Chapter 7
Mixing Devices and Methods
In the earliest days of recording, “mixing” was performed by placing a group of performers around a single microphone, with some standing closer or farther than others to balance their volumes. If the sax player had a solo, he’d move closer to the microphone, then move back again afterward. All of this was recorded live in mono through one microphone to either a tape recorder or a record-cutting lathe. If anyone flubbed his or her part, the whole group had to start again from the beginning.
As analog recording progressed to multiple microphones, then to multi-track recorders in the 1950s, mixing evolved to the point where a complex mix often required two or more people to control all the volume changes needed ...
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