When it comes to laying down tracks, whether it be in a professional studio or in your bedroom, there are some concepts and terminology which may be a little confusing to the beginner guitarist. This is part one of an introduction to some of the fundamentals you’ll need to understand when it comes to studios and recording.

Mixing Desk

The engine room of the studio, also referred to as a ‘console’. The basic concept is that the desk contains ‘channels’ onto which each individual instrument is recorded, and then these are controlled and mixed to eventually end up as 2 master stereo output channels.

Groups

This allows individual channels to be run down and sub-mixed as a group before being then incorporated with the rest of the channels. An example of the use of this function would be if you had a number of mono guitar tracks recorded on different channels, and you wished to apply EQ or an effect over all of them to give a distinct sound. Mixing desks are often described in terms of input channels, group channels and output channels. A (24-8-2) desk has 24 inputs, 8 groups and 2 output channels.

Auxiliary Volume Controls

Most of the time, instruments are recorded ‘dry’, which means there is a minimum of effects or processing. This allows much greater control over the entire mix because sound processing can be carried out in the context of how the individual channel sounds in relation to the rest. Processing is usually carried out using a send and return loop. What happens is that the audio signal is sent to a processing unit and the auxiliary volume then controls how much of the effect is mixed with the original signal. So in effect, you have 2 separate signals 1 ‘wet’ and 1 ‘dry’ and you can vary the amount of the wet signal to add effects.

Gain control

This is effectively a volume control which adjusts the level of an incoming signal so that it is compatible with the mixing desk. This is useful as different types of microphones and outputs from instruments usually have varying signal levels

Pad Switch

Reduces sensitivity of microphone input level by a specific level.

Phantom Power

Certain types of microphone require a power source to operate. Condenser and valve microphones are examples of this. These are powered by Phantom power which is found on better quality mixing desks but can also be obtained through a stand alone unit. Phantom Power is usually 48 volts DC and is transmitted from the source via the core of the microphone cable.

Mute Switch

Silences the particular channel on which it is applied.

Solo Switch

The opposite of the mute switch, isolates the channel on which it is applied by muting all the other channels