Studio Board

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LovinPavan

New member
Yo,

I've been focusing on learning little by little about the music side of production, but I really don't know jack about the technical stuff.

When I see a professional studio session or an interview with an artist in a studio, they have all top notch gear (obviously) and it looks pretty complicated.

I'm not trying to figure that stuff all out right now, but I am curious as to what (in a general/elementary way) that big ass board they sit in front of does. It seems like a huge mixing board, but what are all the knobs? and that small screen that protrudes from the center console area?

I know I sound like a kid, but I really am not 100% sure what that **** does.

Someone please help me out.

Thanks in advance,
Pavan
 
It's a signal router.

Mic preamps, gain structuring, EQ, aux sends (to headphone mixes or effects units), etc. To recorders, from recorders to busses to the main outs to other recorders... Name it, buss it, send it, bring it back in, whatever.

There are really crappy ones for $100 and there are really nice ones for $100,000 and there are REALLY nice ones up around $1,000,000 or so.

That being said, most studios that use them still use stand-alone preamps also.
 
What will help a whole lot will be reading manuals when you purchase gear. Or even without purchasing gear, you can go to manufacturer websites and download manuals. These often have glossaries in the end of them which have a few audio terms.

The screen in the front of the consoles could control different things. With bigger analog consoles you'll likely be dealing with automation when working with the screen. Larger digital consoles or other consoles could also have control for dynamics depending how it's set up.

Don't worry if all doesn't make sense right away. Just read and learn as you go. Eventually you'll know enough.
 
It *is* complicated...but not because of the size. It's a big board because the big studios usually have 40 or more of the same channel setup (columns on the mixer). The rows handle various submixes (auxiliaries), equalization (EQ), panning, submix assignment buttons, preamp/gains, phase inversion, etc, etc.

Digital mixers may or may not have all these controls physically present at all times, since some include many more features like internal dynamics and effects processing.

Ya, the screen is probably automation controls for analog. For digital, could be any number of things.
 
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