Mixers; Hooking It Up; Sound Reinforcement For Music; A Basic Sound System - Shure MUSIC EDUCATORS Manual

Mixers

Most likely, the recording device you
choose will not allow you to directly
connect a microphone to it. This is where
the mixer comes into play. Mixers come in
many varieties, a basic mixer will suffice for this application. Be sure that the mixer you
choose has enough inputs to handle the number of microphones you are using.
Another useful feature, common on just about all modern microphone mixers,
is something called phantom power. Not nearly as mysterious as it sounds, phantom
power is simply a voltage that travels back down the microphone cable to power
condenser type microphones. Dynamic microphones do not require phantom power,
nor will they be harmed if they are plugged into a microphone input that has phantom
power turned on. See the "Sound Reinforcement" section for a more complete
discussion of mixers.

Hooking it up

Step 1: Position the microphones as per the previous instructions.
Step 2: Using the XLR microphone cable, connect the microphones
to the mixer inputs.
Step 3: If you are using condenser microphones, be sure phantom
power is turned on at the mixer.
Step 4: Connect the outputs of the mixer to the inputs of the
recording device with the proper cables.
Step 5: Have the ensemble perform, and set levels accordingly (see
the instructions supplied with the mixer and/or recording device).
Step 6: Hit RECORD, and play!

Sound Reinforcement for Music

What do I need? A basic sound system.
A sound reinforcement system and a recording setup have two major components in
common, microphones and mixers. Microphones are used to capture the sound, and
the mixer is used to combine those signals together. The output of the mixer, instead
of feeding a recording device, is connected to a power amplifier, which boosts the
signal to "speaker" level. One or more loudspeakers are connected to the outputs of
the amplifier. At this point the signal is converted from the electrical domain back to
the variations in air pressure we recognize as sound, albeit at a much higher level.
Music
Educators
Guide
11