feedback so trims can be set based on this. Always best to keep things in the green.

Thank You!

I hope you have enjoyed my presentation and

thank you for taking the time to read.