Yamaha MG 6FX Owner's Manual page 18

Making the Most Of Your Mixer
5-4. Ambience
Judicious application of reverb and/or delay via
the mixer's AUX busses can really polish a mix,
but too much can "wash out" the mix and reduce
overall clarity. The way you set up your reverb
sound can make a huge difference in the way it
meshes with the mix.
Reverb/Delay Time
Different reverb/delay units offer different capabil-
ities, but most offer some means of adjusting the
reverb time. A little extra time spent matching the
reverb time to the music being mixed can mean
the difference between great and merely average
sound. The reverb time you choose will depend
to a great degree on the tempo and "density" of
the mix at hand. Slower tempos and lower densi-
ties (i.e. sparser mixes with less sonic activity) can
sound good with relatively long reverb times. But
long reverb times can completely wash out a
faster more active piece of music. Similar princi-
ples applies to delay.
Reverb Tone
How "bright" or "bassy" a reverb sound is also
has a huge impact on the sound of your mix. Dif-
ferent reverb units offer different means of con-
trolling this—balance between the high- and low-
frequency reverb times, simple EQ, and others. A
reverb that is too bright will not only sound unnat-
ural, but it will probably get in the way of delicate
highs you want to come through in your mix. If
you find yourself hearing more high-end reverb
than mix detail, try reducing the brightness of the
reverb sound. This will allow you to get full-bod-
ied ambience without compromising clarity.
Reverb Level
It's amazing how quickly your ears can lose per-
spective and fool you into believing that a totally
washed-out 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." You don't want reverb to dominate the
mix unless you are trying to create the effect of a
band in a cave—which is a perfectly legitimate
creative goal if that's the sort of thing you're aim-
ing for.
MG16/6FX
18
5-5. Built-in Effects & EQ
Your MG mixer features a high-performance inter-
nal effect system and graphic equalizer that offers
extraordinary sound-processing power and versa-
tility without the need for external equipment.
The internal DSP (Digital Signal Processor) lets
you individually add reverb and delay to each
channel in the same way that you can with an
external effect unit – but you don't need to wire
up any extra gear, and won't suffer the signal
quality loss that external connections sometimes
entail. The graphic equalizer is ideal for shaping
the response of the overall mix, and for minimiz-
ing feedback in live situations. For details see
page 22.