After going through Camera and sound equipments, I thought we were pretty much done with the work and probably go and learn something else like practice and try something new with the equipment, but to my surprise, as I entered the classroom, I saw a new grey colored box with the camera equipment. I knew that moment we will be introduced to a new equipment. So here it is, A sound mixer. I felt like I was holding an alien, there were so many controls on it that I didn’t know where to begin with. But as always, Robin is there to guide us. It took a bit of time to understand the control mechanism and we managed to hear the sound from the the mic to the camera and the sound mixer.

One key discovery I made regarding sound recording, as I’m usually frustrated into getting a good sound for my projects, is the channel settings of the audio, by using the mixer and setting the switch to 1K which puts out 0DB in the recording, by having separate channels in recording, it is much easier to manipulate with sound in editing. By setting one channel to -12db and other on -20db, we are sure that we will get quality sound and use either channel for the requirement in the project.

One good thing about the mixer is that the camera operator doesn’t have to worry about changing the sound recording and can continue on with the work without hassle, I do know that it’s an advantage, however I don’t see a point in using a mixer if the level of sound adjustment can be done in the camera by setting it to certain level and quality sound from it, It’s just an extra equipment to carry. In documentary filmmaking where you have less creative control and wouldn’t worry about that much, but if you are making it a fiction film, then yes I do see a point of using the sound mixer to create a cinematic experience.