Recording through your Mixing Desk

With analogue mixing desks, whenever you adjust a gain pot or section of the equalisation you add hiss to the audio signal. “This will be discussed more in signal path”.

One of the best ways of capturing sound is by keeping the audio path as clean and as clear of any equalisation or subgroups as possible.
However if you are on a budget, don’t panic you can get round it: –

  • Using your mixing desk
  • On the instrument channel (the channel with the instrument signal plugged in) make sure that all the EQ levels are flat, so that you’re not using it.
  • Turn off all routing so that the signal isn’t directed anywhere.
  • Plug the direct output from that channel into your capturing device. If you don’t have a direct out, but have inserts, then using the insert get a stereo jack to mono jack and wire the stereo jack as follows: shorting the tip and ring together you can rob the signal from the channel directly.
  • Plug the playback end of the capturing device into the desk and route that to your left and right so that you can monitor the signal. (Make sure there is no EQ on that channel as well, not so important, but you want hear the pure sound)
  • Set up the level on your capture device only using the gain on the instrument channel. Allowing for some head room.

Once your levels have been setup and you are happy with the position of your microphones you could now start adding EQ to the playback channels. This is useful as you start to get a feel of the sort of sound you are able to create.

If things don’t sound right you can reposition a microphone and try again. It won’t effect anything you are capturing but will help give you an idea of the sort of sound you will have when you come to mix the track.