sound mixing

[winker]

i play in a small band, doing gigs on average once a month. My wife takes a keen interest and does our mixing using a berhinger euro desk with 6 xlr inputs and 6 jack channels. She always seems to get an excellent sound but wants to know more about the technical side of mixing etc.

Does anyone know whether there is a distance learning package on the internet or any decent web sites which might help.

winker

[Robin Nahum]

http://www.dunkworld.com/

This is an inexpensive and very readable book that she might find helpful.

[Mark Davis]

Nothing helps more than experience. You will find you can go into a room set everything up get it spunding good and as soon as the room gets full og people the sound changes completly.

WHat I have always done is EQ everything as close to the actual sound of the instrument as possible. SO use as little effects and junk as possible.

No book can really teach you what you learn from just hands on experience in a bunch of different clubs.

[Daddy Elmis]

One of the great pieces of advice for live mixing I've gotten is . . . always turn something DOWN first. So, instead of boosting a freq in the eq, try turning down the others. Ditto individual channel volume (reduce others instead of boosting one).

You'd be amazed how much this simple rule improves sound and keeps you from eventually "diming" everything.

[Marshall Thinline]

Originally Posted by Daddy Elmis

One of the great pieces of advice for live mixing I've gotten is . . . always turn something DOWN first. So, instead of boosting a freq in the eq, try turning down the others. Ditto individual channel volume (reduce others instead of boosting one).

You'd be amazed how much this simple rule improves sound and keeps you from eventually "diming" everything.

I couldn't agree with you more. When you learn to back something off instead of add more of something else, mixing becomes much easier.

Start off with a good basic mix where you can hear everything. Then start backing off the frequencies that you find unpleasant sounding. (ie.) If you can't hear the guitar clearly try to back some of the mids from the bass guitar to where you can hear both instruments fine.

Mackie has some good literature on this, you may want to check their web site out.

[Billy Claire]

http://www.fohonline.com/

Front of House magazine online- great articles and links to good books on mixing, etc. The actual magazine is awesome as well.

[Ben Harmless]

I read the LAB Lounge forums at http://www.prosoundweb.com sometimes. I find them very educational. Sometimes it's just a lot of very minor things, but other times it's pretty cool.

Hey, I'm just an idiot musician-turned-soundman-by-nessecity behind the board, and now I pay my rent that way, so tell her that there's no degree or course that will automatically make her great. It's just in the reading and the experience, and if she's got an interest, it'll only grow as she reads and works.