accidental newbie

[ospenser]

Not my first post here (my 5th?) about this, but i guess it belongs here - or maybe mixers.

anyway , i joined a band - i play trumpet - its a latin band - we also have a lead singer, a percussionist/vocalist, and a keyboard/vocalist. We're recording for a DEMO CD for gigs around miami. Turns out with my MIC we have met/exceeded the capacity of the little mixer .

SO being a lover of gadgets i volunteer to buy a new Yamaha MG166CX mixer - 16 channels, 6 busses, effects. Hey, mixers come in handy for . . . . . um, music.

Rusty Axe gave me some excellent concrete advice - i've blown up the diagram, read and reread the manual, bought and read a book on such things, browsed the internet (including here) - and still there are questions - mostly what i'm lacking is practical advice that pertains to our exact situation.

we aren't going to do much more recording - but it would be nice to know how to utilize this mixer well.

specifically, we have a major musical concern in producing and recording music:

INPUTS
-we have a keyboard coming in which is the ONLY producer of our BASS and basic drums (tempo). he also has a harmony vocals mic.
- a percussion guy (congas, timbales, etc) with one harmony vocal mic and 2 or 3 drum mics (congas, timbales, etc)
- lead vocalist mic
- trumpet mic

OUTPUTs
- a stereo recorder (not for gigs obviously - or. . . . maybe)
- a pair of powered speakers (for gigs)
- headphones for the percussion guy who needs to be able to hear the keyboard clearly to be sure he's in SYNCH
-headphones for keyboardist too - although he only needs the final mix (to recorder or PA)

WHEN RECORDING we'd like to hear the FINAL MIX going to the recorder through the keyboardist monitor headphones.

So i'm guessing the keyboard signal to the percussionist has to be LOUDER going to the mon/phones than what goes to the recorder/PA.

Any further assistance would be greatly appreciated.

just for grins - i've attached the mixer diagram - i've blown it up to about 20x30 inches and still i'm having issues assigning all the switches to their symbols in the diagram.

different color highliters/sharpies . . . etc .

of course we keep the mixer now at the keyboard guys house cuz he has ALL the stuff there, so i dont get to try stuff in my spare time.

i can write mainframe assembler code, i can build an inductance-based signal attenuator as a gobetween for my CD player and stereo amp, using 24 gauge wire and swiss made rotary switches and special magnifying glasses, but i haven't licked this yet.

hey, it keeps me busy and out of trouble.

any PRACTICAL advice would be appreciated - i.e. "always use AUX for the percussionist headphones, that way . . . " - or "put aaaa and bbbb into channels 1 and 2 so you dont have to . . . ." etc - "record using the jjjjjj output NOT the kkkkk jacks becuase . . . "

am i hoping for too much?

maybe i could hire somebody at Univ. Miami to tutor us for an hour.

what fun!!!

Mike

 

[shortedaman]

WHAT??????????????????????????????????????? is this pertaining to live music, or the recording of music.

"i can write mainframe assembler code, i can build an inductance-based signal attenuator as a gobetween for my CD player and stereo amp, using 24 gauge wire and swiss made rotary switches and special magnifying glasses, but i haven't licked this yet." --- what does this mean and what does it have to do with anything?

i fear you are not making your questions clear.

 

[ospenser]

Sorry i do tend to blather on sometimes - the basic appeal was for concise practical advice on this situation - 16-6 analog mixer - to which i am highly unaccustomed - to be used for a 4man band - rehearsal, record, and play gigs.

 

[moresound]

This can be done.

 

[mjbphotos]

That mixer only has one headphone output. You can plug two headphones in with a 2-1 splitter, but both keyboardist and percussionist will hear the same thing. Or you can have the keyboardist's headphones plugged into the headphone output of the recorder.
Without the time to look over the mixer's specs, can you switch the headphone output from the main mix to the monitor mix or one of the busses? If so, adjust the monitor/buss mix to be heavy on the keyboards. If you can't switch the headphone output over, you're screwed with that mixer!

 

[shortedaman]

usb/firewire mixer for recording purposes. i still don't completely understand what it is you are asking. for recording i don't know if i would go with that mixer. everything will be recorded together. it wont allow for processing of individual tracks, afterwords.

Yamaha MG166CX-USB | Sweetwater.com

Allen & Heath ZED-14 | Sweetwater.com

maybe one of these. honestly though i would go with the Allen and Heath.

the one you are talking about doesn't have computer connectivity, which means it wouldn't be ideal for recording.

 

[mjbphotos]

He said this was for live use, they are just recording the stereo mix into a stereo recorder.

 

[ospenser]

This can be done.

really? are you usually that helpful? is this an example of the humility so often spoken of when authors discuss the qualities of a "good sound man"?

Then again , "Free advice can often be worth exactly what you paid for it."

 

[ospenser]

thanks - rusty axe sent me a note and i think we're on our way - actually the percussionist has a nifty little device that takes in a signal and splits it out to about 4 headphones, each with its own fader.