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How to create more than just a main left and right mix out of the console, and what they are used for.




Lets quickly create a small band to use to demonstrate the idea of a main mix and sub (or auxiliary) mixes.

I have a small band that consists of a guitarist (who also sings), a keyboardist and one more singer. They are going to be playing in the local historical pub tonight to a packed house and have asked me to help them be heard above the noisy crowd. I figure ill need a few speakers to amplify the sound they create, and ill need a small mixer to take those sounds and create the mix that goes to those speakers.

I plug them all into my mixer and ask them to play a song. I mix the vocals on top, the guitar a little lower, and the keyboard lower again. Sounds great! Thirsty after working hard, I go to the bar to get a coke. The band starts rehearsing but stops and calls me back over again with a problem.

The band says they cant hear each other properly, and are having a hard time staying in tune and in time. I point out that the speakers I've placed either side of the stage sound great, so what's the problem? They reply that those speakers are part of the problem! All they can hear is the rear of the speakers and the bounce of sound around the room, and cant hear each other. The singers are having trouble harmonising with each other, and the keyboard player cant hear anything from his keyboard.

Even though I have created one great sounding stereo mix (left and right), the performers themselves haven't got the sound they require. What I need to do is get some sound going BACK to the performers. I got back to my car and bring in one more speaker and put it in front of the band, pointing towards them. I put in this speaker both vocals, some keyboard an a little bit of guitar. Now the band starts playing again and sounds much more on key and in time. They visually wave their hands to indicate to me they need more or less of something, which i adjust on my mixer. What I have created is a SUB mix. These sorts of mixes can have a few different names, but usually are called mixes, sub mixes or auxiliary mixes.

Auxiliary mixes are created independent on the main mix, and may contain a very different set of audio sources than the main mix. A few examples of what we would use them for:

  • Foldback for a musician or a singer - so they can hear themselves or the rest of the band. Could also be for dancers, performers of other arts.
  • Remote broadcast mix - a mix of a band or a show that is separate from the mix inside the performance space, suited for a broadcast as opposed to a mix for an auditorium or a theatre
  • Monitoring mix - a mix for persons or technical staff around a venue or studio to allow them to listen into the performance or show, but not necessary having all the sources in the show, just the ones that cue them to what is happening. This may be directed into the talkback system so operators using headset packs can also hear the production.
  • Talent In Ear - Interruptible foldback (IFB) is a monitoring and cueing system used in television, filmmaking, video production, and radio broadcast for one-way communication to talent that may be in the studio or out on location. It allows for the director or others to give instructions to the talent about cues, changes in the production order, issues that might be happening, and also allows for two people to interview each other without the need for foldback speakers on a set. More explained on this bellow
  • DDR Playback Monitor - a monitor dedicated to playing back just DDR source for a studio floor so the staff and talent can follow along with the audio and be ready for their cues.
  • A Sound Effect mix - usually just called FX, creating a mix of sources to be sent to an FX unit, like a reverb or delay, and then returned to the main mix.
  • Sub Groups - Creating a mini mix of a few sources, and treating them as one "mix", which is then sent to the main mix. You might group for instance, all of your discussion microphones in a panel type discussion, so you can bring all of them up or down as needed.
  • Matrix Mix - a Matrix mix is a special type of mix because it is usually fed off the main mix, but can also take sources from other channels as well. They are used to feed full mixes to other parts of a venue, perhaps an overflow room, and outside broadcast, a recording feed to a computer.










Creating a sub mix on the Yamaha CL3

There are a few ways to create a sub mix on the Yamaha CL3, some of which are easier to do, but others might be quicker overall. You should familiarise yourself with how this works if you need to create these sorts of mixes.

Sends on Fader / Flip to Faders / Mix on Faders

A common and easy way to create aux mixes, Sends on Fader puts the Aux mix onto the faders, so any changes on the faders themselves changes the mix. When doing this, you will see the faders move into position automatically as you switch between mixes. This is an easy way to mix, but its also easy to forget that you are on Sends on Fader and wondering why your program mix isnt changing when you move faders. Remember to hit the X button to flip back to normal program mix. This is the easiest way to mix Aux Mixes, but can cause problems as its not always obvious which mix you are on.

Using the Mix knobs

The colourful knobs to the left of the LCD screen are the aux controls for the selected channel. Which ever channel is highlighted by the SEL green light (or highlighted on the LCD screen), those knobs will adjust the level of that channel into those aux channels. There are two banks there, one for 1-16, and 17-24. When you turn these, you will also get a feedback level on the LCD screen, and pressing the knob will bring up a window to allow you to control the level across a bank of 8 channels in the row for that mix, and also set the post and pre function of that channel into that mix.

This is the best method for doing Aux mixes as it has visual feedback while adjusting, and ensures you do not adjust the wrong channel into the wrong mix (which can happen on Sends to Fader.) It is unfortunately slower than Sends on Fader.

Using the Assign Knob

The knob above each channel strip allows you to adjust Gain, Pan or Assign for that channel. You can toggle this using the button below those labels. Assign will send that channel to the selected Mix (whatever is highlighted by the SEL light on the third bank of faders). This would be very handy if you had one mix you needed to adjust frequently without flipping to faders.



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