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Making the Most Of Your Mixer

MG12/4FX

15

5-1. Approaching the Mix—Where 

Do You  Start?

Mixing is easy, right? Just move the faders around until it
sounds right? Well, you can do it that way, but a more sys-
tematic approach that is suited to the material you’re mixing
will produce much better results, and faster. There are no
rules, and you’ll probably end up developing a system that
works best for you. But the key is to 

develop a system

 rather

than working haphazardly. Here are a few ideas to get you
started:

Faders Down

It might sound overly simple, but it is usually a good idea to
start with all channel faders off—all the way down. It’s also
possible to start with all faders at their nominal settings, but
it’s too easy to lose perspective with this approach. Start with
all faders down, then bring them up one by one to fill out the
mix. But which channel should you start with?

Example1:

Vocal Ballad Backed by Piano Trio

What are you mixing? Is it a song in which the vocals
are the most important element? If so you might want to
build the mix around the vocals. This means bringing
the vocal channel up to nominal first (if your level setup
procedure has been done properly this will be a good
starting point), and then adding the other instruments.
What you add next will depend on the type of material
you are working with and your approach to it. If the
vocals are backed by a piano trio and the song is a bal-
lad, for example, you might want to bring in the piano
next and get the vocal/piano relationship just right, then
bring in the bass and drums to support the overall
sound.

Example2:

Funky R&B Groove

The approach will be totally different if you’re mixing a
funky R&B number that centers on the groove. In this
case most engineers will start with the drums, and then
add the bass. The relationship between the drums and
bass is extremely important to achieve the “drive” or
groove the music rides on. Pay particular attention to
how the bass works with the kick (bass drum). They
should almost sound like a single instrument—with the
kick supplying the punch and the bass supplying the
pitch. Once again, there are no rules, but these are con-
cepts that have been proven to work well.

Music First—Then Mix

In any case, the music comes first. Think about the music
and let it guide the mix, rather than trying to do things the
other way around. What is the music saying and what instru-
ment or technique is being used to drive the message? That’s
where the focus of your mix should be. You’re using a
high-tech tool to do the mixing, but the mix itself is as much
art as the music. Approach it that way and your mixes will
become a vital part of the music.

5-2. Panning For Cleaner Mixes

Not only does the way you pan your individual channels
determine where the instruments appear in the stereo sound
field, but it is also vital to give each instrument it’s own
“space” so that it doesn’t conflict with other instruments.
Unlike live sound in a real acoustic space, recorded stereo
sound is basically 2-dimensional (although some types of
surround sound are actually very 3-dimensional), and instru-
ments positioned right on top of each other will often get in
each other’s way—particularly if they are in the same fre-
quency range or have a similar sound.

5.  Making Better Mixes

Содержание 4FX

Страница 1: ...MIXING CONSOLE MIXING CONSOLE Owner s Manual Owner s Manual Making the Most Of Your Mixer Pages 6 to 16 EN ...

Страница 2: ...e precautions include but are not limited to the following Remove the electric plug from the outlet when the device is not to be used for extended periods of time or during electrical storms When removing the electric plug from the device or an outlet always hold the plug itself and not the cord Pulling by the cord can damage it To avoid generating unwanted noise make sure there is 50 cm or more b...

Страница 3: ...RMATION U S A 1 IMPORTANT NOTICE DO NOT MODIFY THIS UNIT This product when installed as indicated in the instructions contained in this manual meets FCC requirements Modifica tions not expressly approved by Yamaha may void your author ity granted by the FCC to use the product 2 IMPORTANT When connecting this product to accessories and or another product use only high quality shielded cables Cable ...

Страница 4: ...26 Specifications 26 Dimensional Diagrams 28 Block Diagram and Level Diagram 29 Features Input Channels page 21 With up to six mic line inputs or up to four stereo inputs the MG12 4FX can simultaneously connect to a wide range of devices microphones line level devices stereo synthesizers and more For exam ple you can connect four microphones and four ste reo devices or six microphones and two ster...

Страница 5: ...a standard household power outlet Be sure to unplug the adaptor from the outlet when not using the mixer or when there are light ning storms in the area To avoid generating unwanted noise make sure there is 50 cm or more between the power adaptor and the mixer Turning the Power On Press the mixer s power switch to the ON position When you are ready to turn the power off press the power switch to t...

Страница 6: ... isn t used much these days besides it s too easily confusable with phone jacks below RCA pin jacks are always unbalanced and generally carry a line level signal at 10 dB nominal You re most likely to use this type of connector when connecting a CD player or other home audio type source to your mixer or when connecting the output of your mixer to a cassette recorder or similar gear The Versatile P...

