How to Set the Level on a Mixing Board Channel

One of the biggest issues I've seen (or rather heard) that many musicians, engineers and bands face is poor sound. Looking at how the mixing board is set up (specifically the gain structure) is the #1 culprit of poor sound. Here's a step-by-step way to at least start from a good signal level on each of you mixing board channel strips.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• mixing board
• microphone
• common sense
• patience

1. The old audio engineer saying holds true..."Bad sound in, bad sound out." So starting with the best sound at the source is KEY! If the drum doesn't sound good, tune it! If the note is out of tune, tune it! If your technique isn't quite there, take lessons!
2. Assuming the signal is at least decent at the source and that your connections, mic cords, mics, etc are all decent, start with all your faders, sends, eq's and mic trims at zero. What's referred to a a zero'ed out board. You have to start from a clean slate. Have the musician play the instrument that you are getting a level on at "performance level." In other words, the level that they "think" they will play it....how loud, how strong, how hard. Notice I said "think." Most musicians don't get this question correct. It's OK--allow for it.
3. As the instrument is being played, press in the SOLO button on the channel. This separates the channel you are working on from everything else so that ONLY that channel is showing LED signal in the readout window. If you don't have a SOLO button, the same process is used.
4. At the top of the channel strip, turn the mic trim or GAIN knob clockwise until the levels on the LED meter Level Set are at 0 dB (decibels). Keeping in mind that the musician may not be providing you with the appropriate signal that you requested. Do you think he/she will play harder/louder? Then set the level a bit low to give you some more headroom. Do you think they are overplaying right now for level check? Then set it a bit high. Use you own good judgement.
5. After the channel GAIN is set, push up the fader on the channel to the infinity (or 0) marking.
6. Repeat this GAIN trim process for each instrument channel and you will have a clean set board to mix from.

Tips & Warnings

• Have the band to do a piece of a song for you as a full band sound check. This will allow you to double check you levels and hopefully avoid any headaches when the performance begins.
• When the performance does begin, you should not have to re-adjust the GAIN on the channel strips (this has nothing to say about the eq or effects; it is not the purpose of this article to elaborate on those additions)
• Be aware of the musicians on stage. As the night goes on, you may notice that a guitarist may think he can't hear himself and will turn up. That will affect your signal and you'll have to re-trim on the fly.