Behind The Mixer

Learn Church Audio Artistry | Church Sound

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There are gremlins in my garage!  Whenever I work on a project and turn to grab a tool, be it a screwdriver or tape measure, it’s not where I expect it to be.  Gremlins, I tell you!  Or, it’s because my workbench and tool cart are a mess.  I’ve seen mixer channels equally messy. Today, you and I are going to do something about it.

There’s an industry standard for mixer channel layout.  It’s not a hard and fast rule but it is the standard. It’s the standard because it’s a logical layout so it’s easy to find what you need and channels are ordered in a way that makes sense – all drum channels together, vocals together, etc.  It also means when you get called at the last minute to mix for someone else, you know where the channels are located.

WAIT DON’T JUMP AHEAD

Before you look at the below list and assume that’s all you need to know, know that there is a problem with it.  The problem is that using digital mixers with channel layers or banks means it might be time to break up this order.

The Almost-Optimal Mixer Channel Layout

Here’s the list, in a somewhat basic form.

  1. Drums
  2. Bass
  3. Guitars
  4. Keyboard
  5. Piano
  6. Other instruments
  7. Lead Vocal
  8. Background vocals
  9. Pastor / spoken word
  10. Effects
  11. Media (Computer, DVD player, CD player, etc.)

Notice how the low-end instruments tend to be at the beginning.

Now let’s break this out further. The numbers aren’t for the specific channels, only the order:

  1. Kick Drum
  2. Snare
  3. Hi-Hat
  4. Hi-Tom
  5. Mid-Tom
  6. Lo-Tom
  7. Overhead(s) (for drums)
  8. Percussion 1
  9. Percussion 2
  10. Bass
  11. Electric Guitar 1
  12. Electric Guitar 2
  13. Acoustic Guitar
  14. Keyboard L/R
  15. Synthesizer L/R
  16. Lead Singer
  17. Vocal(s)
  18. Choir L/R
  19. Pastor Mic
  20. Handheld Mic(s)
  21. Computer L/R
  22. Effects 1
  23. Effects 2

I’ve used the color-coding to help you see the groups of similars.  Note the channels with Left/Right would occupy two channels.  For example, Choir Left could be in channel 17 and Choir Right would then be in channel 18.

Before we get into digital consoles and exceptions, I want to look at a smaller channel setup.  Not every church uses that many channels. So, here’s something that would work for a church I know in my area.

The Small Layout

  1. Acoustic Guitar 1
  2. Acoustic Guitar 2
  3. Piano
  4. Lead Singer
  5. Vocal
  6. Pastor Mic
  7. Handheld Mic
  8. Computer
  9. CD Player
  10. DVD Player
  11. Effects (Usually reverb)

The logical order is still there.

The Exception with Digital Mixers

Digital mixers can present a problem.  Unless you’re on a digital console that displays all of your channels on one layer, then you’ve got at least two layers of input channels.  Then what do you do?

Two Channel Layers (Like with a Behringer X32)

I like to use a logical break.  For example, I’ll put all my instruments on the first layer and then everything else, starting with vocals, on the second layer.  This means when I switch layers, I know my lead singer will be the first channel in the layer.

A quick note on the lead singer.  We have multiple singers and each will sing lead on a different song so while we use the “lead vocal” for the worship pastor, we know that the true song leader can be different per song and have that noted in our notes / Planning Center schedule.

Effects

In the original list, the effects channels were listed last.  With digital mixers these could have individual effects channels such as with a channel for vocal reverb, or they might occur in their own layer per the design of the mixer manufacturer.  Or, you could also assign them to wherever you wanted. The flexibility of digital routing is almost endless.

Three or More Layers

The Centre Logic Design

I work in this area.  The Yamaha CL-series (and some other Yamaha consoles) uses the Centre Logic design so the eight channels in the middle of the console are mapped directly to the screen about them – SEE IMAGE BELOW.  This means, we think in layers of eight. This usually means we are dealing with four layers – at least as far as a direct screen relationship.

Here’s our layout by groups of eight:

1: Drums (yes, we have nine drum channels for full kit miking.)