Страница 7: ...basically confined to your desktop and all connections are no more than a meter or two in length then unbalanced lines are fine unless you re surrounded by extremely high levels of electromagnetic noise Another place balanced lines are almost always used is in microphone cables The reason for this is that the output signal from most microphones is very small so even a tiny amount of noise will be ...

Страница 8: ...oustic sound pressure levels as well as electronic signal levels To make matters worse there are a number of variations dBu dBV dBm Fortunately you don t need to be an expert to make things work Here are a few basics you should keep in mind Consumer gear such as home audio equipment usually has line inputs and outputs with a nominal average level of 10 dB Professional audio gear usually has line i...

Страница 9: ... or a full blown 4 band parametric EQ When boost is applied the EQ stage also has gain You can actually overload the input channel by applying too much EQ boost It s usually better to cut than boost 3 Channel Peak LED Fader The channel peak LED is your most valuable tool for setting the input gain control for optimum performance Note that it is located after the head amp and EQ stage Master Sectio...

Страница 10: ...at the amount of noise added by each stage is usually not dependent to any significant degree on the level of the audio signal passing through the circuit This means that the bigger the desired signal the smaller the added noise will be in relation to it In tech speak this gives us a better signal to noise ratio often abbreviated as S N ratio All of this leads to the following basic rule In our mi...

Страница 11: ...l to each channel one at a time have singers sing players play and playback devices play back at the loudest expected level Gradually turn up the input gain control while the signal is being applied to the corresponding channel until the peak indicator begins to flash then back off a little so that the peak indicator flashes only occasionally Repeat for each active channel Raise your master fader ...

Страница 12: ...s Monitor Mixes and Groups pre post A pre fader signal is taken from a point before the channel fader so the send level is affected only by the AUX send level control and not by the channel fader Pre fader sends are most commonly used to provide monitor mixes A post fader signal is taken from a point after the channel fader so its level will be affected by both the AUX send level control and the c...

Страница 13: ...faders simultaneously Group buses usually also have their own outputs so you can send the group signal to a different external destination from the main mix Channel faders Assigned to Group Controlled As a Group Stereo Master Fader Group Fader Channel faders Assigned to Stereo Controlled Individually A group of channels whose levels need to main tain the same relationship a drum mix for example ca...

Страница 14: ...ter to a specific channel although they can be used with just about any type of in out processor Channel insert jacks must be used with a special insert cable that has a TRS phone jack on one end and mono phone jacks on the split Y end One of the mono phone jacks carries the send signal to be fed to the input of the external processor and the other carries the return signal from the output of the ...

Страница 15: ... the bass and drums to support the overall sound Example2 Funky R B Groove The approach will be totally different if you re mixing a funky R B number that centers on the groove In this case most engineers will start with the drums and then add the bass The relationship between the drums and bass is extremely important to achieve the drive or groove the music rides on Pay particular attention to ho...

Страница 16: ... boost is that it adds gain to the signal increasing noise and potentially over loading the subsequent circuitry 5 4 Ambience Judicious application of reverb and or delay via the mixer s AUX busses can really polish a mix but too much can wash out the mix and reduce overall clarity The way you set up your reverb sound can make a huge difference in the way it meshes with the mix Reverb Delay Time D...

Страница 17: ...h set ting the mixer does not apply this HPF to the line inputs of stereo input channels 4 Equalizer HIGH MID and LOW This three band equalizer adjusts the channel s high mid and low frequency bands Setting the knob to the position produces a flat frequency response Turning the knob to the right boosts the corresponding frequency band while turning to the left attenuates the band The following tab...

Страница 18: ...ven channel feed to the Group 2 bus or the Stereo R bus On channels where this knob provides both PAN and BAL controls 5 6 and 7 8 the knob operates as a PAN control if you are inputting through the MIC jack or into the L MONO input only and operates as a BAL control if you are inputting into both L and R inputs 9 ST Switch This switch assigns the channel s signal to the Stereo L and R buses To se...

Страница 19: ... identical signal to both the L and R Stereo buses 6 2TR IN Control Adjusts the level of the signal sent from the 2TR IN jack to the Stereo bus 7 PHANTOM 48 V Switch This switch toggles phantom power on and off If you set the switch on the mixer supplies power to all channels that provide XLR mic input jacks CHs 1 4 5 6 7 8 Set this switch on when using one or more condenser microphones When this ...

