A Guide to Understanding Basic Audio

The most basic sound system is a mic plugged into a speaker. From there, it gets more complicated! You need to understand the flow of sound and how your gear enables you to adjust that flow in different ways. Don’t worry; you’re in the right place. This guide was designed to get you up and running.

Signal Flow

The most important skill a live sound engineer must have is a solid understanding of signal flow; you must know where the signal — and by that, I mean the source of sound — is coming from, where it needs to go and how to get it there. To do that, you need to understand how all the pieces of the sound system work together.

Mixing Console

The console is command central, where you receive inputs (instruments, mics, etc.), process and combine their “content,” and then route the results to the proper outputs. Every console is different, but they all serve the same function.

Each input goes into a channel on the mixer. One channel may be a lead singer; another might be a synthesizer; another could be backup vocals, etc. You then change the channels’ signals with processors. Consoles often include semiparametric three-band EQ on every channel. Several also include effects (FX), as well. Others are available through outboard processors, such as gates, compressors, and dedicated FX units. An AUX (for auxiliary) output is usually used to send a signal to those outboard processors. There are added outputs for stage and in-ear monitors (IEMs).

After signal processing, all channels are eventually routed to the main stereo outputs and sent to the sound system (amps, speakers) for the audience to hear. First, though, you need to connect the console to the speakers.

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