APPLICATIONS: CHAPTER 2

in stereo, but it wouldn’t illustrate the next point, so give us a break while we’re in teaching mode.

It’s time for some housekeeping. We’re done with the drums, bass, and guitar for a while, so un-assign them from Busses1-2 and 3-4. We’ll need those outputs for other things and we don’t want stray electronic noise creeping in.

Now, let’s send the keyboard to a recorder track:
Channel

Source

Assign

Pan

Track

 

 

 

 

 

5

Keys L

1-2

L

5

 

 

 

 

 

6

Keys R

1-2

L

5

 

 

 

 

 

Note that we’ve panned both keyboard outputs to the left, sending them to SUB OUT 1. Since that’s wired to Track 5 as well as Track 1, the keyboard signal will get to the desired track.

Put Track 5 into Record, and tickle the ivories while listening to the guitar, bass, and drums. Starting to sound like a band? Good!

Listen closely to the keyboard soundwhen combining stereo outputs to mono. Patches that rely on phase shifting

between the stereo channels, lose something when collapsed to mono. You may want to use a different patch, or fire the producer and record the keyboard in stereo.

Bounce Time

Let’s take inventory of our recording so far:Track 1 – Drums LTrack 2 – Drums RTrack 3 – Rhythm GuitarTrack 4 – BassTrack 5 – Background Keyboard

Play through the rhythm tracks a few times, and work up a good mix using the levels, pans, EQ, and effects if they’re called for. Give it plenty of thought since, after the next step, you’ll have to live with this mix for the rest of the project. You’ll probably want to pan the drums fully left and right, put the bass in the center, and pan the rhythm guitar and keyboard fairly far off center on opposite sides to leave room for the leads.

Note that Track 6 is still available,

You could have used that if you chose to record the keyboard in stereo. But there’s

another reason why we left Track 6 open. On a narrow format analog recorder (1/2" or 1/4" 8-track for example), it’s possible to get feedback when bounc-

 

 

 

 

74

Compact Mixer Reference Guide

 

 

 

ing to an adjacent track due to coupling between tracks right at the record head. This is never a problem with a digital recorder or DAW, and almost never a problem with a standard track width analog recorder (1" 8-track) but it’s something you should be aware of if you’re using a semi-pro analog tape deck.

When you’re happy with your rhythm section mix, it’s time to record it. We’ll put it on Tracks 7-8. Unassign all the input channels (1-8). Now, switch the assignment of the rhythm channels (9-13) from L-R to busses 3-4.

Put Tracks 7-8 into Record Ready and roll the tape. You should hear your rhythm mix coming in on Channels 15-16. Check the record level on Tracks 7-8 and use the SUB 3-4 faders to adjust if necessary.

When the level looks good and the mix sounds good, rewind, press the Record button, and see if you can dance to it.

Now, rewind and play back your rhythm mix a couple of times to be sure it’s what you want. You’ll be erasing the tracks that made up that mix, so there’s no turning back.

Pass N

The good news is that you now have a rhythm section recorded and six more tracks available for other parts. What you do with them and the order in which you record further passes depends on your song and your creativity. A basic demo might only require a lead guitar or keyboard, a lead vocal, and maybe a background vocal. Plenty of room for that. Simply continue the procedure of assigning an input to a track, recording that track, and moving on until you’ve filled all the tracks and recorded all the parts you wanted.

You can continue the bounce process, though, if you need to record more parts than you have remaining tracks. Want a five-layer guitar solo? Record the parts on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, then bounce them to Track 6. Want a four part backup chorus? Record on Tracks 2, 3, 4, and 5, then mix and bounce them to Track 1. It’s up to you.

Studio Headphone Monitoring

The mixer’s headphone output follows the control room source, which, most of the time, is the L-R MAIN MIX. When tracking, you may want to hear something different in the headphones. This hookup diagram shows an external Headphone Amplifier connected to the AUX 2 OUTPUT.