Yamaha MG206C Owner's Manual - Page 10

Mixer Basics Making the Most of Your Mixer Ambience Your mixes can be further refined by adding ambience effects such as reverb or delay. The MG166CX's internal effects can be used to add reverb or delay to individual channels in the same way as external effects processors. (Refer to page 15). Reverb and Delay Time The optimum reverb time for a piece of music will depend on the music's tempo and density, but as a general rule longer reverb times are good for ballads, while shorter reverb times are more suited to uptempo tunes. Delay times can be adjusted to create a wide variety of "grooves". When adding delay to a vocal, for example, try setting the delay time to dotted eighth notes corresponding to the tune's tempo. Reverb Tone Different reverb programs will have different "reverb tone" due to differences in the reverb time of the high or low frequencies. Too much reverb, particularly in the high frequencies, can result in unnatural sound and interfere with the high frequencies in other parts of the mix. It's always a good idea to choose a reverb program that gives you the depth you want without detracting from the clarity of the mix. Reverb Level It's amazing how quickly your ears can lose perspective and fool you into believing that a totally washedout mix sounds perfectly fine. To avoid falling into this trap start with reverb level all the way down, then gradually bring the reverb into the mix until you can just hear the difference. Any more than this normally becomes a "special effect." The Modulation Effects: Phasing, Chorus, and Flanging All of these effects work on basically the same principle: a portion of the audio signal is "time-shifted" and then mixed back with the direct signal. The amount of time shift is controlled, or "modulated", by an LFO (Low-frequency Oscillator). For phasing effects the shift is very small. The phase difference between the modulated and direct signals causes cancellation at some frequencies and reinforces the signal at others and this causes the shimmering sound we hear. For chorus and flanging the signal is delayed by several milliseconds, with the delay time modulated by an LFO, and recombined with the direct signal. In addition to the phasing effect described above, the delay modulation causes a perceived pitch shift which, when mixed with the direct signal, results in a harmonically rich swirling or swishing sound. The difference between chorus and flanging effects is primarily in the amount of delay time and feedback used-flanging uses longer delay times than chorus, whereas chorus generally uses a more complex delay structure. Chorus is most often used to thicken the sound of an instrument, while flanging is usually used as an outright "special effect" to produce otherworldly sonic swoops. Compression One form of compression known as "limiting" can, when properly used, produce a smooth, unified sound with no excessive peaks or distortion. A common example of the use of compression is to "tame" a vocal that has a wide dynamic range in order to tighten up the mix. With the right amount of compression you'll be able to clearly hear whispered passages while passionate shouts are still well balanced in the mix. Compression can also be valuable on bass guitar. Too much compression can be a cause of feedback, however, so use it sparingly. Most compressors require several critical parameters to be set properly to achieve the desired sound. The MG compressor makes achieving great sound much easier: all you need to do is set a single "compression" control and all of the pertinent parameters are automatically adjusted for you. OUTPUT (Min) (Max) INPUT 10 MG206C/MG166CX/MG166C Owner's Manual