2: Keyboards, piano, tracks

3: Bass and guitars

4: Singing mics

5: Spoken word mics and video feed audio

6: Click track, audience mic, production booth feed.

If you were to look at our groups of eight channels, you’d find some of the channels were empty. For example, the Singing vocals bank would have the first four channels of vocal mics but the later four would be empty.  Why empty? We did this for a few reasons:

  1. We wanted the layer for the sermon to have logical components such as the pastor’s mic, spoken word mics, and the audio channel for the video feed.  This is useful for the intro bumper and sermon illustrations.
  2. We wanted to separate the lesser-used channels so they weren’t accidentally changed.  This would be for the click track and production booth feed. Even the audience mic is primarily used for the livestream – though it has been used in the room on occasion.
  3. We wanted to keep the logical order by CHANNEL LAYER.
  4. THE BIG ONE – custom layers.  The CL5 mixer has 16 tactile faders, then the Centre Logic 8 and then a bank for custom layers and other things.  More on that below.

My Custom Layer

Here is the custom layer I use on the far right-side of the console:

  1. Worship Leader
  2. Vocal 1
  3. Vocal 2
  4. EMPTY (sometimes we have a fourth singer)
  5. Pastor
  6. Handheld Wireless 1
  7. Video Left
  8. Video Right

My Quick-Access Custom Layer

This enables me to have quick access to the channels that are most likely to need altered during the service.  We run a welcome video at the start of the service, an intro bumper before the sermon, and then might use another as a sermon illustration or video announcement.

Therefore, my first sixteen channels that I see on the left side of my board are all of my instruments.  On the right, are my vocals and video, and then the Centre Logic area I can use either if I have more channels or want to display those I want to modify for anything other than volume. For me, it’s usually the guitars and keyboards that are in there.

In case you haven’t guessed it, with my channel layout on the CL5, I cheat a little by setting it up so I can immediately access all of my faders for volume control and then only bounce between layers to access other mix controls in the Centre Logic section.

Here’s the layout of the CL5 so you know what I mean.

 

My Recommendations

Use the first two layouts in this article to create a channel assignment list on your mixer.  Use a sheet of paper or a spreadsheet to do this. Once they are in the right order, then go to your mixer and make your changes. Don’t forget to move those cable inputs around the back of your mixer or if it’s digital, modify the routing.

If you use a digital mixer with layers, look for logical breaks. Also, decide if you’re mixing would be aided by using a custom layer for quick access to key channels.

In the end, you’ll find your mixing process to be very fluid because you’re no longer searching for the channel you need.

The Next Steps

Along with using an optimal channel layout, as further detailed in a chapter in Audio Essentials for Church Sound, also look at creating mix groups for similar channels. For example, all vocals would be in a group, all drum kit pieces would be in a group, etc.
We even have a group just for the kick and bass so we can control the low end in the room with only one fader. It’s great to have these groups for easier control of things like backing singers and the whole drum kit.

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Comments

  1. Nice Chris… I think this is the piece I was missing.
    I really didn’t know what to do with Layers on Digital consoles, as the name didn’t make sense… I still think ‘Channel Pages’ or ‘Pages’ would make more sense. There’s nothing I don’t like about Digital consoles, but the flexibility really had me stuck. I’ve been using an X32 for over 5 years and I feel like I’m just now wrapping my head around it. I also really like the Mixing Station app that is available for PC, Android & Apple to control Digital Consoles. I’ve heard a lot of volunteers complain about finding layers confusing, but that’s because they take the default order, once you organize them into proper sections, layers really simplify the interface and are quite intuitive.
    Regardless, I really like your layout. Over the years I’ve noticed similar layouts on analog consoles set up by others but no one explained why. So that’s my question, why the channel order? Kinda looks like the channels are organized similar to the order of EQ frequencies, low to the left towards high to the right and then Misc channels.

