BBP 2020 - Recording the Bands

When the bands played, I did live mixing of the performers, using a mixing desk. We made a list of inputs from each source, so that we could tell which slider on the desk controls what.

We also had to be aware of the hazards that are associated with doing the mixing, for example, loud sound hazard. We needed to ensure things were turned down before turning on and before increasing volume, and needed to do so safely, in order to not cause clipping, which is distortion caused by overly loud sounds, due to speakers being overloaded, and can be damaging to the speakers and our ears - https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-audio-clipping-2438534 and to not damage our hearing, as loud frequencies can be harmful to one's hearing.

I liked the mixing, hearing out the band play and seeing how things are done, I found that very informative and interesting. I didn’t like the risk of there being a sudden loud noise, as I find unexpected loud noises scary. Next time, I could be more independent and try to do more on the Mixing desk, and be more confident, by gaining more experience with the mixing desk and training my critical listening, which is the ability to pick out differences and nuances in the sound - https://www.music-production-guide.com/critical-listening.html#:~:text=Critical%20listening%20primarily%20comes%20from,your%20instruments%20are%20blended%20together., instead of letting my partner do the work.

The drum kit mic placement. It can become a hazard because of its loud volumes, meaning that it could cause risks of hearing damage. In the future I need to be able to set up the multiple microphone placements that go on the kit, independently. I also need to learn how to set mic stands up independently.

This is the mixing desk I was working on, my weak areas when recording a band are lack of expertise, often not knowing when to add gain, and not knowing if what I am doing is correct, and also lack of subtlety, often wanting to add large amounts of effects or gain into the performance. I overall need more practice on the mixing desk and also practice inputting microphones into channels on the mixing desk, as I am not that sure of how it is done. I remember that I also took a list of inputs that determined which sliders control which instrument, so when recording the band the inputs were as follows:

Bass Guitar: 4

Guitar: 6

Overhead Microphones: 3

Snare Drum: 2

Bass Drum: 1

Vocal: 8

With these inputs, I was able to figure out which slider controls which instrument and therefore we were able to tell what to turn up or down according to the needs of the mix, for example, if the bass was too loud we would turn it down.

Overall I need much more practice with the mixing desks, and getting the experience and confidence to be able to know for sure, what I am doing, and whether it is right as well as honing my critical listening and mixing skills.