Страница 20: ...ect to be applied You can select from 16 effects as shown in the table PARAMETER Control Adjusts the parameter depth speed etc for the selected effect The mixer saves the last value used with each effect type When you change to a different effect type the mixer automatically restores the value that was previously used with the newly selected effect regardless of the current position of the PARAM E...

Страница 21: ...sible phase conflicts with other signals 3 Channel Input Jacks These are unbalanced stereo line input jacks Two jack types are provided phone type CHs 5 6 to 11 12 and RCA pin type CHs 9 10 11 12 Where a channel provides both a phone jack and an RCA pin jack you may use either one of these jacks but you may not use both at the same time Please connect to only of these jacks on each chan nel 4 GROU...

Страница 22: ...ording device side 0 2TR IN Jacks These RCA pin jacks input a stereo sound source Use these jacks when you want to connect a CD or DAT directly to the mixer for monitoring You can adjust the signal level using the 2TR IN control in the Master Control section A FOOT SWITCH Jack This phone input jack can connect to the separately sold YAMAHA FC5 foot switch With the foot switch connected you can use...

Страница 23: ...k you may use either one of these jacks but you may not use both at the same time Please connect to only one of these jacks on each channel To avoid causing damage to speakers power up the devices in the following order Peripheral devices mixer power amps or powered speakers When shutting the system down turn off the power in the opposite order Power amps powered speak ers mixer peripheral devices...

Страница 24: ...DI Microphones Monitor Speakers Internal Power Amp CD Cassette or DAT Recorder Synthesizer Effector Bass CD Player Microphones Headphones Main Speakers External Example of Speaker Arrangement Audience External Stage Internal Drums Effector Foot Switch YAMAHA FC5 Guitar Power Amp ...

Страница 25: ...orts are screwed onto the unit Use a screwdriver to remove these supports Turn the supports over and fasten them into place again using the same screws Mount the unit into the rack and fasten it into place Do not install the mixer near power amps or other heat generating devices 1 2 3 ...

Страница 26: ...CH to ST 62 2 dB CH MIC INPUT to AUX SEND PRE 76 dB CH MIC INPUT to AUX SEND POST EFFECT SEND 86 dB CH LINE INPUT to GROUP OUT ST OUT CH to ST 58 dB ST CH MIC INPUT to GROUP OUT ST OUT CH to ST 84 dB ST CH LINE INPUT to GROUP OUT ST OUT ST CH to ST 58 dB ST CH LINE INPUT to AUX SEND PRE 47 dB ST CH LINE INPUT to AUX SEND POST EFFECT SEND 57 dB ST CH INPUT to GROUP OUT ST OUT ST CH to ST 34 dB RETU...

Страница 27: ...mV 60 dBu 0 775 mV 40 dBu 7 75 mV XLR 3 31 type balanced 16 36 dBu 12 3 mV 16 dBu 123 mV 10 dBu 245 mV ST CH LINE INPUT CH5 L CH6 R CH7 L CH8 R 34 10 kΩ 600 Ω line 54 dBu 1 55 mV 34 dBu 15 5 mV 14 dBu 155 mV Phone jack unbalanced 10 10 dBu 245 mV 10 dBu 2 45 V 30 dBu 24 5 V ST CH INPUT CH9 L CH10 R CH11 L CH12 R 10 kΩ 600 Ω line 30 dBu 24 5 mV 10 dBu 245 mV 10 dBu 2 45 V Phone jack unbalanced RCA ...

Страница 28: ...Appendix MG12 4FX 28 Dimensional Diagrams 317 4 416 6 325 6 102 6 2 108 322 480 322 When mounted on rack Unit mm ...

Страница 29: ...Appendix MG12 4FX 29 Block Diagram and Level Diagram ...

Страница 30: ...MG12 4FX 30 MEMO ...

Страница 31: ...lano Italy Tel 02 935 771 SPAIN PORTUGAL Yamaha Hazen Música S A Ctra de la Coruna km 17 200 28230 Las Rozas Madrid Spain Tel 91 639 8888 SWEDEN Yamaha Scandinavia AB J A Wettergrens Gata 1 Box 30053 S 400 43 Göteborg Sweden Tel 031 89 34 00 DENMARK YS Copenhagen Liaison Office Generatorvej 6A DK 2730 Herlev Denmark Tel 44 92 49 00 NORWAY Norsk filial av Yamaha Scandinavia AB Grini Næringspark 1 N...

Страница 32: ...ical Instrument Division Yamaha Corporation 2004 Yamaha Corporation WC71270 408CRAP8 3 01A0 Printed in China Yamaha Pro Audio global web site http www yamahaproaudio com Yamaha Manual Library http www2 yamaha co jp manual english ...

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