To create an independent headphone mix, for example, for the lead singer that’s heavy on vocals and bass but has just enough of the drums so he can keep in time, adjust the AUX 2 knobs on the recorder return channels to make the singer happy. You’ll probably want that headphone mix to be pre-fader so the singer doesn’t hear any tweaks that you make to your control room mix while he’s singing, so press the PRE buttons on those channels.

Since we’re using RETURN 2 for the reverb, adding reverb to the headphone mix is easy – just turn up the TO AUX SEND 2 knob. On the Onyx 1640, there’s a control to send AUX RETURN 2 to AUX SEND 6 (as well as one to route RETURN 1 to the AUX SEND 5 bus) so if you have an Onyx, use AUX SEND 6 rather than 2 for your headphone mix if you want to add an effect in the phones.

Subgroups and Submixes

We’ve shown how subgroups can be used to mix several tape tracks down to one or two, but they can also be used to mix live inputs. In these examples we’ve used a stereo drum machine for our drum tracks, but if you have a real drummer with a real drum kit, you may choose to set up several mics on the drums, assign those channels to a pair of SUB busses, and use subgroups to mix those mics to two channels, which you’ll send to the recorder.

Connect your drum mics to the lower numbered mixer channels, assign them to subgroups 1-2, and record as in the example. By monitoring the recorder returns for the drum tracks (channels 9-10 on the mixer) you can hear your drum mix and adjust the faders, pans, and EQ on the input channels for a good drum sound.

You may want to initially devote four or five tracks to drums, and if necessary, mix those down with the rest of the rhythm section on a bounce pass. Typically when working with fewer than 16 tracks, the kick and snare get their own tracks, with toms, cymbals, and overhead mics mixed to two other tracks.

This same technique works well when you’re recording large groups – a string or horn section, or a vocal chorus – as part of a multitrack project. Assign the mics to a pair of subgroups and record the section as a stereo pair of tracks.

APPLICATIONS: CHAPTER 2

16 Tracks on the 1604-VLZ PRO or Onyx 1640?

Sure, why not? After all, they’re sixteen channel mixers. Remembering that a channel INSERT is both an output and an input, you can put up to sixteen recorder tracks “in line” with the channels. The Insert Send gives you one mic preamp output to every track, and the Insert Return is a line-level input for every channel. On the Onyx, you can use the direct Recording outputs to feed the recorder straight from the mic preamps, then use the Insert Returns with a trick plug to monitor the outputs of the multitrack recorder.

If this isn’t a big enough hint, see the 1202/1402 8-Track setup for a more detailed description of this setup.

Using the Insert Outputs connected to up to sixteen recorder tracks is an excellent way to make a live recording of your band. When you get home, just patch the recorder outputs to the mixer line inputs (or for an even cleaner signal path, to the Insert Returns – just push the 1/4" plug in all the way) and it’ll be just like you were there playing on stage, directly into the microphones.

 

 

Compact Mixer Reference Guide

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