*** Welcome to piglix ***

Live sound mixing


Live sound mixing is the process of electrically or digitally blending together multiple sound sources at a live event by an audio engineer using a mixing console. Sounds that are mixed include those from instruments and voices which are picked up by microphones (for drum kit, lead vocals and acoustic instruments like piano or saxophone and pickups for instruments such as electric bass) and pre-recorded material, such as songs on CD or a digital audio player. Individual sources are typically equalised to adjust the bass and treble response and routed to effect processors to ultimately be amplified and reproduced via a loudspeaker system. The live sound engineer balances the various audio sources in a way that best suits the needs of the event.

Audio equipment is usually connected together in a sequence known as the signal chain. In live sound situations, this consists of input transducers like microphones, pickups, and DI boxes. These devices are connected, often via multicore cable, to individual channels of a mixing console that allows these inputs to be modified in various ways (equalization, addition of reverb, etc.) before they are electrically summed. Audio signal processing may be applied to (inserted on) individual inputs, groups of inputs, or the entire output mix, using processors that are internal to the mixer or external (outboard effects, which are often mounted in 19" racks).


...
Wikipedia

...