Task #2 Dialing In—A step-by-step procedure that will ready the mixer for recording.
Task #3 Monitoring Function—How to set up, calibrate, and operate the monitor.
Task #4 Listening—How to effectively focus your listening.
Task #5 Shooting—Making adjustments to the mixer during recording.
Task #1—Assigning/Panning
Choosing which channel’s signal will exit the mixer.
Assigning or panning on a fi eld mixer is when you determine which output (left or right) the sound from each input (Channels 1–4) are going to be assigned. This decision will determine which track on your recorder or camera (CH1, CH2, or both) the sound will be recorded on.
The assigning or panning of an audio signal on a fi eld mixer is quite straightforward.
However, due to the placement and size of these switches on many mixers, it’s easy to accidentally bump or incorrectly set them.
Sometimes during hectic and rushed setup times, panning can get mixed up—a mistake that cannot be repaired. In the blistering cold with numb fi ngers, or in pitch-black darkness, a screw-up can be hard to avoid if a microphone is added due to an unexpected change to the shot. Add in the pressure of “we have to shoot right now” and mistakes will happen.
HOW THE PAN FUNCTION WORKS
Figure 4.1 Pan dial left
Figure 4.2 Pan dial center
When you set or dial the pan function to L (“Left”), R (“Right”), or L/R (both “Left”
and “Right”), you are assigning the sound to exit the mixer via that designated output.
• If you connect a microphone to Input 1 on your mixer and set Channel 1 Pan to L, the sound will only exit the “Left” output on the mixer and record on the “Left” or Channel 1 on the recorder or camera you have connected to.
• If you chose L/R, or “Center,” with the Channel 1 Pan dial or switch, the sound would come out of both the left and right outputs.
• If you chose R with the Channel 1 Pan, the sound from the microphone that is plugged into Input 1 on your mixer would be panned or assigned to the “Right” output.
• For mixers with a rotary pan dial, turn it completely left to send the sound out of the “Left” output, or completely right to send the signal out of the “Right” output.
Set the dial to the middle to send the signal out of both the “Left” and “Right”
outputs.
Easy Panning Solution
Here’s how to preset a mixer and prewire all your mics and wireless systems so you are ready to tackle any situation effi ciently and accurately—and minimize the risk Figure 4.3 Pan dial right
Figure 4.4
Figure 4.5
of panning errors. This example uses the Field Mixer Initial Setup procedure for a four-channel fi eld mixer.
When I arrive at a location, my mixer is ready to go with a nicely coiled XLR cable, Velcro tied to my mixer bag for a shotgun microphone plugged into Input 1, and a pair of wireless systems plugged into Inputs 3 and 4. See Figure 4.4 .
If a shot requires only a single shotgun microphone, all I need to do is connect a shot-gun to the XLR cable and I’m ready to go. CH1 panning is preset to the Center position and will send the signal out both left and right outputs to be recorded on both channels of the camera. See Figure 4.5 .
Numerous times over the years I’ve been asked to try and fi x recordings with panning errors. They all ended up in the trash.
If I need to add a wireless lavalier for a shot, I simply unplug the shotgun microphone from XLR Input 1 and plug it into XLR Input 2. The wireless is prewired into XLR Input 3.
The mixer is preset to pan XLR Input 2 (now my shotgun mic) to the left output and XLR Input 3 (the wireless) to the right output. No chance for error! See Figure 4.6 .
Figure 4.6
If the next shot required only a shotgun microphone, which in video is a majority of the time, I would simply move the XLR for the shotgun microphone from XLR Input 2 back to XLR Input 1.
Say for the next shot I need two wireless mics and the shotgun. I’d simply plug the shotgun microphone back into XLR Input 2 (it’s panned left). The wireless systems are prewired into XLR Inputs 3 and 4 (panned right).
As you can see, by presetting the mixer and prewiring all mics and wireless systems, you’re effi cient and accurate, and the chance for an assigning error is minimized.
Now here’s some good news—you can pan two or three lavalier microphones together if you so choose without any problems. So, a four-channel mixer can have one
shotgun panned to the left output and up to three lavaliers panned to the right with no issues.
I rarely change the pan settings from the Field Mixer Initial Setup discussed earlier in this chapter (and outlined in detail in Chapter 3 )—when I’m using multiple lavalier microphones and no shotgun, I’ll leave them plugged into XLR Inputs 3 and 4 and adjust Channel 3 Pan to the left. This will separate the two microphones by placing them on separate tracks on the camera.
“But I don’t want all the dialogue coming out of the left or right speaker.”
You’d be surprised at how many times I’ve heard this from the uninformed. The pan-ning you choose on your fi eld mixer does not dictate the fi nal mix of the show.
The fi eld mixer’s pan function is used to separate and isolate the individual inputs from one another during recording. This makes it easier to monitor individual inputs and gives more fl exibility when editing the sound in post—and that’s where the fi nal decision for the stereo mix will be made.
A Little Note Regarding Mono
Most location audio recording using shotgun mics will be mono. All lavalier micro-phones will be mono. Don’t think that by choosing L/R or setting the panning dial to the center position you are recording in stereo—sorry, you’re not. Just because you can hear the sound in both ear-cups still doesn’t mean you are recording in stereo.
We are mono!
So don’t think that you are mixing in stereo when recording on location. This is completely wrong, so wipe it out of your thoughts. You are mono.