Demystifying Mixers

Abstract

Using music technology is a daily reality for music educators. The task may be as simple as readying a CD player for use in an elementary classroom or as complex as setting up a complete sound system—including microphones, mixer, amplifier, and speakers—for a live music production. One piece of music technology music educators constantly encounter is the audio mixer, usually referred to as “mixer.” Mixers, found everywhere sound is recorded or reproduced, are vital to the sound recording and reproduction process. Yet few teachers are prepared for making more than rudimentary sense of the mixer’s multiple knobs, buttons, and sliders. In this column, a framework is provided for understanding how music educators can better understand mixers by describing a mixer’s essential sections: the input, channel strip, buss, and output sections. This article also offers tips to better enable educators to use mixers.