    Reply

  3. Another very useful feature on at least Midas consoles (we use a Pro2, but other brands may have this too) is the population group, or “pop” group concept. This allows you to group an arbitrary group of faders that can be pulled onto the physical surface regardless of any VCA/DCA associations. It’s very handy during transitions; for example, I have a “worship song” pop group which maps the main band, vocals and FX channels onto the surface while a song is going on, and a “transition” pop group which drops the FX off the surface and substitutes the spoken word mics and video playback channels instead. Using this, it’s easy to handle the common situation where the pastor walks up and starts talking over the dying notes of a song or talks over the worship team playing softly in the background, without having to flip a lot of layers at a critical moment.

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  4. One of the things that’s been challenging for us when training new FOH folks is the mapping of input channels on the boards to the channels on the avioms. We currently use the “standards” above (our drums are in the first 8 channels), instruments & vocals in the next 8, and then we have a set of 8 as our primary mix (drum mix, bass, instrument mix, loop, vocals, effects). We’ve been thinking of reordering our input channels so that the first 16 channels match one-for-one to the 16 channels on the avioms. We would still preserve the recommended standard (drums, bass, guitars, …) overall. Where would you tend to put loop & click (ie from a track player) and does making this change make “sense” or is it not a good approach?

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  5. Our X32 ended up divided between “local” inputs and “stage” inputs. So, basically, it is wireless mics and playback on 1 and instruments and wired mics on 2.

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  6. Chris, nice article but just one additional note: When dealing with multiples of the same instrument such as guitars or keyboards, and also with vocals. Line up the numbers as you view them from the sound board, i.e Guitar 1 or Vocal 1 is the far stage right, and move across the stage. Too many times I have dealt with a soundboard, and the instruments or vocals : such as guitar 1 & 2 are reversed as I look at the stage.

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  7. As another tip that was not mentioned, within a group I like to order my channels left-to-right as that input appears on stage from the sound operator’s perspective. It makes reaching for the correct fader and controls more intuitive, and much quicker, which is especially helpful with volunteers in live audio.
    Example 1: two acoustic guitars in channels 12 and 13. The guitar I see on the left of the stage will be in the channel on the left (12) and the guitar on the right of the stage will be in the channel on the right (13).
    Example 2: four singers across the stage, in channels 17-20. The first singer from the left (as I am viewing them from behind the console) will be in channel 17 and the first singer from the right (fourth from the left) will be in 20. I make the singers untangle their cables and trade mics (I help them) at the beginning of rehearsal if they accidentally get out of order or decide to trade places. With a little training, they get the hang of it–it’s really so that I can be better at making the team sound the best possible as quickly as possible. Perhaps we have all accidentally reached to turn up/down the wrong thing during live production a time or two. If the program calls for them to move around during performance (e.g., the school play mentioned by Alan), there is no alternative but to go with it.

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    • I pretty much go straight up left to right the way I look at the people on the stage. Usually the person’s instrument first and then their vocal mic. I start with channel 1 and work my way across. This is much more intuitive to me than grouping things together.

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  8. We do theatre for our high school in our church, we generally run about 24 channels for individual mics. At times we have up to 20 characters on stage at the same time.
    Currently we use Countryman E6 mics, but they are rather costly.
    Would you recommend staying with Countryman or switching to a less expensive mic?
    Ease of recording scenes and changing scenes is very important, we can run between 20 to 60
    scenes for a play. We do plays like “Annie”, “Shrek”, “The Sound of Music” etc. we are looking into changing soundboards, do you have a recommendation for a board that would also work well for doing these plays? We currently run an old Yamaha PM1D.

    Reply

    • There are less expensive mics but they don’t have the slim profile of the E6. If that’s not critical, then there are plenty of others to consider…at least if you go dual-ear. Anything by the biggies would be good; sennhesier, shure, audix, etc. A bit harder to find a great cheap single-ear mic. If you like the sound and durability of the E6 then stick with it.

      As for the console…I’d want something in which i can see as many channels as possible. All depends on your budget. For sub $5k, I’d look at the Allen & Heath SQ7. If you’ve got a little bigger budget then check out the DigiCo S31. And if you’ve got even a bigger budget ($20k+) then I’d contact an integrator and see what they’ve used in similar situations.

      Reply