Yamaha MG16/FX Mixer...

[k5koy]

Hi all, my band just aquired one of these, and I have been named "engineer" on this upcoming project. Guess maybe because I have the MTR! I am no sound engineer, so I am a little overwhelmed. We got it primarily to mix the drums going into the recorder, but I have since discovered that when recording, I will get a better sound by mic'ing my cabs than going direct into the recorder. I use a Eden WT-500 going into 2 15" cabs and a 4x10. Wish I could use just 1 of the 15's but they are both 8ohm, so I have to use both to get the right impedence on 1 channel and the 4x10 (4ohm) on the other channel. Dont get me wrong, its sounds great, but will I have to mic all 3 cabs? Or should I just use the 1 4x10 and only 1 channel? Then theres the mix! How would you guys approach this?


Koy Carson
West Texas


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[wingsdad]

That's a big question, because there's no simple answer, and lots of recordists would debate the best approach.

Personally, I think trying to mic all 3 cabs, at least for one with little experience, can be a head-splitting challenge. It can be done, but I'm not too sure if it's practical, in the sense of ultimately rendering appreciably better results. It complicates accurate recording.

So, to answer your end question: I'd mic the 4x10 and record it 'dry' (no fx on the fly going in) to one track. A single well recorded track of bass guitar (or any single instrument or voice, for that matter) can be manipulated in the mix, such as turning that one track into several, and giving each cloned track it's own character and space in the overall mix to render a 'whole greater than the sum of its parts', so to speak.

Speaking from personal production experience in the studio and at home, it was (and can still be) done using 'old school' gear and techniques, but with this day & age's digital toys and computer-based systems, it's conceivably much easier. How much and how far you can go just depends on how many tracks you have available to you to record & mix with, and how clear a picture in your head you have of where you want to go (what the end result will shape up to) before you start producing.