POW! POP! Powering Equipment On and Off in the Right Order

April 1, 2013 Mixed by Chris
Don't knock down your friends with the power of the POP!Photo provided by abulic_monkey

POW! POP! Is that what you hear in the house speakers when you turn off your equipment? Ummmm, that's not good.  There is a specific order in which audio equipment should be turned off (and turned on for that matter).  Following this order, the POW's and POP's will stop and your equipment will thank you for it. Audio gear components can emit a power spike, which is heard as a POW, POP, or THUMP, when they are turned on or off. This spike is then transmitted through the audio system, [...keep reading]

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Tricks to Easier Mixing Using Scenes / Snapshots

March 27, 2013 Mixed by Chris
Making your mixing life easier.Photo provided by tnusga

Saving and recalling mix settings is a tremendous benefit with digital mixing consoles.  Called "snapshots" or "scenes," these  make quick mixer changes (volume, EQ, effects, etc.) at the touch of a button.  Are they worth the time to set up?  Most definitely. Growing up on an analog mixer, I didn't have the benefit of saving and recalling scenes.  At best, I had...nuttin'.  It came down to making notes on the service schedule and twisting knobs as fast as I could when we'd go from one [...keep reading]

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Eight Tips for Improving Clarity in Speech

March 25, 2013 Mixed by Chris
People can to hear the message so enable them to understand it. Photo provided by amslerpix

There is a huge advantage of mixing music over mixing speech; you can blend sounds when mixing music.  That is to say, if you have one instrument or vocalist you can't quite get right in the mix, you always have the other instruments and vocals to fill in and blend in with that particular problem channel.  When it comes to mixing speech, i.e. the pastor's voice, you don't have that benefit. Consider these eight tips for mixing the pastor's voice and improving the clarity of their [...keep reading]

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Blending an Acoustic Guitar Solo in Thirty Seconds

March 13, 2013 Mixed by Chris
Smile, it's easy to mix in a guitar solo.Photo provided by misterwilson

Rock music, blues, jazz, you pick the genre and there will be a song with a guitar solo that stands out. In the realm of Christian worship music, a solo is a funny thing. Is it a necessary part of worship? It CAN be part of the worship as long as it's mixed in the right way. Mixing a "worship solo" means weaving in a lead line in a way that supports the worship music. This can be done in two primary ways: Pick the right volume. The volume of the solo instrument needs to be loud enough to [...keep reading]

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Solving a Puzzling Monitor Problem with a Surprising Solution

March 11, 2013 Mixed by Chris
Discovering software issues with audio equipment. Photo provided by warrenski

Last week, a sound tech emailed asking for help with an audio problem; their monitor volume was dropping. From the musician's point of view, they would hear their monitor volume just fine and then all of a sudden, it would drop for no reason. The solution to this problem was definitely beyond the normal types of solutions. When I first read their email, I harkened back to a friend's tale of monitor problems. In that case, he was running audio for a major act and on occasion the monitor volume [...keep reading]

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