Mixers

When Jimmy Page decided to mine a massive archive of decaying Led Zeppelin live footage for a DVD and double CD, the epic task of restoring, editing and mixing the audio went to rock specialist Kevin Shirley — who has gone on to help veteran metallers Iron Maiden return to the upper reaches of the charts.

Can I use my drum pads to trigger drum machine sounds? • Are red indicators in audio software significant? • What is 'zero level'? • Can you advise me on vocal recording and microphones? • Why have my faders stopped working? • Does normalising have any adverse effect on audio? • Can I obtain better orchestral sounds on a budget?