![]() Surf music has a “sound,” early Rolling Stones sounds different than later Stones, and so on. A big band is different, although again for most of time that big bands have existed, they too were 100 percent acoustic. ![]() With modern technology, it’s certainly possible to create the illusion that a show isn’t being amplified, which means that we can achieve what the audience expects in those cases. ![]() The vast majority of classical and opera performances are still done 100 percent acoustically, so if we’re tasked with providing sound reinforcement for such music, it’s important to consider. In what era was this written? Of course there’s a huge difference between Mozart and Madonna, even though many would say they’re both geniuses. What follows is a somewhat simplified version of what I call the True Audio Path. We postulated that the signal path described above only represents about half of the true path taken by musical notes in a performance. Air Force “Airmen of Note” jazz band, an idea formed during conversations with my colleagues Tony Beardslee and Joe Dougherty. Many years ago, while working front of house for the U.S. Finally, the loudspeakers themselves turn the electronic signal back into an acoustic signal so that the audience can hear everything. Then it’s summed into a main bus and sent out, usually at line level, to a series of drive racks where it’s prepared to be boosted again by power amplifiers or active loudspeakers. ![]() Perhaps there are plugins or outboard equipment doing further processing. In most systems, the mic signal goes to a preamp where it’s boosted to the internal level of the mixer, where it’s then processed in various ways and mixed with other signals. But this is a very broad overview.In virtually every textbook and training class covering the basics of audio signal flow and mixing, there’s an “audio flowchart” or “signal flow diagram” detailing the path the signal takes between the microphone and the loudspeaker. The channel strip tends to lay out generally “in order” as it applies to the audio signal flow – Gain, then EQ, then the Fader, for example. The controls that need more adjustments along the way are closer to your hands. In general, the controls that you tend to “set and forget” are at the top of the console, meaning you have to actually reach for them. You want to be an excellent all-around driver of vehicles, not a specialist who only knows and drives a Chevy Malibu 2-door with the small V6. It can also prevent mistakes because you know what the audio is doing at each stage of the console, and it instills confidence as you sit behind the console, fulling knowing the the ins and outs (sorry for the pun) of the equipment.įinally, it provides a foundation of understanding which makes it easy to move from room to room or console to console and not be thrown for a loop.įor instance, you might think “the second red knob on my old console was always set to 12:00, does that mean the second blue knob on this console should be set the same?” However, after carefully studying a console’s signal path, you’ll know exactly what that knob is and where it is in the audio signal chain (even consulting the owner’s manual if necessary.) Using this information, an engineer can quickly troubleshoot the likely causes of common problems, and can even narrow down the possibilities of unexpected major problems. Knowing the audio path through a mixing console is absolutely critical to sound tech/engineer success.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |