Making the Most of Your Mixer
EMX512SC/EMX312SC/EMX212S 17
BASIC
has an incredibly powerful low
end that can benefit from a bit of
low-frequency roll-off to let other
instruments—notably drums and
bass—do their jobs more
effectively. Naturally you won’t
want to do this if the piano is
playing solo.
The reverse applies to kick drums
and bass guitars: you can often
roll off the high end to create
more space in the mix without
compromising the character of the
instruments. You’ll have to use
your ears, though, because each
instrument is different and
sometimes you’ll want the “snap”
of a bass guitar, for example, to
come through.

Boost with Caution

If you’re trying to create special or
unusual effects, go ahead and
boost away as much as you like.
But if you’re just trying to achieve
a good-sounding mix, boost only
in very small increments. A tiny
boost in the midrange can give
vocals more presence, or a touch
of high boost can give certain
instruments more “air.” Listen,
and if things don’t sound clear
and clean try using cut to remove
frequencies that are cluttering up
the mix rather than trying to boost
the mix into clarity.
One of the biggest problems with
too much boost is that it adds
gain to the signal, increasing
noise and potentially overloading
the subsequent circuitry.
Ambience
Your mixes can be further refined
by adding ambience effects such
as reverb or delay. On the EMX
mixers these effects are built in.
The internal DSP (Digital Signal
Processor) can be used to add
reverb or delay to individual
channels in the same way as
external effects processors, with
the extra connections required by,
or the loss in sound quality often
caused by external processing.
(Refer to page 22).
You need to be careful not to
overdo effects, however, because
going to far can undermine the
clarity and quality of your mix.
Use your ambience effects just
enough to create the required
feeling of depth, but no more than
is necessary to keep your sound
clean.

Reverb and Delay Time

A variety of reverb and delay
effect programs are provided,
and nearly all of then have a
reverb/delay time parameter than
can be adjusted via the panel
PARAMETER control.
Small adjustments to the reverb/
delay time can actually have a
significant effect on the sound.
The optimum reverb time for a
piece of music will depend on the
music’s demo and density, but as
a general rule longer reverb times
are good for ballads, while shorter
reverb times are more suited to
up-tempo tunes. Delay times can
be adjusted to create a wide
variety of “grooves”, and you
need to select the time that best
suits the music. When adding
delay to a vocal, for example, try
setting the delay time to dotted
eighth notes corresponding to the
tune’s tempo.

Reverb Tone

Different reverb programs will
have different “reverb tone” due to
differences in the reverb time of
the high or low frequencies, or
differences in the overall
frequency response of the reverb
sound. Always be careful not
apply too much reverb,
particularly in the high
frequencies. In addition to
resulting in unnatural sound,
excessive high-frequency reverb
can interfere with the high
frequencies in other parts of the
mix. If you can hear more reverb
than direct sound in the upper
frequency range, try selecting a
different effect program. It’s
always a good idea to choose a
reverb program that gives you the
depth you want without detracting
from the clarity of the mix.

Reverb Level

It’s amazing how quickly your
ears can lose perspective and
fool you into believing that a
totally washed-out mix sounds
perfectly fine. To avoid falling into
this trap start with reverb level all
Signal
Level (dB)
Frequency (Hz)
LOW Boost
LOW Flat
LOW Cut
MID Boost MID Flat
HIGH Boost
HIGH Flat
HIGH Cut
MID Cut